Daily Slop – 2 Jan 25 – Head Coach Dan Quinn: right man, right place, right time

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders

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Clutch Points

Commanders’ Dan Quinn is sculpting one of best coaching jobs in NFL history

Dan Quinn’s culture change arrived earlier than expected

Quinn doesn’t have Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones, and talented defense like the Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell. He doesn’t have Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and the NFL’s best one-two punch backfield like the Lions’ Dan Campbell. And Quinn doesn’t have Patrick Mahomes and one of the NFL’s best defenses like the Chiefs’ Andy Reid.

So what does Quinn have? He has a dynamic rookie quarterback who has far exceeded expectations. And then he has … waiting … crickets.

Dan Quinn has squeezed blood out of turnip

It starts on the defense side of the ball. The Commanders simply are not good. Yes, they rank No. 8 in the NFL in yards allowed. But that’s because they stand No. 7 in the league in time of possession. A defense doesn’t have to stop people when it isn’t on the field.

The Commanders are No. 19 in the NFL in points allowed at 23.3 per game. Again, that’s a misleading stat, boosted by the same time of possession help.

Dan Quinn has changed the organization

In just one season, Quinn transformed a franchise Dan Snyder spent two decades ruining. Think about how unlikely this has been.

Quinn inherited a history of losing. He inherited a bad roster. He had to start from scratch with a rookie quarterback and a paper-thin receiver room.

There have been so many reasons for the Commanders to fail this year, but Quinn has sailed the ship through storms. Sure, there has been some luck, but the win against the Bears doesn’t happen if the Commanders aren’t close at the end. The victory over the Eagles doesn’t occur if the Commanders give up after a terrible start. And the win against the Falcons doesn’t happen with 60-plus minutes of determination.

Nobody is predicting the Commanders will make a Super Bowl run this year, but if they hit on at least two draft picks in 2025 and sign a pair of key free agents, this team could be knocking at the door next year thanks in a big way to Quinn

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Bullock’s Film Room (paywall)

Key run game adjustment saved Commanders defense vs Falcons

Breaking down a key adjustment that helped save the Commanders run defense against the Falcons

In the first half, the Falcons were able to run almost at will. Bijan Robinson had 14 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Back up Tyler Allgeier had an additional three carries for 19 yards, bringing their first half rushing total to 17 carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns at an average of 5.94 yards per carry.

Yet in the second half, things changed drastically. Robinson had just three carries in the second half for a total of eight yards, Allgeier didn’t receive a single handoff and the biggest run of the half came on a jet sweep to Ray-Ray McCloud for 14 yards, bringing the Falcons second half total to four rushes for 22 yards. That is quite the turn around, so what was the problem for the Commanders in the first half and how did they fix it in the second? Let’s dive into it.

There were two main problems with the run game in the first half. Early on, the Falcons generated a ton of push on the interior by getting double teams on the defensive tackles constantly. They were able to work a bunch of inside zone and duo runs just driving Washington’s defensive tackles off the ball with good double teams up front. The Commanders adjusted by shifting their front so that it wasn’t as easy to get those double teams, which worked to an extent. But that’s when the second and arguably biggest issue came up.

The Commanders really struggled to set an edge in the first half. They consistently got beat on the edge, enabling the Falcons running backs to take the run outside and turn the corner.

Here’s a great example of the issue on the edge. On this play, the Falcons run a wide zone scheme to their right. They send a receiver in motion and have Drake London line up almost as a tight end so that he can sift back across the line and out to the flat to fake a bootleg. The Falcons run this to their weak side, meaning away from the tight end. This means that Dante Fowler is responsible for setting the edge and forcing the run back inside to the rest of the defense. However, Fowler is too focused on being a pass rusher and trying to get up the field. The right tackle is able to widen and knock him outside, preventing Fowler from containing the run on the edge.

With the containment lost, the Commanders need someone else to make up for Fowler’s error. Unfortunately, the slot corner was distracted by the receiver in motion and linebacker Frankie Luvu committed inside too much and got sealed inside by the right guard. This all combines to give the running back a clear lane to the edge. Tyler Allgeier takes that lane and bursts through the line of scrimmage untouched and into the second level. He picks up six yards before being brought down.

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Washington Post (paywall)

Careers used to die in Washington. Zach Ertz’s has been reborn.

After two injury-marred seasons, the prolific tight end has enjoyed a renaissance with the Commanders at 34.

Washington has become a place of second chances, where players and coaches have rediscovered success after previously being cast aside.

Ertz still has started every game this season for the first time since 2018 — when he set a tight end record with 116 catches — and he has been a consistent red-zone threat.

His 61 catches and 610 receiving yards rank eighth and 10th, respectively, among tight ends, putting him among the top 10 at his position all time; Ertz’s 770 career catches are the sixth most, and he recently topped Ozzie Newsome to rank ninth with 8,044 receiving yards.

Ertz’s role in Washington can’t be fully quantified. His production on the field is evident weekly, but behind the scenes he has been a key piece of the team’s makeover.

Coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury believed Ertz would help set a tone alongside other veterans. He would be an example of what is expected and bring a perspective shaped by adversity.

“A true pro in taking care of your body, studying, knowing it inside and out,” Kingsbury said while noting Ertz is also “very quarterback-friendly” as a receiver.

“For a young guy to know that he’s always going to be an option and always give you somewhere to throw the ball, it’s huge,” said Kingsbury, who coached Ertz with Arizona in 2021 and 2022. “And he’s so smart. He is like a quarterback on the field. A Stanford guy, played in a lot of different offenses, knows it inside and out. So he can talk to Jayden and give him great information.”

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Commanders.com

Practice notes | Commanders playing to win vs. Cowboys, lock up No. 6 seed

Because the Philadelphia Eagles already locked up the NFC East with a win over the Cowboys last week, the Commanders will need to travel no matter what happens in Week 18. The difference will be where they go; should they get a win at AT&T Stadium, they would remain in the No. 6 seed and travel to play either the Rams or Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who beat them in Week 1.

If the Commanders slip to the No. 7 seed, they will travel to play the Eagles, who will have a healthy Jalen Hurts and a well-rested Saquon Barkley. Washington did beat the Eagles two weeks ago, thanks to a last-second touchdown pass from Jayden Daniels, so they’ve proven they can be competitive against the Super Bowl favorite. However, playing at Lincoln Financial Field in a playoff environment would be difficult for any team.

The Rams and Buccaneers, while still talented teams in their own right, offer different challenges than the Eagles. A matchup against the Buccaneers would provide the Commanders with a good litmus test of how much they have grown on both sides of the ball, as Daniels was slightly thrown off by Todd Bowles’ blitz-happy defense and Baker Mayfield threw four touchdown passes in a 37-20 loss. The Rams, meanwhile, have won their last five games and been one of the hottest teams in the league after starting 1-4.

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Sports Illustrated

Austin Ekeler could be back with the Washington Commanders for the playoffs

Ekeler, 29, has been on injured reserve with a concussion that has kept him out of the lineup since Week 12 against the Dallas Cowboys.

So far this season, Ekeler has ran the ball 74 times for 355 yards and four touchdowns while catching 33 passes for 346 yards. Those numbers aren’t near his career-bests, but he has been effective for the Commanders in his first year with the team.

Getting him back for the postseason could be a massive boost for the Commanders running back room, which has suffered since losing him back on Nov. 24.

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Commanders.com

Commanders vs. Cowboys preview | It’s Dallas Week (part 2)

QUICK HITS

• The Commanders will travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys in Week 18.
• On the road, Washington is 17-43-2 against Dallas and 46-78-2 all-time.
• The Commanders are looking to break a three-game losing streak on the road.
• This is the fifth time in franchise history that Washington will close the regular season at Dallas.
• With a win, Washington would move to 12-5 on the season, their best record through 17 games since 1991 when the team finished 14-2.
• With a win, Washington would move to 4-2 against the NFC East, their best record against the division since 2020.

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Upcoming opponent

Blogging the Boys

Cowboys loss to Eagles historical notes: It was as bad as you think

Before we fully put the game away and never speak of it again, we have to assess it through the lenses of both team and franchise history. Thankfully tools such as Stathead and Pro Football Reference exist to help make this much easier and more efficient.

Here are this week’s historical notes. Spoiler, they are mostly bad.

The longest winning streak on the season will officially be two

This one didn’t require any fancy searches, but last week marked the last opportunity for the Cowboys to have a winning streak of longer than two games this season as they entered the contest having won their last two in a row. With the loss, the streak dies there given that there is only a single game left on the season.

Offensive ineptitude of this kind has been tolerated twice before recently

On the subject of single and double digits, Sunday was the third game of the season for the Cowboys in which they did not break double digits. This season is now the first since 2017 in which Dallas had at least three games of such kind. You can see that the Cowboys had four then and also had four a couple of seasons prior in 2015.

You may be upset to learn that the Cowboys retained both their offensive coordinator (Scott Linehan in both seasons in question) and head coach (Jason Garrett in the same vein) after each of those seasons.

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Podcasts & videos

MVP Jayden Daniels Debate + Playoffs! + Dallas Preview | Podcast | Washington Commanders | NFL

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Washington Commanders Traveling for Wild Card – But Where? | Lessons Learned from Week 17 | Pro Bowl

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