This Christmas Day opener is purely about rivalry with Dallas and Washington, as both have been eliminated from playoff contention. After disappointing seasons for both teams, these last two weeks of 2025 are about finishing strong and looking toward the future. This is the first time Dallas has missed the postseason in back-to-back years since 2019 and 2020.
Dallas (6-8-1) has an explosive offense, ranking No. 1 in passing behind Dak Prescott’s 4,175 yards and No. 2 in total offense across the league. However, the defense has been a letdown once again, giving up the third most yards per game at 380.1 and the second most points per game with 30.3. The Cowboys beat the Commanders earlier this season, so sweeping them would be a ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy season.
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It’s been a rough, injury-riddled season for Washington (4-11), and that goes double for second-year quarterback Jayden Daniels. After shutting down Daniels for the season due to injury, all the Commanders have to play for now is pride. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota is also dealing with multiple injuries after leaving Saturday’s loss to Philly, so 39-year-old Josh Johnson will start. Despite having just four wins following a 12-win season in which Washington also advanced to the NFC championship game, beating the rival Cowboys would help ease some tension as the offseason quickly approaches.
Cowboys-Commanders start time: 1 p.m. ET
Location: Northwest Stadium | Landover, MD
TV channel, live stream: Fox, NFL+
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more as the Cowboys and Commanders kick off the Christmas Day slate:
Live21 updates
- Thu, December 25, 2025 at 10:01 AM PST
Yahoo Sports Staff
Thu, December 25, 2025 at 11:41 AM PST
Jason Owens
Deebo Samuel has given the Washington offense life, but it’s otherwise all Cowboys after a dominant first half of Dallas offense.
Javonte Williams barreled for 54 rushing yards to set up the Cowboys passing game for multiple explosive plays, including and 86-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to KaVontae Turpin.
The good news for the Commanders is that they will start with the ball first.
Cowboys
Dak Prescott: 11 of 20 for 174 yards, 2 TDs, 0 turnovers
Javonte Williams: 13 carries for 54 yards, 1 TD
KaVontae Turpin: 1 catch for 86 yards, 1 TD
Jake Ferguson: 1 catch for 6 yards, 1 TD
George Pickens: 2 catches for 38 yards
CeeDee Lamb: 3 catches for 15 yardsCommanders
Josh Johnson: 7 of 10 for 116 yards, 0 TDs, 0 turnovers
Deebo Samuel: 2 catches for 68 yards, 2 carries for 25 yards
Jacory Croskey-Merritt: 5 catches for 13 yardsCowboys total offense: 290 yards on 6.3 yards per play, 17 first downs
Commanders total offense: 146 yards on 8.1 yards per play, 8 first downsJason Owens
The Commanders tried to get into field-goal range with their final 19 seconds of the half. But they completed a pass inbounds without a timeout, then got flagged for a false start with 4 seconds remaining after failing to get set while trying to spike the ball near midfield.
The penalty resulted in a 10-second runoff, and the Cowboys go into halftime with a 24-10 lead after a dominant first half of offense.
Jason Owens
The Cowboys scored for the fourth time on a fourth possessions. But for the Commanders, at least it wasn’t a touchdown.
Preston Smith sacked Dak Prescott on third-and-4, and the Cowboys settled for a 42-yard field goal that Brandon Aubrey put through the uprights.
The Commanders will have the ball back with 19 seconds remaining before halftime. They took a timeout after Smith’s sack, so they’ll be looking to move the ball if they can get decent field position on the kickoff.
Jason Owens
Washington’s offense so far has consisted largely of big plays by Deebo Samuel. He took a screen pass 41 yards on Washington’s opening drive and broke off a 29-yard run on their third.
That play set up a 10-yard Jacory Croskey-Merritt touchdown run. The Commanders have signs of life and have cut their deficit to 21-10 in the second quarter.
Jason Owens
This is the last thing a struggling offense down to its third quarterback needs. Washington center Tyler Biadasz just left the game with an apparent leg injury.
The severity’s not clear, but it took him a while to get up, and he was limping gingerly with the help of two trainers on the sideline once he got up. It doesn’t look good.
Jason Owens
The Commanders finally had a chance to force a punt with the Cowboys at third-and-11 deep in Dallas territory.
Instead, they jumped offside and let Dak Prescott find Kavontae Turpin wide open deep downfield for an 86-yard touchdown. It’s 21-3, Cowboys, and this one’s out of hand midway through the second quarter.
Jason Owens
The Commanders offense is functional so far with Josh Johnson, but not much more than that. They picked up one first down on their second possession, but punted after Johnson threw incomplete to Deebo Samuel on fourth-and-7.
The Cowboys have the ball back with a 14-3 lead and are showing no signs of letting off the gas. Pride is the only thing at stake today, but that matters in these rivalries.
Jason Owens
Netflix is ignoring the action on the field for an awkward interview with Emmitt Smith. Why do networks keep insisting on in-game interviews?
Jason Owens
The Cowboys’ kicking units won’t be getting much work today. After going for it on fourth down on their opening drive, they did it again three times on their second — once at midfield, again at the Washington 23 on fourth-and-2 and again at the 10 on fourth-and-1.
They turned those conversions into a 4-yard Javonte Williams touchdown run for a 14-3 lead, capping off a season-high 17-play drive. Washington’s defense can’t get off the field.
Jason Owens
With Jayden Daniels shut down for the season and Marcus Mariota injured (hand/quad), the Commanders are down to third-string quarterback Josh Johnson.
Johnson connected with Deebo Samuel on Washington’s opening drive for a physical 41-yard catch and run that was capped by a Samuel stiff-arm that stripped safety Donovan Wilson of his helmet. It did not, however, set up a touchdown. Washington settled for a field goal in the red zone, and it’s 7-3 Cowboys after one possession for each team.
Jason Owens
Nobody has anything to lose in this one, and the Cowboys gambled and won with a fourth-and-1 conversion in their own territory on their first drive.
It eventually paid off with a 78-yard touchdown drive capped by a juggling catch in the end zone by Jake Ferguson to secure an early 7-0 Cowboys lead.
Jason Owens
Christmas football is underway. The Commanders have kicked off, and the Cowboys have the ball first.
Thu, December 25, 2025 at 9:45 AM PST
Kate Magdziuk
It’s almost time for kickoff! 15-minute warning, folks! Get your TVs set, as the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders kick off live at 1 p.m. ET, airing live on Netflix.
Thu, December 25, 2025 at 9:30 AM PST
Frank Schwab
Let’s equate the three Christmas games with the gifts you might find under the tree or in your stocking.
First up on the Christmas Day slate is Cowboys at Commanders … which we’ll liken to a pair of socks.
It’s not just that Jayden Daniels will miss this game. Marcus Mariota is no sure thing as he deals with quad and hand injuries that forced him out of Washington’s Week 16 loss to the Eagles. We might get Josh Johnson starting for Washington. We could see half of the teams on Christmas starting third-string quarterbacks.
At least the Cowboys are fun to watch on offense. Dak Prescott has had a good season throwing to CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. Dallas is a bad team overall, due to a poor defense, but at least fantasy players with any Cowboys in your championship game will be interested. There’s not much other reason to be fired up for this one, but like when you unwrap those ugly socks, we’ll politely smile and put them on.
See what Christmas gifts Lions at Vikings and Broncos at Chiefs remind us of here.
Thu, December 25, 2025 at 9:15 AM PST
Michael Fiddle
The Washington Commanders are officially down to their third-string quarterback, preparing to start journeyman Josh Johnson in Week 17. Marcus Mariota, who’s started eight games in place of second-year starter Jayden Daniels, suffered a hand injury in Week 16 that will hold him out of this contest.
Daniels, meanwhile, was officially shut down for the remainder of the 2025 season, the team announced, dealing with an elbow injury after a hamstring injury hampered him early on this year.
This now marks Johnson’s first start since Week 16 of the 2021 season in place of then-injured Lamar Jackson. He went 28-of-40 passing for 304 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception in that contest, a blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Johnson, 39, was a fifth-round pick of the 2008 NFL Draft class by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s got a 1-8 record as a starter, with stints all over the league (and in the Alliance of American Football league and XFL).
The team also signed QB Jeff Driskel off of the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad on Monday.
- Thu, December 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM PST
Michael Fiddle
Among the best bets to consider ahead of Week 17 is the Cowboys at -6.5 over the Commanders.
Commanders head coach Dan Quinn held a somber press conference on Monday. The primary reports regarded addressing the lengthy injury report piling up for a team that faces a short-week divisional matchup against the Cowboys. We know Daniels is shut down for the season after aggravating his left elbow injury in Week 14, but now Mariota is dealing with a hand and quad injury — the hand injury is to his throwing hand and he had to get stitches on it. That is certainly going to make snapping and throwing difficult.
One of the league’s best left tackles, Laremy Tunsil, is dealing with an oblique injury, while right guard Sam Cosmi entered concussion protocol. Cosmi is highly unlikely to clear concussion protocol before a short week Thursday game, and Tunsil has no incentive to rush back considering he is regarded as a core piece of Washington’s future and the team has been eliminated from the playoffs.
The handicap here is simple: I expect Mariota, Tunsil and Cosmi to all be out for the Commanders and this line to move another point towards Dallas. This line — currently sitting at Cowboys -6.5 (-110) – is an amazing price to grab right now. Dallas doesn’t have playoff hopes to play for itself, but relying on postseason intentions as a means to handicap NFL games has long been disproven; players and coaches always play to win, and the Cowboys will have a massive talent edge considering the injury reports.
Read more on the three best bets to consider as the NFL week kicks off.
Thu, December 25, 2025 at 8:49 AM PST
Tarohn Finley
Washington Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. will not play in Thursday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. Rodriguez was a late addition to the injury report with an illness.
In last week’s 29-18 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Rodriguez rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown.
With Rodriguez inactive, expect rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Jeremy McNichols to receive the bulk of the carries. Croskey-Merritt had 25 rushing yards and a touchdown against the Eagles.
Kate Magdziuk
The NFL announced the 2026 Pro Bowl rosters on Tuesday, with Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens earning the first Pro Bowl selection of his career in his first season with the team.
Through 15 games, Pickens ranks third in the NFL with 1,342 receiving yards on 88 catches with nine receiving touchdowns (seventh in the league). Pickens currently ranks as the overall WR4 in Yahoo Fantasy leagues.
All are career-high marks for the fourth-year wideout, who’s in the final year of his rookie contract following an offseason trade to the franchise from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The real question will be how Jerry Jones will handle Pickens’ upcoming contract negotiations, having just traded away star edge rusher Micah Parsons after negotiations for a historic payday fell through.
The team is also paying star wideout CeeDee Lamb a contract that ranks third among receivers with a $34 million AAV.
Other Cowboys to make the cut include quarterback Dak Prescott — his fourth selection — as well as guard Tyler Smith, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and kicker Brandon Aubrey.
- Thu, December 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM PST
Yahoo Sports Staff
With less than 90 minutes remaining until the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders kick off on Christmas afternoon, each team has announced its Week 17 inactives for gameday.
Here’s a look:
Cowboys inactives
Commanders inactives
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QB Sam Hartman (Emergency QB)
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