Prescott throws 4 TD passes as Cowboys beat Commanders, who again lose Daniels to dislocated elbow

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dak Prescott celebrated breaking Tony Romo's career franchise record for touchdown passes in a victorious locker room for the Dallas Cowboys.

Somber would be an understatement for the postgame mood around the other starting quarterback.

Prescott threw four touchdown passes to break Romo's record of 248, and the Cowboys beat Washington 37-20 on Sunday after the Commanders' Jayden Daniels went down with another gruesome-looking dislocated left elbow.

Prescott's 249th TD pass was his second TD of the game to CeeDee Lamb, who had 153 yards receiving. Tight end Jake Ferguson had the other two scoring catches.

Lamb, whose 37 touchdown catches from Prescott are more than any other player, gave his quarterback the record-breaking ball, and there was more celebrating with teammates behind the scenes soon after that.

“That made me emotional,” said Prescott, who said he was also emotional hours before the game just thinking about his late mother as he pondered the possibility of getting the record with a four-TD day. “There’s tons of guys that aren’t in that locker room that I think about when I break this record. To see my teammates act that way, to see guys that only have been together for five, six months, have the joy, have the cheers that they do, it was emotional.”

The Cowboys (1-1) led 17-10 with the Commanders on the Dallas 1-yard line with 3 seconds remaining in the first half. Left guard Chris Paul stepped on Daniels’ foot as he backed away from center, and Daniels’ non-throwing elbow appeared to bend the wrong way as he braced himself and threw a wild pass that was incomplete as time expired.

Daniels stayed down momentarily, then started to walk to the sideline before going to the turf again. Upon seeing a video replay of the injury, Fox NFL analyst Tom Brady uttered a profanity.

Daniels’ head was covered in a towel as he left the field on a cart several minutes after all the Dallas players and most of the Washington players had gone to their locker rooms.

After the game, Commanders coach Dan Quinn confirmed the dislocation but said imaging showed no fracture and that Daniels would fly home with the team.

Daniels, who was replaced by Marcus Mariota, missed all but one game in the second half of last season after dislocating his left elbow in a blowout loss to Seattle last November.

“I thought he was really playing his (rear end) off,” Quinn said. “And we will rally so hard around Marcus until Jayden’s back. And that’s what we talked about as a team.”

Mariota connected with Stefon Diggs for his second TD catch of the game to get Washington (0-2) within 30-20 with 9 minutes remaining.

Prescott led an 11-play drive the other way that ended with Lamb's 24-yard touchdown. The 33-year-old in his 11th season went 26 of 32 for 279 yards without an interception and extended his home winning streak against NFC East rivals to 20 games.

“You can’t talk about Dak, the player, without starting with the man,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said. The man is unique. That’s why I was emotional watching the guys celebrate him in the locker room. The way he plays this game, the way leads us is special.”

Before his injury, Daniels kept the Commanders close with his mobility. He had an 18-yard scramble on a drive that ended in a field goal and then a 20-yarder before his 4-yard touchdown pass to Diggs.

The Commanders were out of timeouts when they had a first down at the Dallas 1 trailing 17-10 with 12 seconds left in the first half. Daniels threw two incompletions, leaving 3 seconds for the play on which he was injured.

Daniels had 69 yards on seven carries while going 11 of 17 for 96 yards passing.

A week a dud of a performance in the opener and the debut of 34-year-old defensive coordinator Christian Parker, the Dallas defense at least put up some resistance.

Mariota led the Commanders to a field goal to start the second half, but his second drive ended on the first play when Dallas rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham forced a fumble by Dyami Brown on a screen pass. Dee Winters recovered inside the Washington 20, and Prescott's second TD pass to Ferguson for a 27-13 lead came two plays later.

Cowboys: S P.J. Locke was helped off the field after injuring a foot away from contact on Dallas' first defensive series and didn't return. ... CB Cobie Durant injured a hamstring in the first half and didn't return.

Commanders: Defending Super Bowl champion Seattle visits next Sunday.

Cowboys: Plays Baltimore in Rio de Janeiro next Sunday.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) celebrates after throwing a pass for a touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the second half during an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson (87) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the second half during an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ceedee Lamb (88) celebrates with offensive tackle Tyler Guyton (60) and guard Tyler Booker (52) after scoring a touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the second half during an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) reacts after an apparent injury in the first half against the Dallas Cowboys during an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) runs against the Washington Commanders in the second half during an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

PAYSANDÚ, Uruguay (AP) — Thousands of people poured into a city on the Uruguay River on Saturday for Pope Leo XIV’s first Mass in South America, as the pontiff sought to raise the profile of the Catholic Church in Uruguay, the region's most secular country.

More than 30,000 people — many from Uruguay but also from neighboring Argentina and Brazil — had registered to attend the Mass in the Parque París Londres, a sprawling green space on the southern edge of Paysandú — a city that no pope has ever visited before.

Paysandú, around 375 kilometers (230 miles) from the capital, Montevideo, was hosting Leo’s first Mass at the start of his three-nation South American tour that was in doubt after he underwent lung cancer surgery on Oct. 13.

Crowds of faithful in rain ponchos, many in the Vatican’s yellow, began streaming in when the gates opened at 5:30 a.m. as a band played popular Spanish hymns. Some in the crowd said they were deeply moved that Leo pressed on with his ambitious 12-day tour despite his recent cancer diagnosis.

“He’s the representative of Christ but he’s human. And we weren’t sure if he could make it, but he pushed through for us,” said Soledad Sánchez, 73, who had driven to Paysandú from northern Uruguay, her eyes filling with tears. “He made it here to give us a message of peace because he knows our world needs it right now.”

Leo, who arrived in Uruguay on Friday and had an intense afternoon and evening of events, is seeking to urge the people in South America’s most secular country, with a population of 3.5 million, to turn to the Catholic faith for strength in confronting today’s problems and challenges.

He was to press that message later Saturday by touring a Montevideo neighborhood beset by drug trafficking and gang violence, where the church is working with municipal authorities to build housing and provide rehab programs for addicts.

His final event, too, was likely to drive home the call to reject religious indifference and embrace the faith: a prayer vigil in Montevideo's Centenary Stadium.

At an evening vespers service Friday in Montevideo’s cathedral, Leo acknowledged many people here don’t even know about the faith or its heritage that is intrinsically tied to Uruguay’s independence and nationhood. The Catholic Church, for example, had no new seminarians in 2024, though a few have since entered training for the priesthood.

Leo told the seminarians, priests and bishops to model themselves on Christ to attract the faithful.

“One of the secrets of evangelization is to resemble the one whom we proclaim,” Leo said. “In this land, where many of our contemporaries barely know Jesus Christ and so many young people have grown up far from the life of the Church, that witness has a special power.”

Located in western Uruguay and just across a bridge from the eastern Argentine city of Colón, Paysandú was easier to reach for many Argentines than any of the stops on Leo’s part of the tour in Argentina, his next stop after Uruguay.

In Argentina, Leo will visit Buenos Aires, Luján and Córdoba before heading to Peru, his second homeland and the final destination of his tour.

“Argentina is a much more religious country than Uruguay, and there’s this desire to be here to witness something historic,” said Luciana Lobato, 20, an Argentine tour agent who organized buses of 180 pilgrims from across the border.

Some young Catholics involved in local church groups hoped the sight of a pope drawing crowds would challenge Uruguay’s image as a country indifferent to religion.

“The reality I see in my town is that there are tons of young people who are really interested in religion, who are trying to find meaning and community in difficult moments,” said Teresa Sabellini, 18, from Paysandú.

“And now look around here. This place is full of people,” she added.

Still, Paysandú itself greeted the pope quietly, as though it were an ordinary weekend, with scant decorations and only a few homes seen flying Vatican flags.

Saturday’s Mass is dedicated to Blessed Jacinto Vera, a 19th-century priest who became Uruguay’s first bishop. Leo praised him on Friday as a pastor who traveled the country’s roads to help the poor, saying that people who met him “found something of Christ’s goodness” even before he preached.

Some younger attendees on Saturday said Leo’s humane tone and emphasis on care for the vulnerable resonated beyond the faithful in their secular country as people grapple with a turbulent world.

“I wouldn’t call myself religious, but I like this pope. He has a really good message for humanity,” said Santiago Biglieri, 18, a Colombian who lives in Uruguay. “Even for the nonbelievers, there’s something to take from his ideas.”

Winfield reported from Montevideo, Uruguay.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Leo XIV waves after celebrating vespers at the Cathedral in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich)

Pope Leo XIV is transported to the Cathedral in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Pope Leo XIV celebrates vespers with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, and seminarians at the Metropolitan Cathedral, in Montevideo, Uruguay, on the first day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV arrives to celebrate vespers with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, and seminarians at the Metropolitan Cathedral, in Montevideo, Uruguay, on the first day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV waves after celebrating vespers at the Cathedral in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich)

Catholic faithful hold an Argentine flag bearing images of the late Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV as they wait for Pope Leo XIV to arrive to celebrate Mass at Parque Paris Londres in Paysandu, Uruguay, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)