Prescott Leads Dallas Cowboys Past Struggling Washington Commanders to Begin Holiday Three-Game Slate.
The Cowboys' quarterback threw for 307 yards and a pair of scoring strikes, and the Dallas Cowboys blew most 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 first three possessions to establish a 21-3 lead. Although the Commanders (4-12) cut the gap to a touchdown on three different occasions, they were unable to finish the comeback and suffered their tenth defeat in 11 games.
Both teams were already out from playoff contention, which greatly diminished the significance of this matchup between historic 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 attempts. His two TD passes 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 defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton.
Washington's Quarterback Dilemma
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 his first in over two years, Johnson was 15 for 23 for 198 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks.
Washington's 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 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 pass to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s longest since 2018.
Cowboys' Methodical Possessions
On their next drive, 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 scoring pass to KaVontae Turpin.
