ARLINGTON, Texas - Jake Ferguson did not need 100 yards to decide Sunday's home opener. He needed the end zone twice.
The Cowboys tight end caught four passes for 43 yards and two touchdowns on four targets in Dallas' 37-20 win over Washington, ESPN's box shows. Both scores came from Dak Prescott - a 10-yarder in the second quarter and a 12-yarder in the third after Dee Winters recovered a Commanders fumble inside the Washington 20, per ESPN's scoring summary and the Associated Press recap.
Ferguson's first touchdown stretched Dallas' lead to 17-3 before Washington answered before halftime. His second, two plays after the fumble recovery, made it 27-13 and flipped a game that had briefly tightened when Marcus Mariota replaced Jayden Daniels. ESPN's box matches the 4-for-43-and-two-scores line; the intermediate throws were the story.
Tight end, short field
Prescott finished with four touchdown passes and broke Tony Romo's Cowboys franchise record for career scoring throws, the AP reported. CeeDee Lamb took the other two and finished with 153 yards. Ferguson's role was the red-zone and short-to-intermediate complement: four catches, four targets, no wasted looks on the official target sheet ESPN published.
The second score was the cleaner illustration. Winters' recovery gave Dallas the ball inside the 20 after Mariota's screen to Dyami Brown came apart. Prescott needed two plays to find Ferguson again. That sequence turned a defensive takeaway into a two-score cushion before Brandon Aubrey's later field goals and Lamb's fourth-quarter touchdown finished the math.
Daniels left with a dislocated left elbow late in the first half after Washington reached the Dallas 1, the AP reported. Commanders coach Dan Quinn said imaging showed no fracture and that Daniels would fly home with the team. Mariota's first second-half drive ended on the screen that Winters stripped.
Ferguson's touchdown on the ensuing possession was the Cowboys' answer to a game that could have swung on special teams or field position instead of the middle of the field.
