In this week’s Reacts survey, we asked Hogs Haven readers two questions regarding the state of the Washington Commanders as the team enters its Week 7 bye.
A question of confidence
The first question was our standard pulse check: Are you confident in the team’s direction?
- No: 74%
- Yes: 26%
Interestingly, that 26% positive mark represents an 8-point jump from the 18% registered after Week 6 despite the Commanders suffering a second consecutive loss. While nearly three-quarters of the fanbase remains skeptical—understandably so after a grueling
1-4-1 start—the modest uptick suggests that a few days of distance from game action have allowed a little bit of perspective to seep back in.
What Hogs Haven readers want to see from the team after the bye
Our second question tackled the immediate road ahead: What do you want to see from the Commanders after the bye week?
- Rally around Dan Quinn, fight to win games, and reach the postseason: 64%
- An interim head coach to replace Dan Quinn and a shift in focus to the 2027 season: 36%
Taken together, the results of the two survey questions tell a revealing story about where this fanbase stands at the mid-autumn break. While 3 out of 4 fans remain uneasy with the broader direction after six weeks of frustration, nearly two-thirds flatly reject the idea of waving a white flag on the 2026 campaign. There is a tangible difference between acknowledging a disappointing start and surrendering to it, and Hogs Haven readers clearly believe that letting Dan Quinn and this squad fight through the storm offers a far better path forward than triggering an organizational fire drill in late October.
The case for measured optimism in the “second season” that starts after the bye
To anyone staring strictly at the standings, talking about a postseason push might sound borderline delusional. The bad news from the first 6 weeks is well known, painful to recount, and needs little rehash here: missed opportunities, fourth-quarter breakdowns, and an offense that was severely hindered when quarterback injuries disrupted Weeks 2, 3, and 4.
Yet, nearly two-thirds of our readers voted against pulling the rip cord. As Alex Rowsey aptly put it in the comments, it is hard to stomach punting on an NFL season when the NFC East remains completely up for grabs.
Look around the neighborhood. The Philadelphia Eagles have lost Jalen Hurts for the rest of the season, have dropped 4 straight games, and look vulnerable heading into the Week 8 road game against Washington. The Dallas Cowboys, despite avoiding the quarterback injuries that partly-derailed Washington’s early slate, have also dropped 4 of their first 6 games and look just as out of sorts. Meanwhile, the New York Giants sit just 2 games ahead of Washington and enter this weekend as double-digit underdogs against the Houston Texans.
Nobody is running away with this division. In fact, Washington’s remaining strength of schedule over the final 11 games is among the easiest in the NFL, which seems to open up a world of opportunity – if the team can make some meaningful improvements during this week’s lull in the action.
The secret ingredient to success
Most importantly, Jayden Daniels has played high-caliber football behind center and continues to display significant upside. As offensive coordinator David Blough and defensive coordinator Daronte Jones gain comfort and rhythm in their play-calling duties, the units around Daniels should improve steadily. If the coaching staff utilizes the bye week to incorporate more quick reads, rhythmic RPOs, and enhanced and aggressive defensive looks—points raised repeatedly by commenters and media—this team has plenty of room for meaningful growth.
Dan Quinn, Josh Harris, and the executive reality
In addition to the Reacts surveys we carry out on Hogs Haven, SB Nation conducts regular weekly national (even international) polling of fans across the fanbases of all 32 teams via email. This week, one of the national survey questions asked which coach would be the first to be fired this season.
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I think the national press and most NFL fans are reading the situation in Washington all wrong. It seems to me that a hell of a lot more would have to go wrong for the Washington ownership group to consider parting ways with DQ in the midst of his 3rd season.
It’s true that a sizable 36% contingent voted for an interim coach to replace Quinn in our Reacts survey this week, and several commenters made thoughtful arguments about clock management and late-game execution. But owner Josh Harris is an experienced professional sports owner who understands the value of organizational stability. Harris knows all too well the damage caused by knee-jerk, emotional reactions to early-season adversity.
There is an old, reliable axiom in professional management that applies to both business and sports: a good executive supports his guy 100% right up until the exact moment he doesn’t.
That is not an empty cliché; it is how professional organizations operate — and Josh Harris knows how to run a professional organization. As long as Dan Quinn is the head coach of the Washington Commanders, he holds the complete, undivided support of ownership. Harris has shown throughout his ownership career that he prefers to evaluate a full body of work across an entire 17-game campaign rather than pulling the plug mid-stream. Quinn will be given every opportunity to navigate through these waters, and I would hope that fans will be pulling for him to succeed — our survey results indicate that most Hogs Haven readers will absolutely continue to root for the team to win games and earn a playoff spot. Personally, I expect Quinn to succeed in turning the 2026 season around, and I expect him to remain the head coach into 2027 after doing so.
Consistent leadership and direction over a period of years has been proven to be more effective in the NFL than constantly lurching from one vision of leadership to another based on short term results. With 11 games left to play in the 2026 season, there’s a lot of time left to right the ship, but that opportunity would be lost if the mob mentality of “fire everyone” were to be adopted by Harris because of a tough few weeks to open the season.
Charting the path back to relevance
If you are looking for a reasonable roadmap to a season turnaround, consider how the next month sets up.
Coming out of the bye, the Commanders face a wounded Philadelphia team, followed by the 2-4 Rams, and then a rematch with the Giants (who’ve just made the QB switch to JJ McCarthy). Winning those 3 games is entirely within reach, and doing so would vault Washington to 4-4-1, putting them right back at the .500 mark with 8 games to play.
From there, the schedule remains exceptionally favorable. Winning 4 of the 6 winnable games between Weeks 11 and 16 (Bengals, Cardinals, Titans, Texans, Falcons, Vikings) would have Washington sitting two games above .500 heading into a pivotal Week 17 clash in Jacksonville.
With one of the easiest remaining schedules in football ahead of them, the Commanders could put together a string of victories reminiscent of the 2012 Redskins (from 3-6, 7 straight wins to close out the season) or the 2015 team (from 2-4, 6 wins in the final 8 games; 7 wins in the final 10). Heck, even the 2020 Football Team won a division title in a weak NFC East by going 5-2 in the final 7 games after a 2-7 start.
We’ve seen the burgundy & gold turn mid-season losing teams into division champions three times in recent years; all of the ingredients seem to be in place for the same thing to happen in 2026 — hopefully, though, with more postseason success than the 2012, 2015 & 2020 division champions enjoyed. With Jayden Daniels healthy and playing, postseason success like 2024 is possible to achieve again if the team can do what is required now to reach the playoffs in January.
Washington’s next game
The first 6 weeks of 2026 tested everyone’s patience, but the franchise has been here before, and the ‘second season’ begins on Sunday Night Football in Week 8 when the Commanders host the Eagles at Northwest Stadium at 8:20 pm.
Currently, the Commanders are favored by 3.5 points at home against the Eagles, with an over/under of 40.5 points.
Let’s hope this is the first giant step towards another notable mid-season turnaround and a successful postseason campaign!
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Confidence of the 3 other NFC East fanbases
