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3 things to know about Washington Commanders HC Dan Quinn, Lions' playoff opponent
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- 3 things to know about Washington Commanders HC Dan Quinn, Lions' playoff opponent
The Washington Commanders , the Detroit Lions ' opponent in the divisional round, upended expectations by a massive margin and are now playing with house money.
Washington beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round on the road with a game-winning field goal as time expired to continue their magical season. Coming into the year, Washington was far from a consensus for playoff conditions and had a win total of 6.5 , which they have doubled with their first-round win.
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On top of striking gold with No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels at quarterback , the Commanders' new leadership led by new owner Josh Harris also hit on their front office and coaching hires. First-year general manager Adam Peters is one of the frontrunners for Executive of the Year and coach Dan Quinn has pressed all the right buttons in terms of coordinators and game management to get Washington to 13 wins.
The Commanders hired Quinn after Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson opted to return to Detroit after being considered a frontrunner. Four days after Johnson confirmed a return to the Lions , the Commanders hired Quinn, who was previously working as the Dallas Cowboys ' defensive coordinator.
Here are three things to know about Quinn and his short time in the nation's capital.
Dan Quinn NFL background
This is the second time Quinn has been a head coach. He led the Atlanta Falcons from 2015-20 and reached Super Bowl 51. His team had a 25-point second-half lead but ended up blowing it and losing in overtime. Under Quinn, the Falcons went 43-42 before he was fired in 2020 for an 0-5 start.
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He got the opportunity in Atlanta after spending his career climbing the ladder as a defensive assistant. He started as a defensive quality control assistant for the San Francisco 49ers in 2001 and eventually climbed to defensive line coach in 2003. He remained a defensive line coach for the 49ers, Miami Dolphins , New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks until 2010.
He briefly jumped to the college ranks to serve as Florida's defensive coordinator before being hired by Seattle again in 2013 to lead the defense. While in Seattle, he oversaw the iconic "Legion of Boom" defenses that led the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl in 2014. After two years leading that defense, he got the opportunity with Atlanta.
After the first coaching stint ended, he joined the Dallas Cowboys for three seasons before being hired by Washington.
Commanders' improvements on defense
A large reason why Washington had the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft was because they had the league's worst defense coupled with not having a true starting quarterback option.
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Daniels answered one issue and Quinn helped improve the other. After ranking dead last in points and yards allowed in 2023, the Commanders now have the 18th-ranked scoring defense (23.0 points allowed per game) and rank 13th in total defense (326.9 yards allowed per game).
On top of the overall philosophical shift, Quinn and Peters added players he was familiar with like Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr. , who played for him in Dallas, and other contributors like linebackers Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu . In the draft, they added a starter in the draft with nickel corner and Michigan alumni Mike Sainristil and a rotational defensive tackle in Jer'Zhan Newton in the second round.
Gamblin' Dan, the D.C. version
On top of sharing a given name, the Lions and Commanders' coaches also share an aggression in game management.
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During the regular season, the Commanders went for it on fourth down 23 times and had a wildly successful 87% conversion rate with 20 conversions. That number ranked 17th in the regular season and paled in comparison to Detroit's 33 fourth-down attempts (fourth most).
But on Sunday, the Commanders only kept the offense on the field. Washington did not punt once against Tampa . They went for it on fourth down five times with three successful conversions, including a touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin to take a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter.
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press . Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22 , and email him at jramsey@freepress.com .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions vs Commanders: 3 things to know about Washington coach Dan Quinn
