PHILADELPHIA – The decision by Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn to go for it on fourth down with about eight minutes left Thursday, his team in field-goal range and trailing the Philadelphia Eagles by two points Thursday, may seem unorthodox.
His players expected nothing less.
“That’s the nature of this team,” wide receiver Noah Brown said following the Commanders’ 26-18 defeat.
Nature lost to nurture in this instance. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels took the fourth-and-2 snap from Philadelphia’s 26-yard-line – it would have been roughly a 43-yard field goal for Zane Gonzalez, kicking in his second game for Washington in place of the injured Austin Seibert – but the problems for the Commanders started before that.
Daniels said after the game center Tyler Biadasz and he were not on the same page and that the snap exchange was delayed.
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“I just have to be louder,” he said.
As Daniels bobbled the ball, Washington offensive linemen Sam Cosmi and Nick Allegretti ran into each other as they both pulled in their respective directions. Daniels sprinted parallel to the line of scrimmage in desperate search of the corner and a first down. It never materialized. Eagles linebacker Zack Baun smacked him out of bounds, and Philadelphia took over on downs.
“I trust the coaching staff and any decision they make. I’m always of the heart of going for it,’ Daniels said. ‘I trust my teammates and trust the unit. I always trust the questions. I never question it.”
Quinn himself realized the magnitude of his choice and opened his postgame news conference with an explanation before anyone had a chance to ask him about it. He referred to the fourth-down decision as a ‘bold call.’
‘I would also say we were prepared for that moment. Don’t love the execution, but we’ve been an excellent fourth-down team,’ said Quinn, whose group entered the game tied for the league lead in fourth-down conversion rate at 91.7% (11 of 12). ‘Going into it, we knew we’d have to take our shots against a tough division team on the road.
“That’s one we can fix.’
The Eagles starting to move the ball with serious success for the first time all game played a factor into Quinn’s decision, the coach said.
“We’ve been doing that all season, you know what I mean?’ wideout Terry McLaurin said. ‘Coach Quinn and (offensive coordinator) Kliff (Kingsbury) are going to be aggressive. We just didn’t execute the play.
‘It wasn’t a shock.’
Philadelphia scored a touchdown less than three minutes later and the extra point made it a two-possession game at 19-10.
“Hey, we’re coming out to play. We’re coming out to win. Touchdowns win games. That’s what DQ (Quinn) wants,” running back Austin Ekeler said. “When we get in those game-winning moments, right – ‘Hey, it’s on the line let’s go get it done.’ That’s what he talks about. We know we’re going to go for it. So that’s exactly what happened there.”
