Commanders Keep Fighting, but Dan Quinn Keeps Falling Short

Watching the Washington Commanders in the first half of Monday Night Football was like a scary rollercoaster ride without the fun hills. I literally had to do a double take at halftime when I saw the box score and realized the 49ers had 17 first downs, the same number of plays Washington ran, as the offense failed to sustain drives and the defense struggled to end them. Those problems compounded each other. Honestly, to be down only 20-3 at the half was surprising after that display.

The biggest first-half number was the total yardage: San Francisco gained 303 yards, while Washington gained only 90 and managed just two first downs. What happened in the second half was a combination of things that led to the Commanders somehow fighting back and making a game of it against the undefeated Niners.

Niners fans will be quick to say it was all because Mike Evans went down with a stiff Achilles, and maybe it was because the guy is still a nightmare to cover for the entire NFL. No matter, Washington came back from 23-3 to make it a game in the fourth quarter.

49ers splits with Mike Evans tonight

WOW 👀

Mike Evans ON field:

+0.57 EPA/play, 9.0 yds/play

Mike Evans OFF field:

-0.14 EPA/play, 4.4 yds/play

Passes only:

ON field:

+0.58 EPA/att, 50% success, 11.6 YPA

OFF field:

-0.54 EPA/att, 29% success, 6.8 YPA
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 20, 2026

Oddly enough, Quinn said after the game that the week of practice coming into the game was their best overall this year: "I loved the team’s week of practice this week, and I grade every practice, look at some KPIs that I want to see in each of them. So for a team, it was our best overall week leading to it," Quinn said. "So to have the performance in the first half was certainly disappointing, you know, like I told, um, it gives you a chance to play well. It doesn’t—doesn’t mean you’re going to, and you have to go execute in the spot."

That doesn't sound like what the world laid eyes on Monday night. Those who watched also saw the team commit another "possible" gaffe: on fourth down near the endzone, Jayden Daniels threw the ball away without trying to score. Now, it's easy to say, well, there was also a penalty that could have been accepted, which is true, but if they tried and scored, that would have forced the 49ers to accept the penalty, and Washington could have kicked the field goal. Quinn said afterward that he knew it was fourth down; the video footage and the ability to read lips make most of us not believe him.

“Field goal. Oh, that was 4th down?”

certainly looks like lip readers believe Dan Quinn was completely unaware that it was 4th down and wanted to kick a field goal

💀💀💀 pic.twitter.com/yJYuAUmVZX
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 20, 2026

Regardless of why it happened, Washington outgained San Francisco 224–72 after halftime, and the coaches do deserve at least some credit for the improvement. Of course, the team would be better served by a consistent path forward where they play smart situational football and take the layups when they're available. I know analytics are a major part of the game these days; I get it that he's got someone in his ear telling him the percentages. Until he gets things completely running right, he needs to take the points in those types of games. As it stands, if he had in the first half, they would have been playing to get three points at the end instead of six. Second-stop coaches in year three do not still make those mistakes and stay employed.

READ MORE: Commanders Report Card: Two Troubling Grades Expose Why Washington Fell Short vs. 49ers

Quinn’s Staff Has to Get the Details Right

Another fly in the ointment is that the team gets far too many penalties that seem to hit them at the worst times. Many of those are pre-snap issues, a problem that seems to start with the huddle breaking late in some games. The biggest dagger this week was Chris Paul’s facemask penalty that erased Jeremy McNichols’ 31-yard touchdown that would have been the go-ahead score. I know some will want to mention the intentional grounding penalty at the end, but if you watch that play again, no receivers have turned around at the moment the pressure came in on Daniels. It was better for him to take the intentional grounding and the 10-second runoff than to take the sack without a timeout.

On 2nd-and-10 with 21 seconds left, the #Commanders ran some variation of four verticals. Obviously the interior pressure is what blew the play up, but I just don't get this play call from OC David Blough. It gave Daniels nowhere to go. They still had time for a shorter throw. https://t.co/qVYYAJiZ9I pic.twitter.com/symsvYLTcj
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) October 20, 2026

The bigger question is why David Blough is sending Daniels out with no check-downs or even receivers who peek back in to see if he's in trouble. Without some sort of safety net, the play was open to failure the moment it started. Add that the 49ers sent only three rushers after Daniels, who had six blockers protecting him, and you can see problems here beyond personnel.

The players clearly respond to Quinn, but they need more consistency and control over situational football across four quarters each week. It doesn't help that he has not one, but two rookie coordinators, which adds to the normal growing pains. The problem, of course, is that with only one win, Quinn is facing win-now status with no room for error.

Even as a nice guy, Quinn doesn't need sympathy here, as he painted himself into this corner by hiring those two first-year coaches heading into year three.

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