Dak Prescott continued his mastery of the Washington Commanders and DaRon Bland set an NFL record with his fifth pick-6 of the season as the Dallas Cowboys rolled to a 45-10 victory in their annual Thanksgiving Day game in Arlington, Texas.
Prescott completed 22 of 32 passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, helping Dallas (8-3) dominate on the way to its third straight win as it moved a step closer to clinching its third consecutive playoff berth.
Bland’s 63-yard interception return came long after the outcome was decided, with 4:39 left. On his way to scoring, Bland dodged three potential tacklers, including Washington quarterback Sam Howell.
Bland previously was tied with Eric Allen (1993), Jim Kearney (1972) and Ken Houston (1971), with four interception return touchdowns.
At home in his career, Prescott is 6-0 against NFC East rival Washington with 17 touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Howell completed 28 of 44 passes for 300 yards and his one interception. Howell scored the lone touchdown for Washington (4-8), which has lost eight of its last 10.
After Prescott missed two open receivers running deep on the Cowboys’ first possession, he guided touchdown drives the next three times Dallas got the ball.
Rico Dowdle capped the first drive, which covered 90 yards, with a 15-yard touchdown reception as he used Zack Martin’s block on a screen pass to sprint unencumbered to the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
After Washington answered with a 43-yard field goal by Joey Slye, Prescott threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks to give the Cowboys a 14-3 lead.
Washington answered as Howell capped a 75-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring carry to cut the Cowboys’ lead to 14-10 with 1:51 before halftime.
But Washington’s defense, which has surrendered more points than any team in the NFL, was easy pickings again for Dallas as it needed just five plays to cruise 75 yards. Tony Pollard ran 7 yards up the middle for a touchdown and a 20-10 Cowboys lead at the break.
After neither team scored in a quiet third quarter, Brandon Aubrey increased Dallas’ lead to 23-10 with a 52-yard field goal. Aubrey, a rookie, missed an extra point earlier in the game but now is perfect this season on 22 field goal tries.
Johnathan Hankins set up a Dallas touchdown when he sacked Howell on a fourth-and-1 play at the Washington 23. Three plays later, Prescott threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb for a 31-10 lead.
After another fourth down stop by the Dallas defense, Prescott fired his fourth touchdown pass, a 34-yard strike to KaVontae Turpin.
–Field Level Media