Washington Commanders’ head coach Dan Quinn appeared very likely to be on the hot seat after Sunday’s time-management gaffe led to an overtime tie with the New York Giants, dropping his team to 1-3-1 on the season.
But according to NFL reporter Josina Anderson, Quinn is safe for now:
Washington had two golden chances to win Sunday’s matchup and blew both of them.
The first came in regulation, when the Commanders took a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter but failed to kill the game off, getting just one first down on their final two drives while allowing the Giants to score touchdowns on consecutive drives.
The second came in overtime after the Giants missed a field goal on their first drive and running back Cam Skattebo fumbled on the team’s second drive. It was a pair of reprieves for Washington, and it appeared they were on their way to a victory after driving the ball to New York’s 26-yard-line with just 12 seconds remaining.
But the Commanders ran one more play and didn’t seem to be on the same page at all, as Jayden Daniels scrambled waywardly, receivers ran down the field and the Commanders—without any timeouts remaining—weren’t able to spike the ball before the clock hit zero.
After the game, both Daniels and Quinn took blame for the gaffe.
“That last sequence… throw it out of bounds, clock it, give yourself a chance to kick,” Quinn told reporters. “We pride ourselves on those moments at the end of games. And after the first-down run, still trying to gain more for the kick, and the right call honestly is that we can go clock it early. Don’t put ourselves in that spot. And that’s my responsibility, nobody else’s.”
Firing Quinn midseason after he led the team to the playoffs in 2024 and has had to deal with the injury concerns of Daniels since would perhaps have been harsh. But the Commanders are now just 6-15-1 since the start of the 2025 season, and if Quinn doesn’t get them back on track soon, he’s in real trouble.