So far this year, the Washington Commanders have been riddled with coaching errors and inexcusable mistakes. Their final play against the Los Angeles Rams may also fall in that category.
Down 20-13, the Commanders needed a touchdown to potentially take the game to overtime, to try to win with a two-point conversion. But they never got the chance to make that decision. Washington got all the way down to Los Angeles’ 31-yard line, but instead of trying a short hail mary, they decided to lateral and try to win that way. Head coach Dan Quinn explained the decision after the game.
“Of course, one player takes a shot at the end of the drive and sometimes, the check for that against the team that does what we call a ‘zero blitz’ or a ‘max blitz,’ you
wanna - OK, here’s the other play where you can’t block’em up,” Quinn said. “They did a good job disguising and showing that one. So, we got to the second play of what would have been everybody blitzing, check it down and move forward from there.”
Resorting to the lateral is typically done when a team is not in hail mary range, since a hail mary seems more likely to succeed. But with only 31 yards until the end zone, Quinn’s decision seems odd, and his explanation does not make a lot of sense. Since the hail mary was so short, they would not need as long for the play to develop, and with quarterback Jayden Daniels’ escapability, he should have been able to get the play off no matter what blitz package the Rams defense used.
Did Quinn and offensive coordinator David Blough forget about Daniels’ Hail Mary to beat the Bears in 2024?
With the loss, Washington dropped to 2-5-1 on the season. They will look to redeem themselves after the horrible tie in their rematch against the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Dan Quinn explains decision not to try Hail Mary on final play vs Rams
