This time last year, Dan Quinn was a Coach of the Year contender in his first year piloting the Washington Commanders. In the latest proof that sustained success is not guaranteed in the NFL, Quinn now finds himself in a seat that, in a best-case scenario, is lukewarm.
The former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator is in the line of fire yet again after the Commanders' lifeless (literally) 31-0 loss to the previously 4-8 Minnesota Vikings. Washington has now lost eight straight games, and Sunday's defeat was arguably the worst of them all.
As such, Commanders fans are starting to wonder if Quinn should be back next year. Dean Jones of Riggo's Rag isn't quite there, but the loss prompted a harsh assessment of the 55-year-old.
"Just a few short days after head coach Dan Quinn proudly proclaimed that his Commanders squad was not lost anymore, he endured another embarrassing afternoon at the office in a game that was expected to be much closer," Jones wrote.
"... Quinn's decision to keep Daniels on the sidelines, even though he was supposedly ready to return, reflected a newfound hesitancy that hadn't been evident before. Unless the Commanders can salvage something from their four remaining games, the good graces accumulated last season will evaporate completely."
Former Cowboys DC Dan Quinn under fire as Commanders' losing streak reaches eight games
Cowboys fans won’t be surprised by any of that. Quinn’s track record is pretty consistent: whether he’s a head coach or defensive coordinator, his approval tends to erode the deeper he gets into any tenure.
It's bad enough that Quinn is finding it impossible to win games, but that the franchise's savior -- quarterback Jayden Daniels -- aggravated the elbow injury that kept him out of the previous three games is the proverbial line in the sand for Commanders fans.
Daniels pushed to play again amid widespread dialogue about shutting him down for the remainder of the season. He was cleared to play and got in two full practices last week.
The Bengals are going through the same conundrum with Joe Burrow. It's hard to tell your franchise QB to ride the bench if they are healthy. But on the other side of the coin, it's easy to get on board with shutting Daniels down in the name of preserving his health. With the season over, the last thing Washington needs is for Daniels to suffer a serious injury in meaningless games.
"Did Daniels force the issue?" Jones asked in another article. "Is Quinn under that much pressure that he gambled with the player's health? Did the medical team feel almost obliged to clear him for contact after participating in two straight practices?"
That these questions are even being asked speaks to the shaky ground on which Quinn is standing with four games left to play.
It seemed unlikely that the former Cowboys DC would be in danger of losing his job a year after taking Washington to the NFC Championship Game, but an eight-game losing streak is impossible to defend, and Sunday's 31-0 loss came a week after Quinn said, "We lost, but we're not lost anymore" following an overtime loss to the Broncos.
The Commanders are still lost, perhaps more than ever.