Dan Quinn’s under enough pressure without one of his predecessors piling on, but Jay Gruden hasn’t gone easy on the under-fire Washington Commanders’ head coach for a “head-scratcher” decision in Week 4.
Gruden spoke with 106.7 The Fan after the Commanders were beaten 30-13 by the Indianapolis Colts in London. The man who coached in Washington from 2014-19 didn’t pull his punches when asked about Quinn going for it on 4th-and-1 from the Commanders’ 46-yard line in the second quarter.
Quinn’s team had a 6-0 lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before rookie third-string quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis handed off to backup running back Craig Reynolds.
Gruden was less than impressed with both the use of personnel and the play design. He pointed out, “if you watch the first couple drives, that right guard (Matt) Gulbin was getting killed and they ran right behind him, and I don’t know if you thought there would be a different event, but yeah, it’s hard. The strength of the Colts’ defense are those two monsters at the three techniques and all that stuff, they have some pretty good people up front. So yeah, that was definitely a headscratcher.”
Quite why Quinn took the risk is unclear, but the man in charge defended his call. Gruden has his own theory, though.
One where the Commanders’ coaches allowed themselves to be seduced by modern NFL trends.
Jay Gruden Believes Commanders Made Trendy Mistake
Gruden thinks the Commanders played the numbers game, instead of smart situational football. He argued, “you just got to throw analytics out the door. I know the analytics probably, hey, fourth and one from at the 45-yard line. It says go for it 85 percent of the time. Well, we have third string quarterback and you got your third-team right guard in and you got a center that just got here, and you got a team that you’re playing against. You got a six-point lead and you’re playing against a team, they haven’t got a yard. I mean, they’re horrific on offense. So, back them up again and maybe you get a sack safety, maybe you get a force fumble backed up.”
This is a sound argument given the context the Commanders were facing. Losing veteran QB Marcus Mariota to an early knee injury only compounded the problem of already being without star signal-caller Jayden Daniels and his top target, wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
Quinn knew offensive coordinator David Blough’s unit was hamstrung, so this was the moment to lean on defense and special teams. Particularly when Washington’s defense had the Colts under wraps.
Unfortunately, all of that changed once Reynolds had been stuffed for no gain. As JP Finlay of NBC4 Sports noted, “The Colts’ 5 possessions before Dan Quinn’s 4th down attempt: Fumble, punt, punt, punt, interception. After the failed 4th down attempt: TD, FG. Indy never trailed again.”
Momentum permanently deserting the Commanders after the ill-fated fourth-down call makes Quinn’s defense of the decision a tougher sell.
Dan Quinn Defense of 4th-Down Call Creates More Questions
Quinn tried to play down any criticism of the logic behind going for it on fourth down in his own territory. Instead, Quinn maintained reaching the line to gain was well within the Commanders’ power.
He told Finlay, “In that instance, man, we’ve got to get the space to create it. It was less than one.”
This naturally raised another question about whether Reynolds was the right back for the job. He’s a 216-pounder, but Reynolds isn’t known for his short-yardage skills, and the former Detroit Lions rotational runner only rejoined the Commanders in mid-August.
The Commanders would surely have been better served having RB1 Jacory Croskey-Merritt on the field. Or else rookie Kaytron Allen, the sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft who was selected, in part, to replace a former power back and short-yardage specialist.
Quinn offered a worrying explanation for why Reynolds’ number was called. The coach revealed “It was by happenstance. We did an on-the-ball shift, so it was more by happenstance. We didn’t full sub. It was a specific package that we had worked on.”
So the Commanders weren’t prepared with the right personnel on the field. That’s an indictment of Quinn and his coaching staff. Just like the decision to run at powerful Colts defensive tackles led by the outstanding DeForest Buckner.
The Commanders appeared unprepared throughout a day littered with procedural errors. Those mistakes led to 10 penalties for 84 yards and prompted an expletive-laden tirade from an angry starter.
Frustration is understandable when Commanders coaches struggled to manage key situations. Quinn and his assistants also failed to use personnel correctly and call the smartest plays.
All of those issues contributed to a disastrous call that did as much harm as an injury during the Commanders’ latest defeat.
Ex-Commanders Coach Slates Dan Quinn for ‘Head-Scratcher’ Decision