Dan Quinn’s odds of winning coach of the year went up a little more tonight. Or a lot.
On Thursday night, two major flaws of the coach stand out. Both from the fourth quarter.
First, facing fourth-and-two from the Eagles’ 26-yard line with 8:01 left and trailing 12-10, Quinn opted to avoid a potential go-ahead 44-yard field goal and went for it. Failed.
And so, instead of potentially giving the ball to the Eagles, down one point with less than eight minutes left, the Commanders set the stage for a touchdown drive that, with the extra point, made it a two-score game.
“Bold decision,” Quinn told reporters after the game, without being asked a question. “But I would also say we were prepared for that moment. I don’t love the execution. But we’ve been a great fourth-down team. So coming in we knew we were going to have to shoot against a tough division team on the road. We thought it was appropriate. “I certainly don’t like the execution and the result.”
Still, the game changes if the Eagles are trailing when they get the ball back. Maybe Quinn didn’t have faith that his defense would stop. He should have at least considered the fact that kicker Jake Elliott had missed two field goals and an extra point.
Despite that, it was still a two-score game even after an interception followed by a 39-yard touchdown run by Saquon Barkley. At 26-10 the game was not over.
And yet the commanders showed no urgency. They began the next drive with 4:38 left. Shape Too many seconds passed as they approached the end zone. The closer they got, the worse it seemed.
When asked by reporters if commanders hoped to save more time on that trip, Quinn said: “Yeah, we were trying to… It wasn’t about going slow or that part. So, yeah, we wanted to get the score down quick. Try to score it quickly. before the two minutes (warning), for sure.”
If that was trying, I’d hate to see what it would have looked like if it wasn’t.
Commanders were needed 2:38 to go from his own 30 to Philadelphia’s 24. At the two-minute warning, they converted a fourth-and-2, and 19 seconds evaporated before the next snap. Then, after a four-yard gain to the 16-yard line, 23 more seconds disappeared. Then, after gaining one yard, the timer went from 1:18 to 56 seconds. After a 10-yard gain from the 15 to the five, another 22 seconds passed between plays.
Finally, the Commanders scored with 31 seconds left.
If they had moved with a little more urgency, they would have had enough time (given the two timeouts still available) to recover the ball, even after a botched onside kick.
It was strange to see. Everyone associated with the game acted as if it was over once the lead rose to 16 points. It wasn’t. (At one point, I wondered if the commanders even realized it was the last quarter.)
Details matter. Especially when even the most casual fan knows that basic details like the importance of getting to the line, making the play, snapping, and getting the ball downfield become critical to having any chance of forcing a two-point play. over time. Whether it’s primarily offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, it all depends on Quinn.
It’s almost as if, after the interception that brought the score to 26-10, the Commanders didn’t want to risk another turnover and another score, which would have made the 33-10 score look embarrassing.
In the end, he looks respectable at 26-18. It’s not so respectable that they didn’t get the last eight points with more than 30 seconds left.