Tag: Dan Quinn

Dan Quinn defends fourth-down decision vs. Eagles

Dan Quinn discusses his reasons for going for it in fourth quarter vs. Eagles.

The Washington Commanders were perfect on fourth downs heading into Sunday’s Week 10 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers stopped the Commanders on fourth down for the first time this season.

On Thursday, Washington was back in action against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football. While the Commanders came up short, falling 26-18, they led for most of the game. The Eagles appeared to take control early in the fourth quarter, holding a 12-10 lead.

Washington was driving down the field midway through the fourth quarter when the offense stalled just short of the red zone. It would make sense that Quinn would take the three points in such a closely contested game.

That’s not what Quinn was thinking. He felt Washington’s fourth-down success this season put them in a good position to make it. It was fourth-and-2 from the 26-yard line. Quinn skipped the field goal, and Washington’s fourth-down play was doomed from the start, with Daniels being dropped for no gain.

Afterward, Quinn discussed his decision.

“Obviously to go for it, 4th-and-2 at the 26 – bold call,” Quinn said. “But, I would also say we were prepared for that moment. Didn’t love the execution, but we’ve been an excellent fourth down team. So going into it, we knew we would have to take our shots against a tough division team on the road. We thought that was an appropriate one. Certainly didn’t like the execution or the result, but we were prepared for that.”

Quinn wasn’t wrong for being aggressive, especially against a division opponent on the road. But in this instance, Quinn knew his offense wasn’t playing well and passed up an opportunity to retake the lead.

Would it have made a difference in the outcome? Probably not, but you never know. The game changed once Daniels came up short.

Cowboys Coordinator Bowl I goes to Eagles as Commanders fall apart in Q4

Two former Dallas lieutenants met as Cowboys’ rivals on opposite sidelines on Thursday night in a battle for division supremacy.

The Dallas Cowboys have enjoyed a ton of regular season success over the last several years, which makes their 2024 performance extremely disappointing. Sitting at 3-6, their playoff hopes are on life support as Week 11 starts to unfold. Mike McCarthy and his current staff are all on notice they’ll likely be looking elsewhere for employment in 2024.

Their two most recent high-profile coordinators though are enjoying a ton of success this season. Kellen Moore, former OC under both Jason Garrett and McCarthy, is now in charge of the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense. Dan Quinn, the defensive coordinator from the last three 12-5 Cowboys seasons, is now the head coach in Washington. They former co-workers met up on opposite sidelines Thursday night with Quinn’s Commanders getting the 26-18 victory.

The two teams entered their TNF matchup with a combined 14-5 record, but despite some questionable calls in their favor throughout, Washington fell apart late.

Quinn’s troops entered the fourth quarter with a 10-6 lead, but a dumb fourth-down decision by Quinn gave Moore’s offense the opening it needed to score three rushing touchdowns; his new signature. Washington scored a no-urgency TD with just 28 seconds left to close the gap, but the onside kick attempt failed.

What’s interesting for Cowboys’ fans though is how far each’s former units have plummeted in performance and ranking since each left.

Moore joined Garrett’s staff in his lame-duck 2019 season and moved the Cowboys’ offense from 17th to 6th in scoring. With a 2020 mulligan for Prescott’s broken leg, he also had them ranked 1st and 4th in his other seasons. However playoff disappointment and McCarthy wanting to take over play-calling (to save his job, likely) led to Moore moving on to the Los Angeles Chargers in 2023.

Initially McCarthy did find success, as the Cowboys returned to the No. 1 scoring offense in 2023. But there was a catch. Quinn’s defense’s were monsters at creating extra opportunities for the offense by being at or near the top of forced turnovers the last three seasons.

Without Quinn in tow, the turnovers have stopped and even before the Cowboys lost Prescott for the season again, their offense was in the bottom third of the NFL in 2024.

Quinn’s defense finished seventh, fifth and fifth in points allowed during his three seasons in Dallas. Jerry Jones was able to convince Quinn to stay in Dallas the last several seasons despite head coaching interviews all over the league, but Quinn finally bolted to land with the division rival Commanders.

Moore was let go along with head coach Brandon Staley and his entire staff in LA and landed in Philadelphia. Both have been cooking in their first seasons elsewhere in the NFC East.

What did Jahan Dotson say about Commanders and Dan Quinn?

What did former Washington first-round pick Jahan Dotson say about his former team?

Jahan Dotson was the object of much criticism during Commanders’ training camp.

He was traded to the Eagles, and for the next three or four days, the main topic on DC Sports radio was body language and its importance in team building.

The biggest surprise was that GM Adam Peters traded Dotson to the NFC East divisional rival Philadelphia Eagles. Peters was heavily criticized for trading Dotson within the division.

However, Dotson has not (yet) had a productive season through nine Eagles games. He has eight receptions for 98 yards and no touchdowns in his nine Eagles games.

When Dotson was asked about Thursday’s opponent, the Commanders, how did he respond?

“You have a great coached team, a great leader of men,” Dotson said of Quinn. “If you can implement the right kind of mindset and the right kind of culture, you can do a lot of great things, and that’s a kudos to coach Dan Quinn. He’s doing a fantastic job. He knows how to grab the room and … he makes it very easy for people to listen to him and do what he asks.”

Being traded by Quinn before he had even completed a single training camp, one might expect much different comments. But apparently, after spending his first two seasons with Ron Rivera and his second one with Eric Bieniemy as offensive coordinator, Dotson was apparently very impressed with Quinn’s coaching and leadership.

What did Dotson have to say about his former Washington teammates? “They have some fantastic players over there and they’re putting their players in some good positions to make plays.”

Credit to Dotson here. He could have taken a shot or two at the new coaching staff that kicked him out the door. However, he took the time to be honest and give credit where it was due.

After all, Dotson played on that 4-13, weak, noncompetitive team that finished next to last in the NFL, earning the No. 2 overall draft pick.

Dotson knows how much worse it was last year; he lived it.

Positive injury news for Commanders ahead of Thursday Night Football

Commanders get a key starter back for Thursday night vs. Eagles.

The Washington Commanders will have running back Brian Robinson Jr. on the field for Thursday’s huge matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Commanders released their final injury report Wednesday, and Robinson received no injury designation for the game, meaning he’ll play.

Robinson has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury and was also limited by a knee injury that cost him the Week 6 game against Baltimore. Despite missing three games, Robinson has rushed for 461 yards and six touchdowns.

Robinson’s return means the Commanders will have their entire backfield in action vs. an excellent Philadelphia defense against the run. Washington’s rushing attack has been most effective when Robinson and Austin Ekeler were available. Robinson’s return allows offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to be more creative with Ekeler.

In three career games against the Eagles, Robinson has rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns.

In more concerning news, Washington’s top three offensive tackles are listed as questionable: Brandon Coleman (shoulder), Andrew Wylie (shoulder), and Cornelius Lucas (ankle).

Lucas has missed the past two games, while Wylie missed Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh. Head coach Dan Quinn spoke to the media before practice and seemed positive about Lucas and Wylie but did not mention Coleman.

 

 

Marshon Lattimore to miss his second game after being traded from Saints

Marshon Lattimore won’t make his Washington Commanders debut just yet. The former Saints cornerback is going to miss his second game since being traded:

Washington Commanders fans celebrated their team making the league’s biggest move at the NFL trade deadline, but they’ll have to wait another week to get their first look at Marshon Lattimore. The former New Orleans Saints cornerback is still dealing with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for last Sunday’s game. Washington head coach Dan Quinn announced Wednesday that Lattimore won’t be able to play on Thursday night, either.

Hamstring issues have trailed Lattimore since his college days at Ohio State; it’s one reason he fell to the Saints in the 2017 NFL draft in the first place. They’ve continued to afflict Lattimore throughout his pro career including earlier this season.

Still, it’s a disappointing turn for a great talent. When he’s healthy and locked in there isn’t a better cover corner in the game than Lattimore. That’s why the Commanders traded so many draft picks to acquire him at the deadline. It’s on the Saints to make the most of those resources and prove that trading Lattimore when they did was worth it.

So will he be on the field when the Commanders visit the Caesars Superdome next month? That feels likely. By now it’s obvious there was nothing to the speculation suggesting Lattimore was taking his time recovering from injury to put pressure on New Orleans into trading him, but he should be fully recovered by the time he makes his return on Dec. 15, barring a setback. We’ll keep an eye on his progress but for now the Saints must focus on their next opponent, not one they’ll see a month from now.

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Commanders CB Marshon Lattimore will not play vs. Eagles

The Commanders will be without Marshon Lattimore on Thursday vs. Eagles.

The Washington Commanders will be without newly acquired cornerback Marshon Lattimore for Thursday night’s huge game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Dan Quinn spoke to the media Wednesday for the final time ahead of Thursday’s NFC East showdown and confirmed Lattimore would not be available to play.

Lattimore’s absence is not surprising. When the Commanders acquired him last week, he was dealing with a hamstring injury and has yet to practice. Washington acquired Lattimore knowing he’d be available for the playoff run, and he’s under contract for two more seasons.

The Commanders rank in the top 10 in pass defense but have struggled when teams attack their secondary. During Sunday’s close loss to the Steelers, the secondary allowed two big touchdown passes, including the game-winner to Mike Williams, where cornerback Benjamin St-Juste was beaten badly.

St-Juste, Mike Sainristil and Noah Igbinoghene have served as Washington’s top three cornerbacks in recent weeks. Last season’s first-round pick, Emmanuel Forbes, has played only a handful of snaps over the last three games. Forbes first struggled against the Eagles and A.J. Brown in Week 4 last season.

Dan Quinn refuses to talk to Commanders about standings & playoffs

Dan Quinn does not want his team to miss one step on this journey by talking about the future.

What has Dan Quinn told his Commanders team about the NFL standings or the playoffs?

“Zero, zero,” Quinn replied to the media on Tuesday.

The former Atlanta Falcons head coach won a division and finished second in the division three times. To conclude the 2016 season, he won the NFC title and nearly won a Super Bowl.

So he knows the ropes. He also knows the dangers of allowing players to look too far ahead. They can easily forget what is right in front of them and not being prepared, lose their opportunities.

“That’s not a coaching cop-out either. I just honestly want to stay in the pocket of where we’re at. I don’t want us to miss a step on this journey, and I don’t want to miss the next step that we have to take. And that’s this weekend and then the next one and the next one.”

When the Commanders won their Week 9 game at the NY Giants, they weren’t dominant, but they did do enough to prevent the Giants from having the ball and a chance to take the lead in the second half (27-22 final).

Quinn and Adam Peters have changed this entire culture, from 4-13 in 2023 to talking about how high a seed the Commanders can be in the NFC playoffs in 2021.

“I’m just kind of thinking about today, today’s practice and Thursday’s game, man. And like I haven’t talked to them much past that. It’s just let’s go battle for it this weekend. And I did the same thing last weekend when a lot of talk was, there’s two games in 11 days, and that I said, maybe we just got one game this week, and we got one game next week. And so, we’ll worry about next week then.”

 

Commanders’ Dan Quinn on why the NFC East is special

Dan Quinn on why the NFC East is special to him.

“It’s probably more nostalgic for me than for them.”

That was Dan Quinn Tuesday, meeting with the media when asked about coaching in the NFC East.

Quinn was born in 1970 in New Jersey and grew up in Jersey, playing his high school football at Morristown High School. So, one can understand why being a head coach in the NFC East and facing the Eagles in Philadelphia in a nationally televised Thursday night game can be “nostalgic” for him.

“It’s closer to home for me, because I grew up watching the NFC East and the battles that took place. So, for me, loving football and growing up and to see these matchups, it’s really cool for me because it does hit closer to home where I grew up. Like I said, falling in love with the game and seeing it all.”

In his first season as Washington’s coach, he must remember as a kid (age 10) that the Eagles won the NFC Championship Game over Dallas before losing to the Raiders in Super Bowl XV.

From 1982-84, it was Joe Gibbs and the Redskins who won the division, went to Super Bowls XVII (beating the Dolphins) and XVIII (losing to the Raiders). When in high school playing football, it was the Giants who won Super Bowl XXI over the Broncos and again the Redskins in Super Bowl XXII, defeating the Broncos.

Now, one of the team advisors is Doug Williams, who quarterbacked Washington to that Super Bowl XXII victory. Perhaps Quinn even remembers such defensive forces that day as Dave Butz, Darryl Grant, Charles Mann, Dexter Manley and Darrell Green.

Head coaches like Dick Vermeil, Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcells and Tom Landry were men he watched on the sidelines growing up in New Jersey. Now, he is on the sidelines coaching in these great rivalries in the same division.

“To be part of this division, it’s really cool. So, it’s probably more nostalgic for me than for them, but I do know that it’s a really cool division, and the fan bases are awesome.”

Quinn sounded like he would rather be nowhere else in the NFL. “Taking our show on the road to go up and have another division battle, Thursday night in November? Like come on, what are we talking about?”

Dan Quinn is ‘fired up’ for Commanders game vs. Eagles with first place on the line

Dan Quinn is ‘fired up’ for Commanders game vs. Eagles with 1st place in NFC East on the line

The NFC is one of the best divisions in football, and Thursday night in Philadelphia will offer an old-school feel.

The Eagles are 7-2 after dominating the Cowboys (34-6) on Sunday, while Washington dropped to 7-3 and second place in the division after a 28-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The winner of Thursday’s game on Amazon will leave one team in first place and the other looking to regroup quickly.

Washington head coach Dan Quinn addressed the media on Monday and was fired up for the massive matchup.

Last season, the Eagles beat the Commanders 34-31 overtime in Week 4 in Philadelphia. The Commanders have a 5-9 record against the Eagles in prime time. In their most recent prime-time matchup, Washington defeated Philadelphia on Monday night in Week 10 of the 2022 season to hand the Eagles their first loss.

Thursday’s game will be the first between quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and rookie Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Cowboys $20 million star predicted to cut ties with Dallas in favor of Commanders or Lions

The Cowboys D-line has been anchored by DeMarcus Lawrence for more than a decade. Will he follow his teammates and former DC to DC?

This might be the end of an era in Dallas. With Mike McCarthy and his coaching staff on lame-duck status, a 3-6 record that is on the verge of turning into 3-8 means the Cowboys are likely going to miss the playoffs. And if that’s the case, when the final whistle sounds on their season in Week 18, it might signal the last games played by teammates who have spent their entire 11-year careers with a star on their helmet.

2014’s top two draft choices, OG Zack Martin and DE DeMarcus Lawrence are both set to hit free agency next spring, and it’s a real possibility that they will not be returning to America’s Team. If Lawrence walks, it’s expected for him to have heavy interest as he has still been extremely productive this season when not injured as he comes off of back-to-back Pro Bowls.

There hasn’t been any apparent slippage in his play, so he could command a hefty salary as a hired gun, and that could be for his former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn who is now the head coach in Washington.

Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report predicted that to be one of two high-potential landing spots for Lawrence, along with the Detroit Lions.

Lawrence was simply superb this season before the injury. He tallied 14 tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks, 10 quarterback pressures and a forced fumble in four games. Lawrence should appeal to teams seeking pass-rush help or an improved run defense, though he’s best suited for those utilizing a four-man front.

Lawrence would find a terrific fit with the Lions, who should have star edge-rusher Aidan Hutchinson back by the spring. Hutchinson will remain Detroit’s primary pass-rusher, but the Lions desperately need a high-end complement.

Washington would also serve as a sensible landing spot—and not entirely because former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is now the head coach. Quinn’s presence would undoubtedly be part of the equation, but the Commanders are also set to potentially lose both Dante Fowler Jr. and Clelin Ferrell in 2025 free agency.

Quinn’s Commanders have been a surprise this season thanks to rookie QB Jayden Daniels, but the defense has rounded into shape. Their pass rush is anchored by two of Lawrence’s understudies the last few years in Texas, Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler. Fowler’s having a career year, so