ARLINGTON, Texas - Jake Ferguson did not need a huge yardage day. He needed the football in the red zone, twice, and Dak Prescott found him both times.
Ferguson finished with four receptions for 43 yards and two touchdowns Sunday in the Cowboys' 37-20 win over the Commanders. ESPN's box shows a perfect 4-for-4 on targets and a long of 14.
The scoring catches - 10 yards in the second quarter and 12 yards in the third - accounted for half of Prescott's four touchdown passes on a day Prescott also broke Tony Romo's Cowboys career TD-pass record.
Dallas is 1-1. Washington is 0-2. CeeDee Lamb piled up 153 yards and the other two scores; Brandon Aubrey added field goals from 25, 44 and 60 yards.
Second-quarter strike
After Aubrey's 25-yard field goal had made it 10-0, Washington answered with a Drew Stevens kick. Prescott answered right back, hitting Ferguson from 10 yards to push the lead to 17-3. The tight end worked the middle of the field against a Commanders defense that spent much of the afternoon chasing Lamb outside and trying to keep George Pickens from winning on the other boundary.
Washington trimmed the margin to 17-10 on Jayden Daniels' 4-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs before Daniels left with a dislocated left elbow in the final seconds of the half, the Associated Press reported. Marcus Mariota took over for the second half.
Turnover, then the second score
The third quarter turned on a short throw that never should have survived contact. Mariota's pass to Dyami Brown lost 6 yards when rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham arrived; Brown fumbled, and Dee Winters recovered at the Washington 18, returning it to the 13, per ESPN's play-by-play.
Two snaps later, Prescott hit Ferguson for the 12-yard touchdown that made it 27-13 after Aubrey's kick. The sequence - force, recover, score - compressed Washington's comeback window and put the game back on Dallas' terms. Ferguson did not need a long developing route; he needed space in the flat and a quarterback who trusted the matchup after the sudden change.
