Instant analysis: Commanders’ stirring effort marred by another Dan Quinn blunder

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said all week that his team responded well from its stunning blunder last Sunday.

“I thought the overall energy and vibe to practice speaks to the locker room, speaks to the leadership,” he said. “I was impressed by our team’s practice.”

But when it came to a game, Washington followed up a tie to the New York Giants with a loss to the San Francisco 49ers, 23-17. The Commanders made a fourth-quarter push — an impressive feat considering they lost their best receiver early in the game — but could not force a tie despite two late chances.

What’s worse, Quinn had another gaffe in the first half that once again has the NFL talking about his job security.

Here are three takeaways as Washington fell to 1-4-1.

Another Dan Quinn controversy

If there was one thing Quinn absolutely needed to master this week, it was sound decision making.

After last week’s shocking meltdown, where Washington let the clock run out in overtime instead of kicking a game-winning field goal, Quinn was under intense scrutiny.

But he couldn’t make it a half without another controversy — where Quinn apparently forgot which down it was.

The Commanders had the ball on the 49ers’ 13-yard-line in the second quarter. It was fourth-and-2 and a field goal would have made it a one-possession game.

Quinn elected to go for it rather than kick the field goal, getting stopped by the 49ers.

But the real discussion occurred after the result. The “Monday Night Football” cameras panned to Quinn after and he appeared to ask whether that was fourth down or not — not even knowing he elected to go for it. At one point, it looked like he is calling for a field goal after the Commanders were stopped.

The apparent mistake, on the heels of last week’s disaster, only increased the discussions of whether Quinn is fit for the job.

Even if Quinn did know, though, the decision was surprising. Washington has struggled in short yardage situations all season and is playing without starting running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt. The Commanders didn’t even have the option to run on that play, spreading out with five receivers.

It begs the question, what gave Quinn confidence they could get the two yards? And if he didn’t think they could run, why not just kick a field goal and get within a touchdown?

Quinn spent all week saying he hadn’t lost the locker room after last week. Starting receiver Terry McLaurin said he still believed in the coaching staff. But every week, it is getting harder and harder to see the path forward.

Where is the offensive identity?

Remember when the Commanders said this year’s offense would be different? They let go of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who got them to the NFC championship game, and hired first-time coordinator David Blough.

They promised to bring a pro-style attack to help Daniels. He would be under center, unlocking the run game and getting him more support than he ever had.

That is essentially gone — abandoned after six games.

Washington is back to playing in the shotgun over 70% of the time. They went under center 10.9% of the snaps against the 49ers, almost 28% below league average.

And with that, the 49ers were right back to teeing off on Daniels. He was hit and hurried all night. Washington was playing from behind the whole game, in obvious passing situations. He was sacked four times for 39 yards and had to take off and run three times.

After placing Croskey-Merritt on injured reserve earlier in the day, the Commanders had to rely on running backs Rachaad White, Jeremy McNichols and Austin Ekeler. They couldn’t get anything going, rushing for a combined 43 yards on 13 carries (3.3 yards per carry). At one point, out of Washington’s 41 plays, Daniels was either passing or running on 30 of them.

Daniels is good enough to make it work. He was 29-fo-40 passing for 300 yards. He brought the Commanders back with two late touchdowns and nearly had a go-ahead touchdown before a drive stalled with two minutes to play.

But it wasn’t enough. He needs help.

That is what the offseason was for. Instead, they are back to the same playbook from 2025.

A passing defense issue

Last week, backup quarterback Jameis Winston eviscerated Washington’s weak secondary. The Commanders were playing a soft zone coverage, and he threw for 326 yards. For context, Winston turned around and was barely able to move the ball against the Saints.

So this week against Brock Purdy, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, it looked even worse.

Purdy picked Washington’s zone apart with 214 yards in the first half. He used his 6-foot-5 target Mike Evans to handle Amik Robertson, a 5-foot-9 corner. Evans had a 55-yard catch and 24-yard catch, both setting up touchdowns.

But it wasn’t just Evans. Washington was playing 10 yards off of receivers, even in the red zone. George Kittle was wide open for a touchdown in the first quarter. He broke off a 35-yard catch in the third quarter.

Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones said he didn’t want to see soft coverage anymore.

“We don’t want to mistake that [zone] for soft or prevent defense,” Jones said. “Like we still wanna challenge guys with that.”

The 49ers were never really challenged.

They were able to bring pressure on Purdy, at least disrupting him in the second half. But receivers were open all night.