Dan Quinn is supposed to be a defensive genius. After all, he landed a second head coaching job with the Washington Commanders in 2024 because of his work with the Dallas Cowboys as defensive coordinator for three seasons.
One year and six games into the Quinn era in Washington, his defense still stinks.
Let’s look at the numbers for this season:
- Scoring defense: 13th
- Total defense: 26th
- Run defense: 20th
- Takeaways per game: T-29th
- Pass defense: 23rd
While some of those numbers may not look as bad as those of other teams, consider that Washington’s defense padded its stats against lesser offenses like the Giants (Week 1) and the Raiders (Week 3). In Week 5, the Commanders dominated the Chargers, an excellent team, but one with a struggling offensive line.
The playbook is the same for Washington opponents. Target linebacker Bobby Wagner in the passing game, target Mike Sainristil or Marshon Lattimore in the passing game, use motion to get the Commanders on the move and confuse them. There’s more, but you get the point. Every week, it’s the same plan with the same results.
In Monday’s loss to the Chicago Bears, even Washington’s run defense fell apart. D’Andre Swift hasn’t exactly lit it up since signing with the Bears ahead of the 2024 season. He has two games with over 100 yards rushing: both against the Commanders. In Monday’s loss, even when Washington knew that Chicago would hand the ball off to Swift, the Commanders could not stop him.
There’s only so much that quarterback Jayden Daniels can do to cover for the defense. Daniels took to the podium on Monday night, taking blame for the loss to the Bears, due to his fumble. He was partly right. Had he not fumbled, there’s a good chance of the Commanders continuing the drive and running the clock out. At the very least, Washington would have punted, pinning Chicago deep and making them earn it. However, what Daniels didn’t say — and will never say — is that he’s the only reason Washington took the lead.
It’s time for Dan Quinn to fix this. There isn’t a lot Quinn can do with the roster, but there are moves he can make, as far as benching underperforming players or taking over playcalling. Quinn was 12-5 as head coach last season. He did an excellent job, proving to be the leader this team needed at the perfect time. He and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt’s defense weren’t very good. Again, it was Daniels and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury who did the heavy lifting.
One major issue for the Commanders right now is the regression of three key performers: safety Quan Martin, linebacker Frankie Luvu and cornerback Mike Sainristil.
Everyone saw Martin’s poor tackle attempt against the Bears that allowed a lifeless Chicago team back into the game on the drive before Daniels’s fumble. Had Martin stopped or slowed Swift down, perhaps the defense would’ve forced another field goal. After all, Chicago had already attempted five. While Martin hasn’t been terrible ll season, he hasn’t looked like a player Whitt said would be one of the NFL’s best safeties.
Luvu was an All-Pro last season. He’s been largely absent this season, and not just as a pass rusher. He’s missed tackles at an alarming rate. He’s made very few game-changing plays.
Finally, there is Sainristil. His falloff is massive. He’s one of the most targeted corners in the NFL. Quarterbacks are consistently going after him and succeeding. He had one drive on Monday where a penalty gave the Bears a first down instead of a third-and-long. On the same drive, he allowed a big catch and a touchdown. Fortunately for him, the touchdown was nullified due to a Chicago penalty.
So, what’s the problem? Is it a coaching issue? What has changed? It’s not like any of these three players has gotten older overnight. It’s Quinn’s job to figure that out.
This team is too reliant on Jayden Daniels to bail out a consistently poor defense. You can only do that for so long.
In the Week 5 win over the Chargers, second-year linebacker Jordan Magee played 12 snaps. He was highly effective in those snaps. He played one snap on Monday. Why? The team consistently raves about Magee. OK, so let’s find out what he can do with more snaps.
Rookie cornerback Trey Amos is thriving. He’s Washington’s best cornerback. The Commanders are slow on defense. Why not allow some of the younger players to receive more snaps? What can it hurt? Is Quinn being too loyal to players like Wagner? No one is saying Wagner should be benched, but his snaps should decrease.
We’re not sure, but Quinn is being paid to figure it out.
Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio were criticized for years for their poor defenses in Washington. Two years in, how are Quinn and Whitt any different? It’s time Quinn found some answers. No one expects a top-five defense. However, this team does very few things right consistently. Washington can only apply consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks when it plays a bad offensive line. The pass defense is wretched. The run defense, once thought to be above average, now appears to be a problem. And, finally, this team cannot force turnovers.
That’s a lot.
But if the Commanders hope to make the playoffs again, it’s Quinn’s job to find some answers. Right now, things appear bleak.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Dan Quinn must find answers for defense
