Dak Prescott Leads Cowboys By Skidding Commanders to Kick Off Christmas Tripleheader.

The Cowboys' quarterback passed for 307 yards and a pair of scoring strikes, and the Dallas Cowboys blew most of an 18-point lead before squeezing past the Washington Commanders 30-23 on Thursday night.

Dallas (7-8-1) found the end zone on their first three possessions to go up 21-3 lead. Although the Commanders (4-12) cut the gap to a touchdown on three different occasions, they couldn’t complete the comeback and suffered their tenth defeat in 11 games.

Each squad were previously eliminated from postseason consideration, which significantly reduced the stakes of this matchup between longtime NFC East rivals.

The Quarterback's Historic Performance

Prescott completed 19 of 37 passes and was instrumental on all six of its fourth-down attempts. His pair of touchdown throws gave him 30 for the season, equaling the franchise record of four seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes.

Prescott shrugged off six sacks, including three credited to Jer’Zhan Newton.

Washington's Quarterback Situation

Playing without their top QBs Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington turned to veteran Josh Johnson. Making his 10th career start and first since 2021, Johnson was 15 for 23 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

Washington's Scoring Drives

Jacory Croskey-Merritt scored on runs of 10 and 72 yards for Washington. The 72-yard scamper got the Commanders to 24-17 in the third quarter, but Dallas restored its double-digit lead with a 52-yard kick by Brandon Aubrey.

Aubrey added a 51-yarder to extend the lead to 30-20 with 3:59 remaining.

Following a Prescott touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson on the first possession, Johnson went 3 for 3 for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. A crucial connection was a 41-yard completion to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s biggest play since 2018.

Dallas' Methodical Possessions

On their next drive, the Cowboys converted three fourth downs on a lengthy, 17-play drive that ended with a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then made it three TDs in three drives with an 86-yard scoring pass to KaVontae Turpin.