Dan Quinn has made changes to Commanders’ defense after awful struggles, but it’s not the answer fans will want to hear
Will there be any real changes on the field after Dan Quinn’s latest move?
The Washington Commanders’ season is off to a rough start with a 3-4 record as they head into Week 8n to take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Injuries to key players have been a major part of their struggles, but the biggest liability on the team is actually one group that’s been pretty healthy since the start of the season. Losing Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin for multiple games is never easy to recover from, but the Commanders still had a chance for a better start if it weren’t for the poor play by the defense.
Changes have been made by head coach Dan Quinn after an embarrassing loss to the Dallas Cowboys, but it’s not the changes fans are hoping to hear.
Dan Quinn finally makes small changes on defense
It’s been seven weeks of seeing the same pattern on defense over and over again, and nothing has been done about it. The defensive line has done its job for the most part, but the biggest struggles have come from the linebackers and secondary, who are only missing Will Harris with an injury.
Quinn has been asked about the explosive plays and poor showing by the defense since the Green Bay Packers game, and he said he finally made a change that will have different results. He didn’t make any changes to the coaching staff or players on the field, though, and he decided to look at the plays themselves instead.
“I think what you’ll see is improved play,” Quinn said. “I think that’s obvious in that we want to dig in. So, when we wanted to look and assess where we needed to make changes and make adjustments, sometimes they’re not these big overhauls that go, that make the major improvement. It’s these small calibrations and adjustments. And so that is definitely underway as we get out of practice today, I’m looking forward to seeing the speed. We’re trying to eliminate the hesitation, and we will do that.”
“Here’s the reason I wanted to go through and look at the calls to say what calls are
causing some hesitation,” Quinn added. “If we could eliminate some of those calls, I think that would allow us as a unit to play faster. And so, I haven’t seen the speed that I’ve wanted, but I know we have speed. So, the part of that to say, ‘Okay, how can we feature some things that we can absolutely go?’ Less hesitation, less misstep, and eliminate what could happen, what could happen, and really allow us to play more freely. So that’s what I tried to dig in as hard as I could, and now we have to go apply it.”
More changes could be on the way
Changing plays and taking out certain calls might work, but bigger changes could happen with how the Commanders’ schedule is built. Allowing 44 points and over 400 yards to the Cowboys was just the start of a tough stretch coming up. It might take a lot for Quinn to make drastic changes, but a poor showing against the Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks, and Detroit Lions, who all have top offenses, could be enough to end the season and call for a change.
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