Published October 19, 2026 11:34 PM
At the end of the first half of Monday night’s game, with the Commanders down 20-3 and coach Dan Quinn going viral based on a lip-reading clip that was being widely interpreted as him not realizing it was fourth down (after a failed fourth-down play), it looked like Quinn was on track to get fired after the game.
Then came the second half, and an effort by the Commanders that made the final score (23-17) far more respectable.
So now owner Josh Harris has a decision to make. One week removed from the humiliating clock debacle and entering the bye week, will Harris make a change?
Even with the six-point margin, the Commanders remain 1-4-1. Working in Quinn’s favor is the fact that the division is still there to be had, if they can turn it around.
The other consideration is that the bump from making an interim hire could also give the team the kind of wakeup call that could carry them to an NFC East title. (At that point, however, it would be difficult to not reward the interim coach by giving him the permanent job.)
There’s a mini-bye looming, between the Week 10 Thursday night game against the Giants and the Week 11 Monday night game against the Bengals. Maybe Harris will decide to kick the can, giving the Commanders three more games (Eagles, Rams, at Giants) before making a final decision.