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Prescott Sets Cowboys TD Record in 37-20 Win as Jayden Daniels Leaves with Dislocated Elbow
Dak Prescott threw four touchdown passes — including the record-breaking 249th — and CeeDee Lamb had 153 receiving yards as Dallas downed Washington while the Commanders lost starter Jayden Daniels to a left-elbow dislocation.
Dak Prescott completed 26 of 32 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns, breaking Tony Romo’s franchise mark with his 249th career TD pass as the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Commanders 37-20 at AT&T Stadium. CeeDee Lamb finished with 153 receiving yards and two TDs — he has 37 touchdown catches from Prescott, more than any other player — while tight end Jake Ferguson caught the other two scoring passes. The victory put Dallas at 1-1 and extended the Cowboys’ home winning streak against NFC East foes to 20 games; Washington fell to 0-2.
The game’s turning point came at the end of the first half when Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels was injured on a play from the Dallas 1 with three seconds remaining. Left guard Chris Paul stepped on Daniels’ foot as he backed away from center, and Daniels’ non-throwing left elbow appeared to bend the wrong way on the follow-through of an incompletion. Daniels remained on the turf and later was carted off with his head covered by a towel; coach Dan Quinn confirmed a dislocation but said imaging showed no fracture and that Daniels would fly home with the team. Daniels, who missed most of the second half of last season after a November elbow dislocation, had been keeping Washington close with his mobility — he was 11 of 17 for 96 yards passing and rushed seven times for 69 yards, including an 18-yard scramble and a 20-yarder before throwing a 4-yard TD to Stefon Diggs.
Marcus Mariota replaced Daniels and helped pull Washington to within 30-20 when he connected with Diggs for his second touchdown catch of the game with about nine minutes remaining. Mariota had led a field-goal drive to open the second half before his second possession ended on the first play when rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham forced a fumble on a Dyami Brown screen; Dee Winters recovered inside the Washington 20 and two plays later Prescott hit Ferguson for a score. Dallas’ defense, which came off a poor opener and the debut of 34-year-old defensive coordinator Christian Parker, showed more resistance Sunday. The Cowboys also lost safety P.J. Locke to a foot injury and cornerback Cobie Durant to a first-half hamstring issue; neither returned.
The record-setting moment carried clear emotion in Dallas’ locker room. Lamb handed Prescott the record-breaking ball and teammates celebrated behind the scenes; Prescott said the moment made him emotional and that he thought of people not in the room and of his late mother when the record was possible. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer praised Prescott’s leadership and character after the game. Next up, the Cowboys travel to Rio de Janeiro to face Baltimore next Sunday, while Washington heads to Seattle to face the defending Super Bowl champions.