Prescott Pilots Cowboys Past Skidding Washington Commanders to Begin Holiday Triple-Header.
The Cowboys' quarterback accumulated 307 yards and two touchdowns, as Dallas blew most of an 18-point lead before narrowly defeating the Washington Commanders 30-23 Thursday.
Dallas (7-8-1) found the end zone on their first three possessions to go up 21-3 lead. Washington, falling to 4-12, closed the deficit to a touchdown on three different occasions, they were unable to finish the comeback and absorbed their tenth defeat in 11 games.
Each squad were previously eliminated from postseason consideration, which severely lessened the stakes of this contest between historic NFC East rivals.
The Quarterback's Historic Performance
Prescott completed 19 of 37 passes and helped Dallas convert all six of its fourth-down attempts. 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.
The signal-caller endured six sacks, with three coming from Jer’Zhan Newton.
Commanders' Quarterback Situation
Forced to play minus injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington called upon veteran Josh Johnson. In his 10th NFL 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 third quarter, but Dallas reclaimed a double-digit lead with a 52-yard kick by Brandon Aubrey.
The kicker later nailed a 51-yarder to make it 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. The key play was a 41-yard completion to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s biggest play since 2018.
Cowboys' Sustained Possessions
On their next drive, the Cowboys successfully executed three fourth downs on a lengthy, 17-play drive that culminated in a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then made it three TDs in three drives with an 86-yard touchdown strike to KaVontae Turpin.