Prescott Pilots Dallas Cowboys Beyond Skidding Washington Commanders to Kick Off Holiday Triple-Header.

Dak Prescott threw for 307 yards and a pair of scoring strikes, and the Dallas Cowboys squandered a large portion of an 18-point lead before squeezing past the Washington Commanders 30-23 on Thursday night.

The Cowboys, now 7-8-1, found the end zone on their initial three drives to build a 21-3 lead. Washington, falling to 4-12, closed the deficit to a touchdown on three different occasions, they couldn’t complete the comeback and absorbed their 10th loss in 11 games.

Each squad were already out from postseason consideration, which greatly diminished the significance of this matchup between longtime NFC East rivals.

Prescott's Record-Tying Outing

Prescott connected on 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, matching Tony Romo’s record of four seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes.

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

Commanders' QB Situation

Playing without injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington called upon 39-year-old journeyman 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.

Washington's Offensive Highlights

Jacory Croskey-Merritt scored on 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 Brandon Aubrey.

The kicker later nailed a 51-yarder to extend the lead to 30-20 with 3:59 remaining.

After Prescott threw to tight end Jake Ferguson on the game’s opening drive, Johnson went 3 for 3 for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. A crucial connection was a 41-yard pass to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s biggest play since 2018.

Cowboys' Methodical Drives

On their second possession, the Cowboys converted three fourth downs on a 17-play march that ended with a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then completed the hat-trick in three drives with an 86-yard touchdown strike to KaVontae Turpin.