Josh Johnson wore a disappointed look on his face as he answered questions from the media following the Washington Commanders' Christmas loss to the Dallas Cowboys. "It hurts," he said, and the results of the 30-23 defeat are going to stay with him for a while.

"Even though it was a short week, we prepared well," Johnson said. "The things were out there that we wanted to get done. We just had a couple of plays here and there that we left on the field."

That is perhaps the worst part of the Commanders' 10th loss since starting the season 3-2. The Commanders were competitive, despite being down multiple starters and losing more to injury during the game itself. Johnson, who had just five days to prepare for his first start in four years, handled himself well, while the defense kept the league's second-best offense subdued at times, or at least well enough to keep the score close.

But the Commanders, now 4-12, couldn't find ways to finish in the game's most critical moments, and it gave Dallas enough life to leave Northwest Stadium with a win.

"We competed to the end, but our execution, especially in the winning-time moments, it is not enough," said head coach Dan Quinn.

There were things to like littered throughout the afternoon. Johnson, who was announced as the starter on Wednesday, directed the offense to 321 yards while completing 65% of his passes. Deebo Samuel had one of his best games of the season, accounting for 93 yards on four touches, and the Commanders' ground attack combined for 138 yards with two touchdowns. The defense sacked Dak Prescott six times -- his most in a single game all season -- and forced the Cowboys to settle for field goal attempts on three of their final four drives.

There were also encouraging signs for the future, as multiple younger players stood out. Johnny Newton, who got the start in place of an injured Daron Payne, racked up three sacks with five quarterback hits. Ben Sinnott caught three passes for 30 yards, while Jacory Croskey-Merritt had 105 yards and averaged 9.5 yards per carry with a 72-yard touchdown.

Still, Washington's struggles to execute popped up in costly moments. The defense struggled to get Dallas off the field, particularly on fourth down. The Cowboys were a perfect 6-of-6 on such plays, which helped them run 87 plays and dominate the time of possession by more than 17 minutes. The offense, meanwhile, stalled at the 5-yard line twice and had to settle for field goals. Both managed to keep the Commanders in the game, but they missed out on eight points that would have swung things in their favor.

The Cowboys largely looked like themselves on offense, despite not having starting running back Javontae Williams for much of the afternoon. They marched down the field on their opening drive, covering 78 yards on 13 plays. They converted a fourth-and-1 and a third-and-5 to help them get to the Commanders' 7-yard line, and two plays later, Jake Ferguson made a one-handed touchdown grab.

The Commanders responded with a field goal, helped in large part by a 41-yard catch-and-run from Samuel that ended with him knocking Donovan Wilson's helmet off with a hit, but the Cowboys were back in the end zone on their next drive. This time, they moved down the field in 17 plays, converting three fourth downs along the way. After an unnecessary roughness call on Jeremy Reaves moved the ball to the Commanders' 4-yard line, Williams plowed across the goal line to make the score 14-3.

Then came the big play; after the Commanders were forced to punt following a five-play drive, Prescott connected with KaVontae Turpin for an 86-yard touchdown throw to put the Cowboys up by 18.

Samuel injected some new life into the Commanders' offense on the next possession with a 29-yard run that moved them into Cowboys territory. They got some help with two penalties that moved them to the Cowboys' 10-yard line, which led to Croskey-Merritt running for his seventh touchdown of the season. Brandon Aubrey tacked on a 42-yard field goal to make the score 24-10 at halftime, but Croskey-Merrittbroke loose for a 72-yard run the third quarter, putting the Commanders within seven points of tying the score.

The Commanders had chances to take the lead from Dallas. Aubrey was forced out for a 52-yard attempt, and the Commanders moved to the 5-yard line on their next possession with help from a Croskey-Merritt 13-yard run. The offense hit a wall at that point, though, as Johnson didn't see Terry McLaurin open on a slant and couldn't connect with Treylon Burks near the goal line. Instead of celebrating a touchdown, they sent Jake Moody out to hit a 23-yard field goal.

The missed opportunities continued from there. Aubrey, who came into the game hitting 89.3% of his career field goals, had a rare miss from 58 yards out. The Commanders responded with a three-and-out after gaining just two yards. The Cowboys then responded with another long drive, covering 52-yards in 14 plays and converting a third-and-1 and a fourth-and-2. They ran more than seven minutes off the clock and added another three points to go back up by 10 points.

With limited time to mount a comeback, the Commanders elected to kick a field goal before the two-minute warning to cut the deficit back down to a touchdown and give their defense a chance to get a stop with all three timeouts.

The Cowboys, however, did what they needed to do to run out the clock. They converted a third-and-1 with a 21-yard pickup from Pickens and gained three yards on a fourth-and-1, which ended up being the final play of the game.

The Commanders will close out the season with a road matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. The date and time of the kickoff have not yet been announced.