Former Washington offensive coordinator Scott Turner knows what it is like to be calling the plays for Washington late in games.
Turner, the son of former Washington Redskins head coach Norv Turner, served as Washington’s offensive coordinator from 2020 to 2022 under former head coach Ron Rivera. What does Turner think about the final-minute disaster in which the Commanders failed to stop the clock before attempting a game-winning field goal?
Turner was a guest on the Grant & Danny Show Tuesday, and of course the target conversation was the horrible time management by the Commanders stealing away their opportunity to get the win. Grant Paulsen asked Turner, if the turnover just happened, what are you telling your quarterback now?
“You have to get yourself into field goal range, so at the point you discuss how many timeouts you have left, what are the plays that you are planning on calling and also what are the defenses you think you are going to be seeing,” expressed Turner.
What would Turner have said at the time when the Commanders reached the 26-yard line on a completion to Treylon Burks, and he was able to get out of bounds? “At that point I would say, ‘Hey, we are in field goal range, and we don’t have any timeouts.”
The Commanders then ran Rachaad White to the 24-yard line. “I understand they wanted to get closer. They missed an extra point early in the game. The weather was an issue. The closer you get, the higher the percentage you have of making the kick.”
What does Turner think, in hindsight, about what he saw in the Commanders’ actions on the final play? “It didn’t look like there was a plan. Everything should be quiet (in the OC headset) in that situation.” Turner then briefly described a time when he was calling plays for the Raiders. Several people started talking to him at once, and he got distracted.
Turner then reiterated, “There’s only 40 seconds left on the clock. You want to get that play call into the quarterback, so he can call the play in the huddle, and you can then get to the line."
Turner reiterated that in the pressure-packed last minute, you don't want to be coming up with your plan. You want to have a plan already prepared and discussed with your quarterback. Instead, you want to focus on executing your plan.
Perhaps that’s the lesson for first-year offensive coordinator David Blough. Then again, we don’t know what Jayden Daniels was told to do on that last play, do we?
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Former Washington offensive coordinator talks Commanders' end-of-game gaffe vs Giants