Dak Prescott Guides Cowboys By Reeling Commanders to Begin Holiday Tripleheader.

Dak Prescott passed for 307 yards and two touchdowns, and the Dallas Cowboys blew most of an 18-point lead before narrowly defeating the Washington Commanders 30-23 on Thursday night.

Dallas (7-8-1) found the end zone 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 were unable to finish the comeback and absorbed their 10th loss in 11 games.

Both teams were previously eliminated from postseason consideration, which greatly diminished the importance of this matchup between longtime NFC East rivals.

The Quarterback's Historic Performance

Prescott connected on 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, matching the franchise record of four seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes.

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

Commanders' Quarterback Dilemma

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' Offensive Highlights

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 third quarter, but Dallas restored its 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.

After Prescott threw to tight end Jake Ferguson on the first possession, Johnson completed three passes for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. A crucial connection was a 41-yard completion to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s longest since 2018.

Dallas' Methodical Drives

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