Dan Quinn’s odds of winning Coach of the Year got a little longer tonight. Or a lot.
Two major coaching flaws stand out from Thursday night. Both are from the 4th quarter.
First, facing fourth-and-2 from the Eagles’ 26 with 8:01 to play and down 12-10, Quinn chose to avoid a potential go-ahead field goal from 44 yards and went for it. Failed.
So instead of potentially giving the Eagles the ball, the Commanders set the stage for a touchdown drive that would make it a two-point game with an extra point instead of being down one with less than eight minutes to play.
Quinn told reporters after the game that it was a “bold decision” despite questions. “But I also want to say we were ready for that moment. Don’t like the run, but we were a good fourth-place team, so we knew we had to take our chances against a tough division. We thought it was the right thing to do. . I definitely don’t like the execution and the results.”
Still, if the Eagles fall behind when they get the ball back, the game changes. Perhaps Quinn had no faith that his defense would be stopped. He should have at least taken into account the fact that kicker Jake Elliott missed two field goals and an extra point.
Nonetheless, even after Saquon Barkley’s interception and 39-yard touchdown, it was still a two-score game. At 26-10 the game was not over.
However, there was no urgent action from the commander. They started their next drive with 4:38 to play. method Too many seconds passed as we approached the end zone. The closer we got, the worse the situation seemed to get.
Asked by reporters if commanders hoped to save more time on the road, Quinn said, “Yes, we were trying… It wasn’t about going slow or anything like that. So, yes, we were on target.” “I wanted to achieve it and score quickly before the two minutes (warning).”
If it was an attempt, I don’t want to see what it would have looked like otherwise.
I needed a commander 2:38 Go from your own 30 to Philly 24. At the two-minute warning, they converted a fourth-and-2 and 19 seconds evaporated until the next snap. It then gained 4 yards with 16 seconds to go before 23 more seconds disappeared. After the next 1-yard gain, the clock went from 1:18 to 56 seconds. After a 10-yard gain on first-and-5, another 22 seconds passed between plays.
In the end, the Commanders succeeded in scoring with 31 seconds left.
If they had acted with a little more urgency, there would have been plenty of time (given that there were still two timeouts left) to get the ball back after the onside kick was missed.
It was strange to see. Everyone involved in the game acted like the game was over once the lead moved to 16 points. It wasn’t like that. (I wondered at some point whether the commanders even knew it was the 4th quarter.)
Details matter. Especially for even the most casual fan, basic details like the importance of getting to the line and starting the play, snapping off and getting the ball down the field are critical to having a chance to force a two-score game. This is especially true if you know that you are doing it. Besides time. Everything comes down to Quinn, whether it’s primarily about offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
After an interception that pushed the score to 26-10, the Commanders didn’t want to risk another turnover and another score, which could have made the 33-10 result look like an embarrassment.
In the end, at 26-18 it looks respectable. It’s not very admirable that they failed to score the final eight points with over 30 seconds on the clock.
