OPINION:
It would have been nearly impossible to overshadow the pathetic on-the-field performance of the Washington Commanders in Sunday night’s blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks in front of a sell-out home crowd and national television audience.
But coach Dan Quinn found a way.
His egregious sideline decision to leave Jayden Daniels in a game with his team losing 38-7 and Daniels running for his life all night, looking to find practice squad receivers ended, predictably, with the fragile quarterback suffering a gruesome dislocated left elbow.
It wasn’t really a decision. It just kind of happened.
Asked after the game if there was any consideration given to taking Daniels out of the game, Quinn responded, “Yeah. Not at that space.”
By space, I assume he meant time. Space. Time. It’s all very cosmic.
“I mean, obviously like the hindsight, you don’t want to think that way, where an injury could take place,” Quinn said. “You know, obviously we’re more conservative in that spot to run and hand off and not have reads to go, but just the end result — obviously, I’m bummed.”
By Monday, the coach was still bummed.
“Yeah, the hindsight part is the hardest one,” he said when he was asked about leaving Daniels in a game that was already lost. “You know, that’s what I think about all night and nonstop … I just missed it. Honestly, there’s no other reason behind that.”
Speaking of hindsight, it seems like there was little or no discussion Sunday among the coaches about whether to sit Daniels, who was sacked four times (the injury occurred on the fourth) and pressured on 17 of his 34 dropbacks — the highest rate of his short career.
How does that happen?
Do you know how many people are on the Washington coaching staff? The team’s website lists 29 staffers.
You mean none of them maybe tapped Quinn on the shoulder or said something in those headphones, “Dan, he’s running for his life out there. He just came back from a hamstring injury. He missed time from a knee injury. Did you look at the scoreboard?”
I mean, the Commanders (3-6) not only have an offensive coordinator. They have an assistant head coach/offensive pass game coordinator. They have a quarterbacks coach. They have an assistant quarterbacks coach. They have an offensive quality control coach. They have an offensive assistant.
Two quarterbacks coaches. Two of them.
They have a senior vice president of football initiatives, and I can’t think of any football initiative more important than protecting their most important asset.
They got more, including a host of defensive coaches as well besides defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr., which also may be hard to believe considering how poorly this defense has played, surrendering 135 points to their last four opponents and allowing Seahawks (6-2) quarterback Sam Darnold to have a career night, completing 21 of 24 passes for 330 yards and four touchdowns.
Asked Monday if he was considering making any coaching changes, Quinn said, “We’re going to look at everything.” But he insisted he has confidence in both the players and the coaches.
“The executing? Man, it’s the players, it’s the coaches, it’s all of us … my belief in the players is high and the staff is high.”
In between all the processing and digging, there are legitimate reasons for the defensive meltdown. They had a slim margin for personnel loss, and they have lost three key defensive players — their two best pass rushers, Deatrich Wise and Dorance Armstrong and safety Will Harris, plus others.
But that doesn’t account for the lack of preparation exhibited by the players Washington is sending out there every week. Sunday night, they weren’t ready to play.
Same with the offensive side of the ball. Daniels hasn’t played with the full starting offensive yet this season. He’s only played two games with his best receiver, Terry McLaurin, who was out Sunday night.
Noah Brown, the No. 2 receiver, barely saw the field this year.
Austin Ekeler, their best running back, was injured in the first game of the season and is out for the year.
Luke McCaffrey, who was emerging as a solid receiver and kick returner, went out with a broken collarbone after the first play of the game Sunday night.
They’ve been dealt a bad hand with injuries. They haven’t compensated with good coaching. Lord knows what that army of coaches they have is doing. Certainly not protecting Daniels.
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