The Commanders added another ugly sequence to a growing list of self-inflicted mistakes in their Week 6 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers, and this one landed on both Jayden Daniels and Dan Quinn.
In the second quarter, Washington faced fourth down, but Daniels responded by throwing the ball away instead of giving a pass-catcher a chance to make a play. The decision immediately raised questions about whether Daniels even knew the down.
What made the moment even worse was what appeared to happen on the sideline. Based on video shared by NBC Sports’ J.P. Finlay, Quinn could be heard saying, “that was fourth down” after the play.
“This is a very tough look for Dan Quinn. Looks like he thought the 4th down play was 3rd down. Very tough especially after last week,” Finlay wrote.
You can even see Quinn get frustrated once he seemingly realizes he just lost track of what down it was.
The scene comes on the heels of last week’s clock-management disaster against the New York Giants, when Washington let the clock run out in overtime while in field goal range. After that mess, the Commanders hardly needed another awareness issue.
Now they’ve got one, and it only adds to the pressure around Quinn. There are already widespread calls for him to lose his job, and this latest blunder will only make those calls louder. There is simply no excuse for the Commanders head coach to not know the situation.
Daniels didn’t help matters either, because his throwaway looked like the kind of play that only makes sense if he also lost track of the down.
With Washington sitting at 1-3-1 after five games, the Commanders can’t keep handing away opportunities like this. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Commanders send him packing after the game.
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