{"id":958,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/958","headline":"Dan Quinn denies he was confused about fourth down on MNF","dek":"A viral lip-reading clip from the Commanders' loss to the 5-0 49ers suggested the coach lost track of the down, but he says that is not what happened.","body":"The Commanders' trip to San Francisco to face the 5-0 49ers turned into a game management headache for coach Dan Quinn. On a fourth-and-two from the 49ers' 13, quarterback Jayden Daniels threw incomplete into the end zone, and Washington was then flagged for an illegal shift. ESPN's cameras caught Quinn appearing to ask about the down, and the clip quickly went viral with lip-readers suggesting he didn't realize it was fourth down.\n\nESPN's Dan Orlovsky piled on during halftime coverage with Pat McAfee, saying Quinn should have kicked a field goal instead of going for it. McAfee said it sounded like Quinn didn't know what down it was, calling that \"a real problem.\"\n\nQuinn addressed the moment with reporters nearly an hour after the game. He said he \"definitely knew it was fourth down\" and explained he was actually responding to a question about whether a field goal was possible after the illegal shift penalty, since a penalty on fourth down results in a turnover on downs rather than another chance to kick.\n\nThe sequence came on a day Washington also lost guard Sam Cosmi to injury, adding to the scrutiny on Daniels and the coaching staff's decision-making.","published_at":"2026-10-20T06:20:19.281214+00:00","source_count":3,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Dan Orlovsky blasts Commanders coach Dan Quinn for MNF 4th down mismanagement","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dan-orlovsky-blasts-commanders-coach-041829146.html"},{"outlet":"Pro Football Talk","publisher":"NBC Sports","title":"Dan Quinn on viral clip: \"I definitely knew it was fourth down\"","url":"https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/dan-quinn-on-viral-clip-i-definitely-knew-it-was-fourth-down"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Jayden Daniels, Commanders under scrutiny after another game management mistake","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7706350/2026/10/19/jayden-daniels-game-managment-dan-quinn-commanders-49ers/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Dan Quinn didn’t know it was 4th down on bizarre Jayden Daniels throwaway during Commanders-49ers","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dan-quinn-didn-t-know-012152606.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"A week after mismanaging end of overtime, Commanders coach and QB didn't seem to realize it was fourth down","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/a-week-after-mismanaging-end-of-overtime-commanders-coach-and-qb-didnt-seem-to-realize-it-was-fourth-down-020639431.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Dan Quinn on viral clip: "I definitely knew it was fourth down"","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dan-quinn-viral-clip-definitely-042825027.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"NFL fans think this ‘inexcusable’ Dan Quinn moment will lead to Commanders firing him","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nfl-fans-think-inexcusable-dan-042347748.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"49ers drop Jayden Daniels with game-ending sack for MNF win","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/49ers-drop-jayden-daniels-game-043814237.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Commanders’ Dan Quinn Goes Viral for What He Said During 49ers Game","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/commanders-dan-quinn-goes-viral-052136359.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"‘Jayden Daniels’ Football IQ Is 0.0,’ ‘Awareness Is So Bad’ — NFL World Rips Commanders QB’s ‘Horrible’ Mistake vs. 49ers","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jayden-daniels-football-iq-0-053000805.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Commanders’ Dan Quinn ‘definitly knew’ it was 4th down during viral MNF snafu","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/commanders-dan-quinn-definitly-knew-055651306.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"What Commanders’ Dan Quinn said about crucial fourth-down play vs. 49ers","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/commanders-dan-quinn-said-crucial-064927838.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jayden Daniels Has Message After Near-Comeback Against 49ers","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jayden-daniels-message-near-comeback-070839570.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://s.yimg.com/lo/mysterio/api/b1cc72aef23f79bf7f5096be6d9c83f65d04efcdf7876860c467ae3b8135ec7f/lightyear_networkapi/resizefill_w1200_h675%3Bquality_80%3Bformat_webp/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fclutchpoints_articles_939%2F911bbabbf944a06a07f6b269cc7b33f0.jpg","credit":"Yahoo Sports","width":1200},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}