Commanders vs. Cowboys live updates: Washington hosts Dallas to kick off Christmas Day triple-header

Two NFC East rivals kick off Week 17 and Christmas Day action

FRISCO, Texas --The Dallas Cowboys (6-8-1) and the Washington Commanders (4-11) are trudging through the remains of their final two games the 2025 season. The longtime NFC East faces are both eliminated from playoff contention, so Weeks 17 and 18 are all about culture and building toward a possibly better future in 2026. 

Dallas shelved left tackle Tyler Guyton (ankle) for the season while Washington face of the franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels isn't playing again this season. Commanders third-stringer Josh Johnson will start at quarterback opposite Cowboys four-time Pro Bowler Dak Prescott to kick off the NFL's Christmas Day action. 

"I think it's all about the culture that is all about winning. It can be crazy to say that, I get it. We've lost three games in a row. We've got two more opportunities left," Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said on Monday. "I want to keep seeing these guys play with the physicality that they played with yesterday [Sunday in a Week 16 loss against the Los Angeles Chargers] and the passion and the love for one another. I think that's important. But at the end of the day, we got to find ways to win games. ... We're building something here, and I think it's going to be really special. We're a long ways away, but I do think that these next two games can help build a lot of momentum for the future."   

Where to watch Commanders vs. Cowboys

• Date: Thursday, Dec. 25 | Time: 1 p.m. ET
• Location: Northwest Stadium (Landover, Maryland)
• Stream: Netflix 
• Follow: CBS Sports App
• Odds: Cowboys -9.5, O/U 50.5 (via DraftKings Sportsbook)

[Dec 25, 2025 at 1:03 pm ET · Garrett Podell]

Dak Prescott and Dallas' offense will start the day with the football. 

[Dec 25, 2025 at 1:00 pm ET · Garrett Podell]

McLaurin has just 429 yards receiving in eight games played for Washington in 2025 after producing five consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 yards receiving from 2020-2024. That was the longest streak in team history. McLaurin didn't play in the Week 7 matchup against Dallas, and his three receiving touchdowns this year are a career low. However, all three of those touchdowns in 2025 have come over the last five games. A year ago in 2024, McLaurin caught 13 touchdowns, the most in a season in team history. 

[Dec 25, 2025 at 12:50 pm ET · Garrett Podell]

Commanders No. 3 quarterback Josh Johnson came off the bench after Marcus Mariota (right hand/quad) went down because of injury against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16, and he looked like a 39-year-old, third-string passer, throwing for 43 yards and an interception on 5 of 9 passing. He'll be the fourth-oldest quarterback to start a game this season behind Philip Rivers (44), Aaron Rodgers (42) and Joe Flacco (40) with Mariota not practicing on either Monday or Tuesday this week. No one has been on an active roster for as many teams as Johnson, 13, in the 21st century.   

[Dec 25, 2025 at 12:45 pm ET · Garrett Podell]

Dallas owner and general manager Jerry Jones took accountability for the Cowboys' 30-year Super Bowl drought after the team's Week 16 defeat against the Chargers on Sunday. A year like 2025 has everyone from top to bottom in Dallas looking in the mirror.

"I'll admit that the Cowboys management has played a big role (in the 30-year Super Bowl drought)," Jones said postgame. "But seriously, I'm very disappointed that the way we're structured, and my role, puts us here tonight. I'm tremendously disappointed."

The 2025 season marks just the third of Prescott's 10-year career in which he will have played at least 12 games and missed the playoffs, along with 2017 and 2019. He'll be 33 years old at the start of the 2026 season, and he knows he's on the back nine of his NFL career. That's why Prescott plans to seek more input with Jones and the Cowboys' front office when it comes to communicating exactly what he feels the team needs to thrive going forward.

Dak Prescott's Christmas wish list: How wanting more say could shape the Cowboys' 2026 offseason

Garrett Podell

[Dec 25, 2025 at 12:30 pm ET · Garrett Podell]

New Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens broke out in his first year in Dallas at age 24, playing like a top-five player at his position while catching passes from Prescott. The Dallas duo has connected for 13 plays of 25 or more yards this season, tied for the third most in the NFL, and now they'll head to the Pro Bowl together.  

"Super explosive," Pickens said of the connection he built in Year 1 with Prescott. "I feel like that's one of the biggest things when you look back on the year, even though it's not over. Just look at the explosive plays that me, him, CeeDee [Lamb], Flo [Ryan Flournoy], everybody produced on offense. Javonte [Williams], too."  

George Pickens		NFL rank
Catches	88	8th
Receiving Yards	1,342	3rd
Receiving TD	9	7th
Receiving First Downs	69	3rd
Catches of 25 yards or more	13	T-3rd

[Dec 25, 2025 at 12:15 pm ET · Garrett Podell]

Williams is one of just three Cowboys players to go for over 1,000 yards rushing and at least 10 rushing touchdowns in their first season with Dallas. He joined Tony Dorsett (1977) and Ezekiel Elliott (2016) in that exclusive club. 

"You don't always want to just follow money and things like that," Williams said. "You want to go somewhere where you can succeed and be a part of something that's special. I feel like it's very special here."  

Javonte Williams		NFL rank
Carries	239	7th
Rush yards	1,147	6th
Rush TD	10	T-7th
Rush first downs	63	T-4th

[Dec 25, 2025 at 12:00 pm ET · Garrett Podell]

Dak Prescott is third in the NFL in passing touchdowns (28) and second in the league in passing yards (4,175) while leading the NFL's No. 5 scoring offense (28.3 points per game). That's bad news for a Washington Commanders defense that is allowing 26.9 points per game this season, the sixth-most in the entire league. Prescott went up against Commanders head coach and defensive play caller Dan Quinn's defense every day in practice for three years when the latter was the Cowboys' defensive coordinator from 2021 to 2023. That provides the freshly minted, four-time Pro Bowl quarterback plenty of intel to carve up the Commanders defense once again in 2025. 

In Dallas' 44-22 Week 7 win over Washington, Prescott threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns while completing 70% of his passes, 21 of 30. Among active players, only Aaron Rodgers (seven four-touchdown pass games vs. the Chicago Bears and six four-touchdown pass games vs. the Minnesota Vikings) has more four-touchdown pass games against a single opponent than Prescott's four such games against Washington.  

Dak Prescott career vs. Washington	Stats
W-L	12-2
Comp Pct	67%
Pass YPG	243.5
TD-INT	30-5
Passer Rating	108.2

[Dec 25, 2025 at 11:45 am ET · Garrett Podell]

The Cowboys defense is allowing 30.3 points per game this season in the first year of Matt Eberflus as the team's defensive coordinator. That figure stands as the second-most in the NFL this season and the second-most in team history. Only the 1960 Cowboys, the franchise's inaugural team, was worse, allowing 30.8 points per game. Dallas' 2025 squad is also looking to avoid joining the 2016 New Orleans Saints, who went 7-9 and missed the playoffs, as the only teams in the last 40 seasons to lead the NFL in passing offense (274.3 passing yards per game) but rank dead last in pass defense (257.8 passing yards per game allowed).   

[Dec 25, 2025 at 11:36 am ET · Garrett Podell]

LB DeMarvion Overshown (concussion), WR Ryan Flournoy (knee) and CB Caelen Carson (hamstring) are inactive. DT Quinnen Williams returns from his neck injury that kept him from playing against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16.

[Dec 25, 2025 at 11:34 am ET · Garrett Podell]

No Jayden Daniels, Laremy Tunsil or Daron Payne on Christmas. 

[Dec 25, 2025 at 11:30 am ET · Garrett Podell]

The Cowboys are just 2-5 on the road this season while being 4-3-1 at home this season. 

[Dec 25, 2025 at 11:15 am ET · Garrett Podell]

Dallas won the last meeting at AT&T Stadium back in Week 7 by doubling up Washington by a score of 44-22. It was stat sheet stuffing day in Dallas. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott completed 21 of his 30 passes for 264 yards and three passing touchdowns, Cowboys running back Javonte Williams ran for 116 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb caught five passes for 110 yards and a touchdown and tight end Jake Ferguson caught a career-high two touchdowns. Jayden Daniels left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. 

[Dec 25, 2025 at 11:00 am ET · Garrett Podell]

The Cowboys will set the record for the most such games in the regular and postseason combined, but the Chiefs will tie that record at night against the Denver Broncos. The Washington Commanders will play their first ever game on Christmas, which leaves just seven franchises (the Bills, Falcons, Panthers, Seahawks, Jaguars, Chargers and Patriots) without a game on Christmas.