Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels are in the spotlight again — for all the wrong reasons.
Eight days after the Washington Commanders coach and his quarterback were criticized heavily for not leaving enough time on the clock to try to win a game in overtime, the team may have committed another game-management blunder.
With the Commanders trailing 13-3 against San Francisco and the ball on the 49ers' 13-yard line on fourth-and-two, Daniels rolled out while facing pressure and threw it out of bounds.
The Commanders then were called for an illegal-shift penalty, giving the ball back to the 49ers.
After the call, Quinn appeared to be visibly frustrated on the sidelines.
"If the situation is what it presents as, where (Quinn) says 'field goal', that's what it looks like, we're lip-reading, we could be wrong, and then he goes, 'oh, fourth down,' coming off last week, it's just not a good look for the head coach, not a good look for the full operation of the Commanders," ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky said at halftime of the television broadcast.
After the team's 23-17 loss, Quinn denied he was confused about what down it was.
"I definitely knew it was fourth down. We were going for it," Quinn said. "I think what you are referring to, I was probably saying with the illegal shift, there's not a penalty to go for a field goal. It's a turnover on downs."
When asked about the play, Daniels said: "I've just got to execute better in that situation, regardless of a flag or not."
The Commanders fell to an NFC East-worst record of 1-4-1.
Last week, the Commanders allowed the clock to run out in overtime, preventing the team from attempting a game-winning field goal. The mistake forced the Commanders to settle for a tie with the New York Giants.
Near the end of Monday's game, with the Commanders attempting down 23-17, the team also made some interesting calls.
With 3:01 left and the Commanders facing fourth-and-eight at the 49ers' 29-yard line, Washington elected to go for it but then had to use its first timeout with the play clock running down.
Washington did get a first down, but eventually turned the ball over on downs.
The Commanders then forced a three-and-out, but lost time because they had given up one timeout earlier. The game ended with Daniels being sacked near midfield.
In 2024, with then-rookie Daniels and first-year head coach Quinn, Washington reached the NFC Championship game. But the team regressed to a 5-12 record last year.
