Prescott Pilots Cowboys By Struggling Commanders to Begin Christmas Tripleheader.

Dak Prescott passed for 307 yards and a pair of scoring strikes, 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. Although the Commanders (4-12) narrowed the margin 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 playoff contention, which greatly diminished the stakes of this matchup between historic NFC East rivals.

The Quarterback's Record-Tying Outing

Prescott completed 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 30 or more touchdown passes.

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

Commanders' Quarterback Situation

Playing without injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington called upon 39-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson. In his 10th NFL start and his first in over two years, Johnson went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

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 kick by Brandon Aubrey.

Aubrey added 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 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.

Cowboys' Sustained Drives

On their next drive, the Cowboys successfully executed 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.