The Commanders entered Sunday’s 41-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders already missing star quarterback Jayden Daniels due to injury. They almost lost coach Dan Quinn halfway through the game, too.
As the Commanders — then nursing a 17-10 lead — drove down the field at the end of the first half, Quinn watched from the sideline. But when backup quarterback Marcus Mariota stepped out of bounds, Raiders cornerback Tristin McCollum shoved him toward the bench.
The quarterback hit Quinn full speed. Washington’s 55-year-old boss hit the ground hard as the back of his skull collided with the natural grass at Northwest Stadium.
The coach got a busted nose and a headache for his trouble.
“I felt so bad,” Mariota said. “I was trying to hold him as much as I could, but he bounced up like a champ.”
After the game, with blood still staining his facial hair, Quinn downplayed the hit that players said powered their performance.
“Well, we made the kick,” the second-year coach said, referring to kicker Matt Gay’s 56-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter. “Came in and then went out and started again. But we all had a good laugh about it, for sure.”
His players wove a more grandiose tale of their coach’s perseverance. They were unsure if Quinn would be able to finish the game. He reluctantly received treatment from the team’s medical staff — they stopped his bloody nose and checked for a concussion — while the players gathered in the locker room.
Linebacker Bobby Wagner was ready to give the halftime speech in his coach’s absence. The team needed a jolt. The Commanders held a narrow 10-point lead despite easily outplaying the Raiders in the first half.
“It was kind of like a movie,” Wagner recounted after the game. “I’m getting ready to speak, and then he comes out of nowhere: ‘I got it.’”
The moment might not have had a sweeping score or Oscar-winning camerawork, but it was enough to get the Commanders buzzing.
“Just such a cool moment,” Wagner said. “I’m going to remember that forever.”
The players declined to recount Quinn’s exact message — likely due to the sheer number of expletives from the ever-colorful coach — but emphasized its impact.
A censored recollection came from running back Chris Rodriguez, who rushed for 39 yards in the win.
“He just came in here yelling, ‘Let’s go!’”
If their coach can take a full-speed hit without pads, why couldn’t they dominate against the Raiders?
“He’s a dog. He jumped up like it wasn’t s—-,” defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw said. “We’re going to ride for a motherf——- like that. That’s going to make us go even harder. He’s a real gangster.”
The Commanders came out firing in the second half, invigorated by their coach’s fiery outburst.
A 90-yard punt return touchdown from rookie receiver Jaylin Lane pushed the lead to 17 points. A one-yard scoring run by fellow rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt, which arrived just after a 56-yard bomb from Mariota to Terry McLaurin, extended the advantage to an insurmountable 24 points.
The Commanders dominated in all three phases. The Mariota-led offense didn’t miss a step without Daniels, who is day-to-day with a knee sprain. The rushing attack combined for 201 yards, led by a 78-yard performance by halfback Jeremy McNichols.
Mariota wasn’t flashy through the air. He didn’t have to be.
The third-quarter shot to McLaurin padded the stats as the backup quarterback finished a mistake-free passing day with 207 yards and a touchdown. He added another 40 yards and a score as a runner.
The special teams — led by Lane’s touchdown and a game-opening 69-yard return by receiver Deebo Samuel — made life easier on the offense.
“It creates momentum. And when you’re able to ride that momentum, especially into that first touchdown drive, it’s huge,” Mariota said, singling out Lane’s dynamic return. “That’s just how we were able to get things rolling again and score a bunch of points. When you’re able to play a complete game like that in all three phases, it makes this team hard to stop.”
On the other sideline, the Raiders were struggling to find success against the Commanders’ stout defensive front. Las Vegas running back Ashton Jeanty — the No. 6 pick in this year’s draft — couldn’t find a rhythm.
Jeanty finished with 63 yards on 17 carries, though his 3.7-yard average was boosted by an 18-yard run when the game was already out of reach.
Raiders signal-caller Geno Smith had little time to breathe. The Commanders’ defenders were living in the backfield, constantly harassing the veteran and forcing him out of the pocket and preventing downfield passes — outside of a 45-yard toss on Las Vegas’ first play of the game.
Smith completed 19 of 29 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns to receiver Tre Tucker, though two of the scores came in the fourth quarter after thousands of fans had already cleared the stadium.
Tucker finished with a game-high eight catches for 145 yards. The late surge came too late, as the Commanders had already spent the afternoon hounding Smith.
Washington recorded five sacks, including two from Wagner. The aggressive defense forced six punts in the first three quarters.
“We just wanted to be aggressive. We understood that we have really good, talented players,” the linebacker said. “It was just a great gameplan.”
The complementary football was a coach’s dream.
“This week, we did not miss on those chances. That’s really important, to pass the baton to the next group, the next group,” Quinn said. “Those are winning football moments. When you do it, the story almost writes itself.”
But the game ball didn’t go to Lane for his return touchdown. Wagner didn’t get it for his two sacks, nor did McNichols, despite recording the longest run of his career.
Instead, linebacker Frankie Luvu delivered the honor to Quinn.
The 2-1 Commanders return to action next Sunday against the 1-2 Falcons in Atlanta.
• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.
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