Washington Commanders and NFL pundits called on the team to fire Dan Quinn after their Week 5 tie. Quinn, though, will get a chance to turn things around in Washington. He received a golden opportunity to quickly change the narrative with his club after Sunday.
The struggling NFC East continued to struggle during the Week 6 weekend action. In fact, all three of Washington’s division rivals lost.
The Philadelphia Eagles fell again for the fourth straight game while the Dallas Cowboys dropped their fourth contest of the season. The New York Giants also lost and benched veteran quarterback Jameis Winston.
That gives the Commanders a great opportunity Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers. Defeat the 49ers, and they would move ahead of the Eagles and Cowboys in the standings. It would also place the Commanders only one game back of the Giants for first place.
Commanders Have Golden Chance to Move Up NFC East Standings
It’s early in the season to be watching the standings. They really don’t matter right now with 12 weeks still left in the campaign. But teams that have struggled early on don’t want to fall behind too far in their division races.
In most NFL divisions, that would be the Commanders. They only have one win after five weeks. But no team in the NFC East won during Week 5. The same occurred Sunday in Week 6.
The Commanders are the last hope for the division to avoid going winless in back-to-back weeks.
Obviously, the Commanders have a tough matchup. The 49ers are arguably the top team in the league and enter Monday with a perfect 5-0 record. The Commanders have also traveled across the country for the game.
But the Commanders can control what happens on the field at Levi’s Stadium on Monday night. That’s typically what NFL teams desire.
As bad as the NFC East has been, how many more weekends can the Commanders count on all their division rivals losing? They need to pick up a game in the NFC East race with a win Monday.
Washington Aiming to Rebound vs. 49ers
A victory against the 49ers would go a long way in the NFC East standings. But perhaps a lot more importantly, it’s key for the Commanders to bounce back after what happened last weekend.
Washington fans probably don’t need a reminder that Quinn, quarterback Jayden Daniels and company didn’t just have a gaffe but committed one of the worst clock management errors in recent NFL memory last Sunday. The Commanders had the opportunity to defeat the Giants with a last-second field goal in overtime. Instead, Washington never attempted the kick because time ran out after the team called a running play without a timeout.
In the aftermath of the mistake, Quinn and Daniels received significant criticism, particularly Quinn. A lot of pundits argued it would have been appropriate to fire Quinn.
How the Commanders respond Monday night will indicate how well they will deal with the adversity from the Week 5 ending. Winning the game would change the feelings around the Commanders dramatically.
Commanders Have Terrific Opportunity Monday Night Against 49ers