What Commanders’ Dan Quinn said about crucial fourth-down play vs. 49ers

So, we’ve all seen it. And it was weird.  

The video on the ESPN broadcast feed from Monday night’s game between the Commanders and 49ers showed what looked like Washington head coach Dan Quinn saying something that amounts to the fact he was unsure of what down it was.  

That’s a rough look after the game management nightmare that resulted in a tie with the New York Giants in Week 5.  

Quinn couldn’t afford one in Week 6. One was (apparently) was caught on camera. Or maybe not.  

Either way, it looked, well, not great.  

The Commanders head coach says this is much ado about nothing, but let’s rewind.  

Washington had a fourth-and-2 with roughly 13 minutes left in the second quarter. Jayden Daniels rolled to his right and then a flag fell down, though the play was allowed to complete. The quarterback inexplicably threw the ball out of bounds and to no one.  

That’s a curious decision in itself, to say the least. Why wouldn’t you put the ball in play and try to convert? 

Even more trouble was this the video you’ll view below, where it looks like Dan Quinn didn’t know what down it was. Here’s his explanation of that issue, as told to on-site reporters during his Monday postgame press conference.  

“I definitely knew it was fourth down,” Quinn said. “We were going for it. And, what I think you’re referring to, with the illegal shift there’s not a penalty to go for a field goal. It’s a turnover on downs.” 

After the game-management kerfuffle from a week ago, that’s a good thing. And it still wasn’t a great look.  

The 49ers declined the flag, negating that point, and locking in a turnover on downs.  

No matter what actually happened on the headset, the result was a major disappointment considering the ball was on the 49ers 13-yard line. The Commanders simply must’ve come up with a score there and they didn’t.  

That led to trouble at the end of the game that the Commanders ultimately lost. Success on the play we’re talking about could’ve changed the game.  

The Commanders ultimately fell just short, and all these little moment matter.  

Do you think Dan Quinn knew it was fourth down? Let us know in the article comments below. It’s 2:30 a.m. when I’m writing this. I’m very tired. Please excuse the typos that are most certainly in this story. — SB