LANDOVER, Md. — Bronko Quinn wasn’t fazed in the least.
“Just, the doctors did come in and evaluate me, made sure I was good. Stopped the bleeding. … They had too many people around me. I said, ‘Go take care of the guys.’ But I was certainly thankful for them as well,” Mean Joe Quinn said Sunday after the Commanders had put the Raiders away, 41-24, in a game whose turning point came with four seconds left in the first half.
That’s when Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota, playing for the injured Jayden Daniels, scrambled left, ran to the sideline to stop the clock — and plowed over his head coach, full speed. Mariota planted him; his face mask hit his coach square in the nose. Quinn’s headset flew off his head, and he cracked the back of his head on the ground. Blood flowed from his nose; there was an abrasion on the back of his head.
“I realized (who it was) as I was getting pushed, and I was trying my best to hold him up,” Mariota said.
After which, Saquon Quinn got back on his feet. And his team was stoked.
“He’s a bad m———–,” center Tyler Biadasz said.
Quinn watched Matt Gay’s 56-yard field goal to end the half, went to the locker room, saw the doctors at halftime, may or may not have gotten a few stitches to his nose, and came back out for the second half — which his team dominated at all the important moments.
“Toughness comes from the top down,” said pass rusher Von Miller, who got his first solo sack of the season Sunday.
“Whenever you see somebody that leads the ship go down like that, and bounce back up, everything he preaches to us, we feel like we saw that in that moment,” linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “He got knocked down, got hit pretty hard. And he ain’t got no pads on or nothing. Bounced back up. It was kind of like a movie. While he was getting treatment, we weren’t sure he was going to be able to come back out. And so we’re gathering everybody. I’m getting ready to speak. And then he comes out of nowhere, and he’s like, ‘I got it.’ It was just such a cool moment.”
And what did Jack Tatum Quinn say?
“I don’t know if I can repeat those words,” Wagner said. “Very colorful.”
Micah Quinn was a pretty solid player back in the day for Salisbury University, as a linebacker and defensive lineman. He’s been a tough-minded defensive coach in the NFL for almost a quarter-century, working his way up from defensive line to defensive coordinator to head coach. For sure, Quinn seeks out the human side of his players, works to get to know who they are and what makes them tick. But his mantra remains: “Hard S— With Good People.”
He talks, over and over, about wanting a football team that will fight, figuratively, and play with physicality and toughness. “Play style” isn’t a cliche for Quinn; it’s his whole raison d’être. In a year-plus, he’s been a chief catalyst in the Commanders’ transformation from an NFC doormat to a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Washington built up to a crescendo last season, making the NFC Championship Game. This year will be tougher.
Much tougher, if Quinn’s postgame visage was any indication.
Washington has played in fits and starts to start 2025. But the Commanders had to get this one over the sleepy Raiders, who had to fly 2,400 miles east after playing Monday night at home, while the Commanders had 10 days to lick their wounds after getting throttled by the Packers.
Players decide games, and Sunday’s game was decided, almost completely, by guys wearing the home burgundy. Deebo Samuel took the opening kickoff 69 yards to set up Washington’s first touchdown. Mariota, who was accurate with the ball and, other than a first-quarter fumble after a 22-yard run, was nearly flawless, throwing for 201 yards, one touchdown late to Luke McCaffrey and a 118.6 quarterback rating.
Running back Jeremy McNichols broke four (!!!!) Raiders tackles, including one by his former Commanders teammate Jeremy Chinn, en route to a 60-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Commanders rookie Jaylin Lane returned a third-quarter punt 90 yards for a score that broke the game open. And the Commanders’ defensive line dominated Las Vegas, stuffing rookie back Ashton Jeanty (17 carries, 63 yards) and sacking Geno Smith five times.
So, am I making too much out of Too Tall Quinn’s toughness, and the impact his return had on his team?
“It absolutely juiced the sideline up,” said Washington guard Chris Paul. “We have an absolute warrior as a head coach, and that’s just a small example.”
Players have to buy what their coaches sell, in every sport. Sunday, the Commanders made big changes on their offensive line, benching second-year man Brandon Coleman and veteran guard Nick Allegretti in favor of Paul and Andrew Wylie, who started at right guard. Quinn couched Coleman’s benching afterward as simply “competition,” nothing more or less. Which … maybe. But it also continues to let the other 70-plus guys on the active roster and practice squad know that Quinn means what he says about being ready all the time, and always having to work for your supper.
Coach Dan Quinn celebrates with Von Miller in the second half. (Jess Rapfogel / Getty Images)
The revamped O-line led the way to a second 200-plus yard day on the ground in three games, with Washington averaging 6.3 yards per carry. (Yes, that’s inflated a bit by McNichols’ long TD run. Still.) Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby wasn’t heard from much at all, with rookie tackle Josh Conerly Jr. holding his own throughout the day.
But it could go south in a hurry if players didn’t really believe what their coach preaches. Quinn’s guys are all in. He had to tell Daniels early in the week that he was going to sit, and no amount of pleading by the franchise QB was going to change his mind; Quinn had to do the same with Matt Ryan in Atlanta. Then, he had to deliver similar messages to Coleman and Allegretti.
“When you switch guys out like that, there can be some animosity. There can be some hurt feelings,” Mariota said of the O-line. “But that group is very tight. There was none of that throughout the course of the week.”
The Commanders are still, decidedly, a work in progress. Gay salvaged a day that started with another missed field goal attempt and a kickoff out of bounds by nailing that 56-yarder at the first-half gun. The game hung in the balance until Lane’s house call in the third. The defense, still, has not produced a turnover this season. Washington had another slew of injuries Sunday, which took out three of the team’s four starting defensive backs for stretches, along with Terry McLaurin (quad). Daniels wore a hoodie instead of his uniform. Currently, there’s a long, long distance between Washington and the conference’s best teams.
But this team, definitively, reflects the mindset of its leader — Night Train Quinn.
(Top photo: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)