Retour
Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn faced fresh calls from some fans for his firing after the team fell to 2-5-1 and remained third in the NFC East.
The calls came during and after Sunday’s 20-13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Northwest Stadium, the team’s fifth loss of the season, which ended with a fumble inside Rams territory in the closing seconds.
Puka Nacua’s 7-yard touchdown catch from Matthew Stafford broke a 13-13 tie with 12:51 left, and Washington never answered.
After a punt, Washington’s next possession started at its own 12 with 5:26 left. Myles Garrett’s third sack of the afternoon dropped Daniels for a 12-yard loss and set up fourth-and-17 at midfield. Daniels’ fourth-down pass then fell incomplete, turning the ball over on downs with two minutes remaining.
Down seven, Washington took over at its own 9 with 52 seconds left and drove to the Los Angeles 31, aided by a Jayden Daniels completion to Stefon Diggs and an offside penalty on the Rams.
But the Commanders failed to finish the drive cleanly. After Daniels spiked the ball with nine seconds left, his deep shot to Diggs fell incomplete. With three seconds remaining, Washington completed a short pass and tried to keep the play alive with a lateral, but the ball came loose, and the Rams recovered as time expired, sealing the 20-13 loss.
One fan’s post-game response was blunt: “Fire Dan Quinn.”
Another fan was left searching for an explanation: “How do the Commanders constantly botch situational football this badly?? How.”
Former NFL safety Ryan Clark raised a question of his own: “Dan Quinn is not going to be able to beat those late game debacle allegations is he?”
Clark’s question lands four weeks after the October 11 overtime tie with the New York Giants. With no timeouts and the ball at the New York 24, Daniels was sacked for no gain with 12 seconds left, and time expired before Washington could snap it again. The game ended 27-27 without a field goal try, and Quinn threw his headset to the ground.
Quinn kept the blame on himself in the days that followed. Asked later that week about his talks with offensive coordinator David Blough, he replied, “I’ll continue to take responsibility, first off, for the situation. But I’m also saying yes, it has been dissected, discussed and corrected internally.”
Daniels, the one who took that sack, pushed back on the criticism of his coach that same week: “Don’t even put it on the coaches. I got to be aware, more aware, go out there and manage the game, right? And I did not do that.”
In the 2026 NFL season, the Commanders rank No. 24 in PFN’s Team Impact Metric with a grade of 69.7.
Several voices turned to how the team is built and run, from the coaching staff to the front office. One fan brought Daniels into the case against Quinn: “Poorly coached team. Dan Quinn needs to go. Wasting Jayden Daniels’ talent…”
Daniels went 24 of 35 for 274 yards and a touchdown against the Rams.
Another fan’s list went beyond the head coach: “Fire Dan Quinn. Fire David Blough. Get Jayden Daniels a damn OL!” Daniels was sacked four times, three of them by Garrett.
One fan looked past the coaching staff to general manager Adam Peters: “I’d fire Peters and Quinn ASAP. What they’ve done with the offensive line is malpractice.” Washington ran for 60 yards on 19 carries.
Commanders podcaster Al Galdi said, “The defense is getting better. The offense has become a major disappointment.”
He then took the longer view: “Washington over its last 20 regular-season games now is 4-15-1. Brutal that this is where we’re at in Season No. 3 of Adam Peters/Dan Quinn.”
Washington now has four days to regroup before visiting the first-place Giants on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium. New York is 5-2-1, while Washington sits at 2-5-1. It will be the first meeting between the teams since their 27-27 overtime tie on Oct. 11.