Sports

Cowboys Finish Season With 34-23 Loss To Washington

January 3, 2016 / 3:58 PM CST / CBS Texas

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ARLINGTON (AP) — Kirk Cousins is fine-tuned and ready for the playoffs for the Washington Redskins.

The offseason can't get here fast enough for the Dallas Cowboys.

Cousins threw for three touchdowns before leaving late in the first half of a playoff tuneup, and the Redskins finished the regular season with a 34-23 victory over the Cowboys on Sunday.

Cousins broke Jay Shroeder's franchise record for yards passing in a season, finishing with 4,166. Had the game mattered, he might have threatened Sonny Jurgensen's 48-year-old team record of 31 touchdown passes, instead settling for 29.

The Redskins (9-7) won four straight to finish the season, their longest streak since winning the last seven the last time they made the playoffs in 2012. The NFC East champions will be the No. 4 seed on wild-card weekend.

Kellen Moore had 435 yards passing and three touchdowns after throwing an interception and losing a fumble on a snap to help dig a quick 21-0 hole for the Cowboys (4-12).

It's the most losses for Dallas since going 1-15 in 1989, the year owner and general manager Jerry Jones bought the team. The stunning reversal for last year's 12-4 division champion in a season mostly without quarterback Tony Romo put the Cowboys back at .500 (152-152) going all the way back to 1997.

Already the first Washington quarterback to throw for at least 300 yards with at least four touchdowns and no interceptions in consecutive games, Cousins became the first to throw at least one scoring pass in all 16 regular-season games on a 5-yarder to Ryan Grant.

Cousins also had a 39-yard touchdown to Pierre Garcon and a 3-yarder to Jamison Crowder, the latter giving Washington a 21-0 lead late in the first quarter. He was replaced by backup Colt McCoy late in the second quarter.

By completing 12 of 15 passes for 176 yards, Cousins is likely to lead the NFL with a 69.8 completion percentage. Jurgensen was the only other Washington quarterback to do that, in 1970.

The Redskins, who won their last three road games after starting 0-5 away from home, had a couple of injury scares in the first half, even though they were sitting several starters on defense.

Cornerback Dashaun Phillips was taken to a hospital after being taken off the field on a cart with his head immobilized. He had movement in his extremities.

Safety Kyshoen Jarrett left the game with a concussion in the first quarter after a jarring collision with Dallas running back Darren McFadden. He stayed down for several minutes, wiggling his legs in apparent pain. Jarrett was also reported to have a shoulder injury.

The finale had the look of a preseason game with plenty of empty seats at the $1.2 billion home of the Cowboys, and the feel of one with plenty of Washington subs in the second half.

The Redskins had four starters inactive in tackle Trent Williams, linebacker Perry Riley Jr., safety Dashon Goldson and defensive end Jason Hatcher, who spent his first eight seasons with the Cowboys. Receiver DeSean Jackson didn't play. All of them have been battling nagging injuries.

McFadden epitomized the Cowboys' loss. He fumbled into the end zone on his way to an easy fourth-quarter touchdown, the last of four turnovers without a takeaway for the NFL's worst team in turnover margin (minus-22).

Moore had two interceptions in his second career start as the third replacement for Romo, who missed 12 games with his twice-broken left collarbone. Moore had six picks in 11 quarters.