Prescott Guides Cowboys By Reeling Commanders to Kick Off Holiday Triple-Header.

Dak Prescott passed for 307 yards and a pair of scoring strikes, and the Dallas Cowboys blew most of an 18-point lead before edging the Washington Commanders 30-23 on Thursday night.

The Cowboys, now 7-8-1, found the end zone on their initial three drives to go up 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.

Each squad were already out from playoff contention, which severely lessened the stakes of this contest between longtime NFC East rivals.

Prescott's Record-Tying Performance

Prescott connected on 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, equaling Tony Romo’s record of four seasons with 30 or more touchdown passes.

Prescott shrugged off six sacks, with three coming from Jer’Zhan Newton.

Commanders' Quarterback Dilemma

Forced to play minus 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 no touchdowns or interceptions.

Washington's Scoring Drives

Jacory Croskey-Merritt found paydirt with runs of 10 and 72 yards for Washington. The 72-yard scamper got the Commanders to 24-17 in the second half, but Dallas restored its double-digit lead with a 52-yard field goal by Brandon Aubrey.

The kicker later nailed a 51-yarder to extend the lead to 30-20 with under four minutes to play.

After Prescott threw 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 pass to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s longest since 2018.

Cowboys' Sustained Drives

On their second possession, the Cowboys successfully executed 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.