Dan Quinn's fourth down process is genius and it's why the Commanders have been historically great when it matters most
One of the easiest and biggest storylines of the upcoming Washington Commanders-Detroit Lions showdown is both teams' aggressiveness on 4th down.It should make the game really interesting. While the Commanders went for it on 10 fewer occasions than the Lions during the regular season, they finished with an NFL-best 87.0% conversion rate that also represents […]
One of the easiest and biggest storylines of the upcoming Washington Commanders-Detroit Lions showdown is both teams' aggressiveness on 4th down.
It should make the game really interesting. While the Commanders went for it on 10 fewer occasions than the Lions during the regular season, they finished with an NFL-best 87.0% conversion rate that also represents the best rate in league history. The Lions' 66.7% conversion rate on 4th down tied with the Los Angeles Rams for seventh-best.
Jayden Daniels' abilities and offensive scheme aside, there's a reason why the Commanders have been so successful on 4th down: Dan Quinn's process and communication with Kliff Kingsbury is exactly what every NFL coach should be doing during games.
I've covered the NFL professionally for almost seven years, now, and I can't recall a coach discussing their 4th down process like Kingsbury did on Wednesday.
"DQ does a great job of letting me know, really, prior to the drive, 'Hey, from this point on, you'll have it, you know, 4th-and-3-and-less or 4th-and-5-and-less,'" he told reporters. "So it definitely helps, the fact that he's so on top of it prior to the drive, how I call the play, the play sequencing, you know, third down can really become a second down at times. That's been a great kind of marriage with us.
"I'm always saying, 'Let's go for it on fourth down.' So he's got to just not listen to me half the time. But he does try to get me the heads up, which allows me to call that drive differently."
The best part about the process is the fact it opens up Kingsbury's play sequencing, like he mentioned. That trickles down to the players, as well, and when everyone is on the same page, then there isn't any of the potential hesitation or extra thought that can hamper a 4th down attempt.
It's not something that develops just before the game, either. The Commanders start working on communicating their plans on how aggressive they want to be and whatnot early in the week. That gives things plenty of time to be conveyed, received, and then implemented by the time the game kicks off.
"We start on Tuesdays, the first part of the plan, and then we meet each day as a group, and [give] the message that we want to have – the connection," Quinn said on Thursday. "So it goes from my spot, to the coordinators, [to] the assistant coaches, and then once I start hearing it back from the players, then I know each level-down of communication and it coming back up, that's when we really hit our marks.
"So if I say something in a staff meeting, and I hear a player saying it back at practice, then I knew the communication hit all the levels."
This week in particular is going to be huge when considering how aggressive the Commanders are on fourth down, as well as communication in general. Ford Field will be electric and communicating on fourth down (and every other down) will be absolutely necessary to help extend drives that calm the crowd. And, obviously, converting the fourth downs will be massive if converted.
Third down "stops" aren't going to mean anything in this game and it should add a very entertaining layer that will certainly help guide the final outcome.
Terry McLaurin’s matchup against Lions secondary is the key to unlocking Commanders offense in Motown
There's the overall game of football and then there's the multitude of matchups within the game that provide the final outcome. One such matchup in this week's contest between the Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions is Terry McLaurin vs. the Lions secondary. The Commanders' star receiver is having the best year of his career and […]
