Despite the Washington Commanders gaining just five wins during the 2025 season, head coach Dan Quinn's job was never in danger. However, one NFL analyst offered a cautionary tale about what may be coming.
Quinn navigated some extreme difficulties in 2025. Injuries decimated his squad. Almost every influential on-field figure missed time. Washington's defense was stagnant, and quarterback Jayden Daniels' lengthy absence made it difficult to build any legitimate offensive momentum.
Those are legitimate excuses, but Quinn made some poor decisions.
Keeping faith with aging veterans rather than younger players with nothing to play for other than pride down the stretch became an ongoing frustration for the fan base. His decision to keep Daniels in the game resulted in a dislocated elbow that he never fully recovered from. And the defense did not improve much after he assumed play-calling duties from Joe Whitt Jr.
ESPN analyst offers Commanders a cautionary tale about Dan Quinn
He never lost the locker room, which was the biggest positive amid the doom and gloom. Quinn also accumulated enough equity from Washington's run to the NFC Championship game in 2024 for a reprieve, but Whitt and Kliff Kingsbury had to be sacrificed in the process.
Bill Barnwell of ESPN acknowledged that Quinn deserves a chance to get things back on track. Even so, the analyst highlighted his similar trajectory with the Atlanta Falcons as reasons for concern heading into a critical third campaign at the helm.
"[Dan] Quinn wasn't able to fix the problems during the season, and the Commanders shook things up by moving on from offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt. Quinn deserves more time to prove that 2025 was an anomaly, but Falcons fans will point out that their former coach peaked early in his Atlanta tenure and never reached those heights again."Bill Barnwell
Quinn led the Atlanta Falcons to a Super Bowl appearance before things tailed off dramatically. He admitted to waiting too long to make changes, an error he wouldn't make in Washington. Hiring two coordinators with no NFL play-calling experience is a gamble, but it at least proves that he is willing to try new things to keep up with the times.
The leash is shorter; there's no getting away from that. However, Quinn has the resolve to bounce back, and the fire still burns brightly. More importantly, the players remain fully on board and will strive with everything they have to ease the burden on their head coach next season.
Hopefully, the 2025 campaign turns out to be a blip rather than something more concerning. If not, Quinn won't be around this time next year.