Prescott Pilots Dallas Cowboys Beyond Reeling Washington Commanders to Launch Christmas Three-Game Slate.
Dak Prescott passed for 307 yards and two touchdowns, and the Dallas Cowboys squandered a large portion of an 18-point lead before narrowly defeating the Washington Commanders 30-23 on Thursday night.
The Cowboys, now 7-8-1, scored touchdowns on their initial three drives to build a 21-3 lead. Washington, falling to 4-12, narrowed the margin to a touchdown on three separate instances, they couldn’t complete the comeback and absorbed their 10th loss in 11 games.
Both teams were already out from postseason consideration, which severely lessened the stakes of this matchup between longtime NFC East rivals.
The Quarterback's Historic Outing
Prescott completed 19 of 37 passes and was instrumental on all six of its fourth-down tries. His two TD passes gave him 30 for the season, matching the franchise record of four seasons with 30 or more touchdown passes.
The signal-caller endured six sacks, with three credited to Jer’Zhan Newton.
Washington's Quarterback Situation
Playing without injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington turned to veteran Josh Johnson. Making his 10th career start and his first in over two years, Johnson went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks.
The Commanders' Scoring Drives
Jacory Croskey-Merritt found paydirt with runs of 10 and 72 yards for Washington. The latter touchdown got the Commanders to 24-17 in the second half, but Dallas reclaimed a double-digit lead with a 52-yard field goal by kicker Brandon Aubrey.
The kicker later nailed a 51-yarder to extend the lead to 30-20 with under four minutes to play.
Following a Prescott touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson on the game’s opening drive, Johnson completed three passes for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. The key play was a 41-yard completion to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s longest since 2018.
Dallas' Sustained Drives
On their second possession, the Cowboys successfully executed three fourth downs on a 17-play march that culminated in a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then completed the hat-trick in three drives with an 86-yard touchdown strike to KaVontae Turpin.
