The Washington Commanders suffered a 30-23 loss in their home finale against the Dallas Cowboys. Here are five takeaways from Week 17.

1. Josh Johnson was solid in his first start since 2021.

Johnson had just five days to prepare for his first start in four years, but you wouldn't have known it based on how he performed on Christmas. He looked calm and composed in the pocket, completing 15 of his 23 passes for 198 yards with two carries for 10 yards. It ended up being one of the best performances of his career; his passing yards were his fifth most in a single game, while his 65% completion rate was his fourth best in games with at least 20 attempts.

Part of that comfort came from the gameplan offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury designed for Johnson. He gave Johnson shorter passes that allowed receivers to pick up yards after the catch, and that approach worked well on the Commanders' opening drive. Johnson completed his first four passes, including a 16-yard completion to Terry McLaurin as well as a 41-yard catch-and-run from Deebo Samuel.

"Coming into the game, it was going to be important for Josh Johnson taking care of the ball that we could extend some drives to keep their offense off," head coach Dan Quinn said after the game. "I thought he did a good job of that."

Johnson said he got more comfortable as the game went on.

"I was just trying to play clean and just give us a chance to win the game. We had a chance; unfortunately, we just came up short."

The Commanders signed Johnson in the offseason with the belief that he could lead the offense in a pinch. It wasn't ideal, but Johnson did his job and kept the unit afloat.

2. Jacory Croskey-Merritt had a career day.

With Chris Rodriguez ruled out with an illness hours before kickoff, Croskey-Merritt got the bulk of the carries out of the backfield. His opportunities were limited, partially because of how the Cowboys controlled the time of possession, but the rookie made the most of his snaps and showed why the Commanders are excited for his future.

"Bill goes out every day to get better," Johnson said. "I'm happy for him that he got to have his moment. It's great that people get to see his talents, and he went out there and showcased them well."

Croskey-Merritt, who had his first 100-yard game on 11 carries, averaged 9.5 yards per attempt and scored both of the Commanders' touchdowns. His progress as a player was best on display in the third quarter, when he took a handoff 72 yards for the longest touchdown of his young career. When asked after the game what he saw on the play, Croskey-Merritt said, "I saw daylight."

"I was like, 'This is my chance to show when it's open field, I can take it the distance.' And I mean, it worked out; it worked out perfect."

Croskey-Merritt has long been a standout player for his vision, speed and burst. Now, however, he's pairing that with a full year's worth of experience.

3. Johnny Newton was a defensive standout.

Newton was another younger player on Washington's roster who needed to step up in place of a veteran, as Daron Payne was ruled out earlier in the week. The Commanders drafted Newton with the belief that he could be an impact player for them in the future, and while he still has plenty of work to do in his career, he was certainly impactful on Thursday with three sacks, five quarterback hits and nine tackles.

"I think the disruption, the quickness, those are the skills that he has," Newton said. "And so, to hear him put all the pieces together, anticipation of plays, how to go execute it to go, I felt that."

Newton was the driving force for a Commanders pass rush that generated six sacks on Dak Prescott. It was the first time in his career that he has recorded a multi-sack game, making him the first player in franchise history to record at least 3.0 sacks in a single game since Preston Smith in Week 16 of 2015.

After the game, Newton said, "Whenever I catch fire, it's hard to cool me off."

"I just had a great feeling of the game today. Run or pass, I feel like with the film I watched, I feel like I had a great feeling of what they were doing the whole day, so I was just reacting to the play and making plays."

The Commanders have waited for a performance from Newton like the one he had against the Cowboys. While it wasn't enough to give them a win, it did provide some excitement for what Newton can accomplish in his third season.

4. The defense struggled to get off the field.

As encouraging as it was to see Washington's younger players contribute on Thursday, there were still some things to improve, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. One of the biggest concerns was the unit's struggles to get off the field, and it helped the Cowboys maintain a firm control of the game.

The Cowboys were held to eight third-down conversions on 20 attempts but had much more success on fourth down, as they converted all six of their attempts. They converted three in their first two drives, both of which led to touchdowns. Quinn said Dallas' success in the area was one of the main factors that turned the game in their favor.

I attribute a lot of that to Dak," Quinn said. "I thought their line did a nice job moving us off to create the movements, the moments to sneak inside styles or runs. And then on another one, like I said, we had doubled some other players and so I think they went one to [Dallas Cowboys WR Jalen] Tolbert, but that's hard to do and they did it for sure."

It had a negative impact on the Commanders' offense as well. The Cowboys ran 87 plays compared to just 41 plays for the Commanders.

"You're so ready to get going to go get another possession and to finish with under 45 plays, you don't get enough cracks at that," Quinn said. "And so, those are significant changes in it, double the amount of plays. And so, yeah, it does have an effect, not an effect of morale or that, just not enough cracks at bat."

5. Deebo Samuel had one of his best games as a Commander.

Samuel has had to carry the load for significant portions of the season thanks to the multitude of injuries the Commanders have dealt with all season, but Thursday's game was one of the best examples of why the Commanders traded a draft pick for him.

Samuel's versatility was on display throughout the afternoon, as he finished with 93 yards on just four touches. His ability to pick up yards after the catch shined on the Commanders' first drive, when he turned a screen into a 41-yard gain that set the offense up inside the Commanders' 10-yard line. Another catch, which he turned in a 27-yard gain, moved the Commanders into Cowboys territory.

"It was one of my favorite plays by him this year and he's had a lot that I liked," Quinn said of Samuel's 41-yard gain. "It absolutely lit us up."

Samuel's skill set as a runner proved useful as well. Following Dallas' third scoring drive, he opened up Washington's ensuing possession with a 29-yard gain. That play led to the Commanders getting a touchdown of their own four plays later, as Croskey-Merritt ran the ball in from 10 yards out.

Samuel is set to hit free agency this offseason, but so far, he's put together a strong case for why the Commanders should keep him. He's caught 70 passes for 707 yards and five touchdowns along with 74 rushing yards on 14 carries.