We thought head coach Dan Quinn would be extra aware of every situation in a game moving forward after the Washington Commanders’ clock management debacle against the New York Giants last week, but we were wrong.
In the second quarter of the Week 6 game against the San Francisco 49ers, the Commanders went for it on fourth down, but quarterback Jayden Daniels made the bizarre decision to throw the ball away instead of trying to at least throw it to a pass-catcher.
That left everyone wondering if Daniels maybe didn’t know what down it was. While we can’t say that for sure, it appears Quinn didn’t know it was fourth down.
After the play, it appears Quinn said “that was fourth down” based on video shared by NBC Sports’ J.P. Finlay.
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“This is a very tough look for Dan Quinn. Looks like he thought the 4th down play was 3rd down. Very tough especially after last week,” Finlay wrote.
This is a very tough look for Dan Quinn. Looks like he thought the 4th down play was 3rd down. Very tough especially after last week https://t.co/KUU8D2S81d
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) October 20, 2026
For Quinn’s sake, we don’t even want to think this is possible given what happened last week, when the Commanders let the clock run out in overtime while in field goal range because of poor clock management and awareness, but here we are.
There are already widespread calls for Quinn to lose his job, and this latest blunder will only make those calls louder.
It’ll be fascinating to see what Quinn has to say after the game.
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The Commanders are already in a hole with a 1-3-1 record after five games, so they can ill-afford to continue making these kinds of mistakes.
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