The Washington Commanders have been wildly successful in Dan Quinn’s first season as head coach. Analyst Kyle Brandt believes it has been so successful that other teams would be foolish to try to replicate it, as it’s such a unique situation.
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Brandt began by saying that Jayden Daniels is an “anomaly” whose talents aren’t going to be similar to any future QBs in upcoming drafts. He even mentioned that Daniels sets himself apart from past young successful QBs like Mark Sanchez, Ben Roethlisberger, and Joe Flacco because he’s accomplishing it without an elite defense.
But it’s what Brandt said next about Quinn that is worthy of a few headlines. He had high praise for the veteran coach, calling him a unique person who’s endured the hardships necessary to understand success. Brandt especially brought up the 28-3 Super Bowl meltdown, arguing that, in hindsight, it was a good thing. He believes the comeback from such a loss demonstrated Quinn’s mental toughness and determination.
“I don’t think Dan Quinn grows on trees,” Brandt said to the agreement of his co-hosts. “I don’t think there is a plug-and-play Dan Quinn out there. Remember this, find me another coach who has a historic meltdown in the Super Bowl that would break most coaches, and most human beings. And the next year has that team back in the divisional round of the playoffs.”
Quinn is still remembered for his Atlanta Falcons’ historic collapse in Super Bowl LI. The Falcons were facing the New England Patriots in the latter stages of their dynasty. Atlanta was looking for its first Super Bowl win ever, while the Pats were trying to secure what would be their second to last in the Brady era.
Quinn’s Falcons sprinted out to a 21-3 lead at the half, capped off by a pick-six. Then, with 8:31 left in the third quarter, they extended the lead to 28-3. But it was that scoreline that would forever burn itself into Quinn’s and Falcons fans’ memories.
Brady led the Pats to 31 unanswered points, culminating with a James White walk-off TD in overtime. It’s perhaps the most heartbreaking loss in NFL history, as well as the most impressive win. The team has only been back to the playoffs once since—the very next season, which Brandt referenced. He thinks that this post-season run after such a loss is an indication of Quinn’s resilience as a coach.
“We’re so far removed from 28-3. I’m almost looking at it as a positive for Dan Quinn… Because I’m so impressed that he recovered from it. It’s incredible.”
This entire discussion began when Brandt’s co-host pointed out that the Daniels-Quinn turnaround in Washington should give other fanbases hope — like the Raiders, Jets, and Browns, who have been stuck in misery for years.
But Brandt says that it’s not enough to change a head coach, quarterback, or coordinator, as the Commanders did. Teams that are stuck in mediocrity need a complete ownership facelift, like the Commanders got when Dan Snyder sold the team, he argued.
“If you’re a downtrodden franchise, you’re not going to change owners. That’s almost definitely not going to happen… That is a massive, massive part about what happened to Washington. I don’t think if the prior regime and ownership were there, we’d be having this conversation.”
It’s the sad reality about being an NFL fan and a sports fan in general. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what coaches or players are in place. If the ownership doesn’t go all out to win, they probably won’t. And many teams are more than okay with staying semi-relevant, so that fan interest stays just high enough so they won’t have to relocate. It happens in every sport.
Sports, like most businesses, are successful from the top down. If the ownership and front office isn’t great, the team will suffer. We saw that with the New York Giants and Saquon Barkley this past offseason. It starts at the top and works its way down, exposing flaws during the process. Good owners address those flaws while bad ones don’t even notice them.
