Dak Prescott Pilots Cowboys Past Skidding Commanders to Begin Christmas Tripleheader.

Dak Prescott 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 Thursday.

Dallas (7-8-1) scored touchdowns on their initial three drives to build a 21-3 lead. Although the Commanders (4-12) cut the gap to a touchdown on three separate instances, they couldn’t complete the comeback and suffered their 10th loss in 11 games.

Both teams were previously eliminated from playoff contention, which significantly reduced the importance of this contest between historic 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 pair of touchdown throws gave him 30 for the season, tying Tony Romo’s record of four seasons with 30 or more touchdown passes.

Prescott shrugged off six sacks, including three credited to defensive tackle 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 was 15 for 23 for 198 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks.

The Commanders' Scoring Drives

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 kicker Brandon Aubrey.

Aubrey added 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 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 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 made it three TDs in three drives with an 86-yard scoring pass to KaVontae Turpin.