Cowboys vs. Commanders Week 2: Dak Prescott Passes Tony Romo With Four TDs as Jayden Daniels Goes Down

Dak Prescott needed four touchdown passes on Sunday to pass Tony Romo atop the Cowboys' career list. He got the fourth with 3:07 left, a 24-yard dart to CeeDee Lamb, and Lamb handed him the football like a groomsman passing over the rings. On the other sideline, the mood was the opposite: Washington lost Jayden Daniels to another dislocated left elbow on the final play of the first half.

Final: Cowboys 37, Commanders 20. Prescott went 26 of 31 for 279 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, Lamb piled up 153 receiving yards and two scores, and Jake Ferguson caught the other two. Dallas is 1-1. Washington is 0-2 and bracing for a stretch without Daniels.

Fast Start, Brutal Turn, Slow Squeeze

Dallas opened like a team tired of hearing about Week 1. The Cowboys went 66 yards on 10 plays for a 3-yard Prescott-to-Lamb score and added a 25-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal. Washington hung around behind Daniels' legs: his 18-yard scramble was the highlight of a 13-play drive that ended in a Drew Stevens field goal. Dallas answered with a 10-yard Ferguson touchdown for a 17-3 lead, and Daniels responded with a 20-yard run before hitting Stefon Diggs for a 4-yard score. 17-10.

Then came the sequence that changed the afternoon. Washington, out of timeouts, had first down at the Dallas 1 with 12 seconds left in the half. Daniels threw two incompletions. On the third snap, with three seconds left, Daniels got his foot stepped on by his own left guard during the drop, braced himself with his left arm, and the elbow appeared to bend the wrong way. His wild throw fell incomplete as the half ended. Daniels left on a cart after the teams had headed to the locker rooms.

Marcus Mariota took over and led a field goal to open the second half, 17-13. Aubrey answered from 44 to make it 20-13, and on Mariota's next drive the game broke open. Rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham forced a fumble from Dyami Brown on a screen, Dee Winters recovered inside the Washington 20, and two plays later Prescott found Ferguson from 12 yards out. 27-13. Aubrey stretched it with a 60-yard bomb early in the fourth.

Mariota hit Diggs from 20 yards out to make it 30-20 with nine minutes left. Prescott responded with an 11-play, 83-yard drive that ate almost six minutes and ended with Lamb's record-setting catch.

Dak's Day, Lamb's Assist

Prescott was close to flawless. He completed 26 of 31 throws, posted a 143.8 passer rating and spread the touchdowns between the two guys he trusts most. The 33-year-old, now in his 11th season, also pushed his home winning streak against NFC East opponents to 20 games, per the AP. That is not a streak. That is a residency.

The record ball came from the right guy. Prescott has thrown 37 touchdown passes to Lamb, more than to anyone else, and Lamb gave his quarterback the souvenir. Prescott admitted it hit him. "That made me emotional," he said. "There's tons of guys that aren't in that locker room that I think about when I break this record."

Brian Schottenheimer framed it the way coaches who love their quarterback always do. "You can't talk about Dak, the player, without starting with the man," he said.

Lamb finished with eight catches for 153 yards. Ferguson turned four catches into 43 yards and two scores, and Aubrey went 3-for-3 on field goals, including the 60-yarder, for 13 points. KaVontae Turpin added 122 yards on four kick returns.

The Strip That Broke Washington

Losing Daniels was the gut punch, but the knockout was Barham's forced fumble. Washington trailed only 20-13, and Mariota had already moved the offense for a field goal in relief. One screen pass later, Dallas had the ball inside the 20, and two snaps after that the lead was two scores again. On a day when the Dallas defense was not exactly a brick wall, one rookie play flipped the entire second half.

Credit the Cowboys for cashing it instantly. Two plays, 13 yards, touchdown. That is how you hit the mute button on a comeback.

Numbers That Mattered

• 249: Prescott's career touchdown passes, one past Romo's franchise record of 248.
• 182 to 66: Rushing yards, Washington over Dallas. The Commanders also ran 67 plays to 54, won time of possession and had more first downs. They still lost by 17.
• 3-for-4: Dallas in the red zone. Washington went 1-for-3. Dallas finished drives, Washington did not.
• 69: Rushing yards for Daniels on seven carries before he got hurt. He was 11 of 17 for 96 yards through the air.
• 60: Aubrey's longest kick of the day, because apparently 60-yarders are a normal Sunday errand now.

What It Means for Both Sides

For Dallas, this is a reset after the 28-20 loss to the Giants in Week 1. That opener was a rough first look at 34-year-old defensive coordinator Christian Parker's unit. This was not a shutdown performance, Washington ran for 182 yards, but the defense created the takeaway that decided the game, and the offense showed exactly how dangerous it can be when Prescott gets time. Next is a trip to Rio de Janeiro to face Baltimore.

For Washington, the bigger story is Daniels. Dan Quinn confirmed the dislocation but said imaging showed no fracture and that Daniels would fly home with the team. Daniels dislocated the same elbow last November against Seattle and missed all but one game in the second half of last season. Quinn was clear about the next step. "And we will rally so hard around Marcus until Jayden's back," he said. Mariota was efficient in relief, 11 of 16 for 111 yards and a touchdown. A week after losing 24-22 in Philadelphia on a stuffed 2-point try, Washington now hosts the defending champion Seahawks.

The Ball Stays in the Family

Sunday in Arlington was a split screen. One quarterback left on a cart. The other left with a franchise record, a ball from his best receiver and a locker room celebrating him. As Prescott put it, "it was emotional." Fair. For Dallas, it was also exactly what a reset is supposed to look like.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes and historical notes as reported by the Associated Press.