Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn is under fire for committing an “inexcusable” error in the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers.

The Commanders headed to the Bay Area, hoping to turn their 2026 season fortunes around following a 1-3-1 start. In their last game, the Commanders were forced to settle for a 27-27 draw with the New York Giants that felt “like a loss” after Washington failed to put together a game-winning drive in overtime, leading to a chorus of boos.

However, against the Niners, the Commanders’ competency was again called into question just two quarters in. Trailing the 49ers 13-3, head coach Quinn appeared to forget that his team was on 4th-and-2 on the San Francisco 13-yard line. It came as NFL fans wanted 'dirty' 49ers to be punished after illegal hits.

An incomplete pass was followed by an illegal-shift penalty, with head coach Quinn appearing stunned as he realized his team faced fourth down.

On the ESPN half-time show alongside Jason Kelce, former NFL star Jason McCourty slammed the mishap as “inexcusable.”

The second half was much better for the Commanders, as they outscored the 49ers 14-3. However, it wasn’t enough to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat as San Francisco improved to 6-0 thanks to their 23-17 win.

After the game, Commanders HC Quinn insisted that he knew the team was on fourth down.

Quinn said it was a bold call from the team, who he says knew they had to put decent points on the board to stand a chance of beating San Francisco.

“I definitely knew it was fourth down,” Quinn said. “We were going for it, and I was — I think what you’re referring to, I was probably saying, like, with the illegal shift, there’s not a penalty to go for a field goal.

“Like, it doesn’t go, like, it’s the turn on downs. Like, I think somebody asked me, ‘Can we kick a field goal?’

"So, now we were going for it. We knew we had to go for some fourth downs to be bold in the game. I didn’t think it was gonna be a 17-14 game.

“I probably thought it was gonna need 28, 30 to score, you know, to go win it. And so it was by design that we were gonna go, but I knew what happened.

“I think, I probably was just commenting that I remember, at least on the headset, somebody asked me, after an illegal shift, like it was turnover on downs, and [quarterback] Jayden [Daniels] saw the foul, too.

"He also came out and saw the penalty.”