Dak Prescott threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns, 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 first three possessions to go up 21-3. Although the Commanders (4-12) cut the gap to a touchdown on three different occasions, they couldn’t complete the comeback and absorbed their 10th loss in 11 games.
Both teams were previously eliminated from playoff contention, which severely lessened the significance of this matchup between longtime NFC East rivals.
Prescott completed 19 of 37 passes and helped Dallas convert all six of its fourth-down tries. His two TD passes gave him 30, tying Tony Romo’s franchise record of four seasons with at least 30 touchdown throws.
Prescott shrugged off six sacks, including three by Jer’Zhan Newton.
Playing without injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington turned to 39-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson. Making his 10th career start and first since 2021, Johnson went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
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 restored its double-digit lead with a 52-yard field by Brandon Aubrey.
Aubrey added a 51-yarder to make it 30-20 with 3:59 remaining.
After Prescott threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson on the game’s opening drive, 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 longest since 2018. Samuel finished by running into Donovan Wilson, knocking the safety’s helmet off.
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.
Denver Broncos 20-13 Kansas City Chiefs
Bo Nix ran for a score before throwing a go-ahead touchdown pass to RJ Harvey with 1:45 left in the game, and the Denver Broncos held on in the closing seconds for a 20-13 victory over the banged-up Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night.
Nix finished with 182 yards passing as the Broncos (13-3) bounced back from last week’s disheartening loss to Jacksonville and took another big step toward the AFC West title and perhaps the No. 1 seed and first-round playoff bye.
The Broncos can clinch the division on Saturday if the Chargers lose their game against Houston.
Third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun and tight end Travis Kelce gave Kansas City a chance, driving quickly down field after the Broncos had taken the lead. But a third-down pass at the Denver 26 was just out of Kelce’s reach, and Oladokun overthrew Marquise Brown in the end zone on fourth down in the final seconds.
The Chiefs (6-10) were missing Patrick Mahomes and backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, both of whom tore ligaments in their knees in back-to-back weeks, and were left to watch the game together from a suite. They also were missing Rashee Rice and several players on both sides of the ball that had been so crucial to their three straight Super Bowl trips.
Oladokun wound up with 66 yards passing. Kelce had five catches for 36 of those yards in what might have been the last game played by the Pro Bowl tight end at Arrowhead Stadium – he plans to announce soon after the season whether he is retiring.
Detroit Lions 10-23 Minnesota Vikings
The Detroit Lions have gifted the division rival Green Bay Packers a spot in the playoffs.
With six turnovers in a 23-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, Detroit were eliminated from postseason contention – clinching at least a wild-card berth for Green Bay.
After taking the past two NFC North titles, reaching the conference championship game after the first one and posting a franchise-record 15 wins for the second one, the Lions (8-8) lost their third straight game in a sloppy performance unfit for the NFL’s Christmas Day showcase.
Jared Goff was charged with three lost fumbles, twice on errant snaps by backup center Kingsley Eguakun, and threw two interceptions after just six giveaways over the first 15 games this season. The Lions entered the week with only eight turnovers, the fewest in the league.
