The Commanders’ game against the Rams highlighted Quinn’s point. The offense had 46 rushing yards at halftime but finished with just 60 for the afternoon. They ran the ball just six times in the second half, including two scrambles from Daniels, but they also only ran 10 plays in the third quarter. They faced seven third downs, four of which were at least eight yards, and converted only three of them, the last being the 20-yard catch-and-run from Chig Okonkwo at the end of the game.
Quinn admitted that the run game was not up to the team’s standard, but there weren’t many chances for them to go back to it.
“We’re not getting enough shots at it, and that’s not due just to handing it off more, that’s due to extending drives, and we’ve got to improve upon ourselves on third down,” Quinn said. “We just have to.”
So, what is the solution for improving on third down? Quinn said part of it is performing better on first and second down. Once again, the Rams game is a good sample of the team’s issues. In the first half, the Commanders averaged just over seven yards per play, buoyed significantly by Rachaad White’s 45-yard screen play. In the second half, they gained just 85 yards on first-down plays, and 42 of those came from Stefon Diggs’ reception in the fourth quarter. Take that away, and the Commanders averaged 3.3 yards on 13 first-down plays in the third and fourth quarters.
That has to be better, and Quinn knows it.
“I’m very much looking forward to seeing us execute that at a level that is consistent,” Quinn said.