- 19 hours ago
ESPN's John Keim breaks down Washington's painful 23-17 loss to San Francisco and addresses the viral speculation surrounding Dan Quinn’s fourth-down confusion. Can the Commanders turn their season around?
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SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome in John Kahn, ESPN Commander's Reporter.
00:04John, good morning. Thanks for waking up super early, man. We appreciate it.
00:08I got a flight to catch. I'm all good. Let's go.
00:12What's Levi's Stadium like? What's that atmosphere like?
00:17Just okay?
00:18Yeah, it's a good atmosphere.
00:23It's a knowledgeable fan base. It's always full.
00:27I think it's very good.
00:29I wouldn't say it's the best. I think it's very good.
00:33Hey, John, so initially all of us were kind of stunned when we saw this replays questioning
00:38whether or not Dan knew what was going on there in the fourth quarter,
00:40and then you hear his explanation, and then you're like, I don't know if I believe the guy.
00:43And that's how I kind of came in this morning.
00:45You mean against the Giants?
00:46No, last night.
00:47Oh, you said fourth quarter.
00:48I'm sorry.
00:50Jason, I give Jason credit. Jason looked at it a few times,
00:53and Jason now convinced me that Dan isn't lying.
00:55Jason, go ahead and tell John what your theory is on what happened there.
00:58I think that he thought that it was a pre-snap penalty,
01:01and they would just back him up five yards.
01:03Or hoping that it was.
01:04Yeah, and they would still have the fourth down to kick the field goal.
01:07And then he said, and his head said, oh, it's first down?
01:10Oh, F.
01:11Oh, F.
01:11Because then he knew San Francisco had the ball.
01:13And that makes sense to me.
01:15That does make sense, because that was, yeah, that does make sense.
01:19And because otherwise, like, here's the other part.
01:22Like, last week, he wasn't shy about the whole thing.
01:26I mean.
01:26Owning it.
01:27You know what I mean?
01:27Yeah.
01:28Yeah.
01:28And so, you know, I just had to take somebody at their word.
01:32I'm not a lip reader.
01:34I think that looked, I know, we all know how it looked.
01:37Yeah.
01:37Especially, I think you're looking at it also based off what happened last week.
01:42Like, not again.
01:43Right.
01:43So, but it seemed like inconceivable that the sidelines and anybody wouldn't know that it was fourth down.
01:51Yeah.
01:52Yeah.
01:52I think they all knew.
01:54Yeah.
01:55And I think Jaden, and frankly, people are criticizing Jaden for throwing away on fourth down.
02:00Okay.
02:00I think there's two things.
02:01I think, A, Jaden knew the play was dead.
02:03He saw it and kind of gave up on the play, which is, you could say, bad.
02:06I think also he's been wired to not, you know, he doesn't want to throw a pick six, potentially.
02:10That's the worst case scenario.
02:11If he throws a pick six, you guys are murdering him.
02:14Oh, for sure.
02:15Yes.
02:15I think, to me, the part on the play that I wondered about is, does he leave the pocket too
02:23soon?
02:24He was like, yeah, Antonio Williams running a hitch on the other side.
02:26Yeah, that might be true.
02:27Yeah.
02:28And that's where the part where I said, that's not, I'm not even saying like, oh, but that's the part
02:34where I would wonder more about.
02:35Because that was, as soon as he breaks, as soon as he gets to the outside, like, the way they
02:40were playing him with the linebackers too, like, they were basically sometimes using two guys to spy on him.
02:45Yeah.
02:46And they took that away.
02:47So people saying that it was just an automatic bad decision, I believe, are wrong.
02:52There was nothing there.
02:54But once he left the pocket, there was nothing there.
02:58And, you know, you have Fred Warner charging at you pretty fast.
03:03And I think if you watch the game, you saw how that team hit as hard as anybody I've seen
03:08in a while.
03:09Yeah.
03:10And so, like I said, do you want to hang on the ball?
03:14Yes.
03:15I think, you know, if he hangs on the ball too long, then he gets hit and he gets hurt.
03:20And it's like, why did you do this?
03:21Why did you do that?
03:22I don't know.
03:23But, like I said, I have less of an issue with that because there was nothing.
03:29And I know, could you have extended it?
03:34Well, people just want to just throw it willy-nilly anywhere.
03:38It's fourth down.
03:38You just got to get rid of it.
03:39And I just think those people are wrong.
03:42Yeah.
03:42Well, yeah.
03:43Because, again, you could do that.
03:45But there was nothing.
03:48Again, I go back to could he have – the question I have is more, could you have stayed there
03:53a kick longer and hit Antonio Williams?
03:56Because his eyes started to shift.
03:57I think that's fair.
03:58Williams was wide open.
03:59I think that's fair.
04:00Yeah.
04:00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:01He was.
04:02And so, like, that's – but that's, you know, yeah.
04:05I've never –
04:06That might be a problem that he has, that he leaves the pocket too soon.
04:09That might be something that you've got to work on.
04:11But didn't Jaden say he needed to execute better on that play?
04:14So he was taking –
04:16Yeah.
04:16Yeah, maybe.
04:17Yeah.
04:18I mean, he's just taking a bullet.
04:19Well, what's funny is he actually – JK, he actually looks left on that play when he's rolling out.
04:24He's looking left.
04:25Williams is right there.
04:26But for whatever reason, he doesn't throw it to him.
04:28Well, at that point, once he starts running left and Williams is across the field, that's a much harder throw.
04:34Yeah.
04:35I'm just talking about, like, standing in the pocket just in the course of the play.
04:37He throws across his body.
04:39He throws a pick six.
04:40You guys are going to murder him.
04:41Yeah.
04:42He's going to be throwing in the end zone.
04:43He's not going to be a pick six.
04:44Why?
04:44Those have never happened?
04:45There's also a guy in the back corner.
04:47That's never happened before.
04:48That's never happened.
04:49I'm sorry.
04:49I agree with Troy Aikman.
04:50It's a dumb decision.
04:51Eric's not going to criticize Jaden.
04:54That's not true.
04:54I told you he probably left the pocket too early.
04:56He misses open guys.
04:57He's not going to throw a pick six there.
04:59He's not saying he's perfect.
04:59My guy – no one's ever thrown a 99-yard pick six?
05:02It's – what are the percentages of that?
05:04I don't know.
05:04It's possible.
05:05But not on that particular play he's not.
05:07I would say I don't know that he's thinking if I throw a pick six.
05:11I just wondered if –
05:12I think he also thought the play was dead.
05:13He saw the flag too.
05:15I think both of those things.
05:16Well, yeah, I think he saw – I think he was aware of the flag.
05:18He didn't know what it was.
05:19Yeah.
05:19So if you think it's –
05:21I heard him say that.
05:22Right, right, right.
05:23Exactly.
05:23And so if you think it's offside, you can do whatever, right?
05:27Yeah.
05:28I do – like I said, I think the bigger thing to me was just could you have stayed in
05:33there
05:33– because when he's in the pocket, his eyes start to shift left, but then do you feel the rush
05:39more?
05:39And like if you would – he hangs in.
05:41We've seen him hang in there.
05:42It's not a matter of that.
05:44But he – but I would wonder from his perspective, did you feel like you – like you – and
05:48I didn't see the – I didn't see that the coach's version – the coach's film version
05:52until after we – but that's the one thing I would wonder, like, did you feel like maybe
05:56you could have stayed in there just a tick longer and had that versus whatever happened
06:01after that?
06:02Hey, John, through six weeks, the pre-snap penalties, the illegal shifts have been a huge
06:07problem for David Blau.
06:08Do you think he can get that cleaned up heading out of the bye week?
06:11Can that get tidied up?
06:13You would – you kind of have to.
06:16Whether he can or not, I don't know.
06:19It's supposed to be cleaned up this week.
06:20Like, those shifts are – like, that's a – I don't know what – the players have
06:31to execute that.
06:32Like, some of these aren't – you know, it's like, okay, you have to stay a tick – you
06:38know, it's just 1,001, right?
06:41You know what I mean?
06:41You've got to be set.
06:42You've got to – some of that is for sure on them.
06:45And then it's like, how are you coaching this?
06:49And, you know, sometimes it could be – and I'm just – this is just generalization,
06:54right?
06:54But sometimes it could be how long you've taken the players to get in the huddle.
06:57And then are you giving them enough time at the line to execute all this stuff, right?
07:00So, like, it could – that's where you can see responsibility.
07:03But sometimes it's just like you've got to execute it better.
07:06I don't – you know what I mean?
07:08I don't know – but the problem – I say that, and then the problem is it's happening
07:12way too often.
07:13And the same with the false starts, et cetera.
07:15Those things are happening way too often.
07:17Those are a myriad of reasons, right?
07:19Again, could be how long it takes to play to get in the huddle.
07:22It could be cadence.
07:24It could be crowd noise, right?
07:26It could be a few things.
07:28But that – but whoever is at – whoever can fix it has to fix it because they're not
07:34good enough.
07:34The Niners had more penalties than these guys did.
07:37Yeah, yeah.
07:37But they're not good enough.
07:40They don't have enough – they don't have the same margin for error that other teams
07:44do.
07:44So, when you're doing this, like, to me, like, you better – if you're – if you feel
07:48you're undermanned with injuries, et cetera, you've got to play a lot sharper.
07:54I also wonder sometimes with – when you get into these situations with a new offense, like,
08:01do you sometimes have them do not so much too much, but are you throwing too much at
08:07them real fast?
08:08And do you have to not scale the offense back, but maybe reduce some of the volume?
08:15I don't – you know what I mean?
08:15Like, I don't – and I don't know that's the answer.
08:17I'm just – it's general.
08:19Speaking generally, I don't know.
08:20Because I don't know if it keeps happening because it's kind of confusing that it does
08:24keep happening.
08:25And it's cost them.
08:26It seems like these penalties cost them all the time.
08:28They're just, you know, all the time.
08:30All the time.
08:30It was super frustrating knowing that those of us that are just average fans can sit
08:35there and know you've got to find a way to – limit McCaffrey, Kittle, and Evans.
08:39It's got to be some way.
08:40And, of course, they couldn't.
08:42It was probably the only reason why they were able to get back in the games because Evans
08:45went down.
08:47Yeah.
08:48You know, Terry went down too.
08:49Although, you're right.
08:50Like, that's – because the second half defense was much better.
08:52And you do wonder about that.
08:54They did put better pressure on Purdy, so that helped as well.
08:57It took forever.
08:58Why did they not do that?
08:58Why did they not pressure more early?
09:00Because he's really, really good against the blitz.
09:03That's why.
09:04And so, I think there was a little bit – their defense is blitzing, right?
09:09They blitz.
09:10They don't blitz more than anybody because Minnesota does a ton.
09:12But they're one of the top teams blitzing.
09:14In the first half, I think they blitzed – I want to say it was like once.
09:18Yeah.
09:18It was really bad.
09:19Not enough, in my opinion.
09:23So, sorry.
09:24My alarm was going off.
09:25You're what?
09:26My alarm was going off.
09:28Hey.
09:28But it was – they just were more aggressive.
09:32But that's their style.
09:34The first half, they did not play that.
09:35And the second half, they did.
09:36JK, real quick.
09:37We were taking calls from fans, and they're just blaming DQ for everything, especially
09:43after what happened on the –
09:44I've heard.
09:44Yeah.
09:46It's just my opinion.
09:48I just feel like if Josh Harris lets him go during the bye week and makes a change.
09:52They're not going to.
09:53I don't think so.
09:54No.
09:54I wouldn't either because –
09:55They're not going to.
09:55Because the season's still salvageable with a bad division.
10:00Correct.
10:01That's why.
10:02So, they're not making a change.
10:05Like, the only way I think the conversation really gets lit is if they had had just an
10:12embarrassing loss.
10:14And you had another one of those gaffes.
10:16Right.
10:17And that's why in the first half, it's like –
10:19Half time.
10:19We were trending that way.
10:20Because I would say this.
10:22Like, before the game, it was like, they're not making it – I know.
10:24I was told they're not making a change.
10:27So, that – you know.
10:27And the only scenario where the conversation would be like, is this something now that
10:33has to be done, would be that.
10:34But there's a couple things.
10:36One, it is about – they know that they had injuries.
10:40You know.
10:41Now, I will say, like, last night, I know Terry was out.
10:45But they were playing poorly in the first half.
10:47That wasn't about injuries.
10:48You're on defense.
10:49You are healthier than you've been at any point, period, in more than a year.
10:53So, that's not an excuse there.
10:55And, like, last week, it was not about the injuries.
10:57Like, you just blew it.
10:58So, you can't keep falling back on that because it's just not the case.
11:03But what they did know, what the ownership group does know is that they are getting healthier.
11:08And so, what can you do with a healthier group?
11:11And the NFC East stinks.
11:13You are still, technically, you're right there.
11:16Right.
11:16Now, I was talking to Austin Eckler afterwards.
11:18He's like, yes, they are.
11:19The division's bad, et cetera.
11:21But you have to win.
11:23You have to win at some point because that's the only way you stay in it.
11:27Like, they're in it because it's bad, not because of what they're doing.
11:30So, to really get into it, you've got to start winning games.
11:34But they look at, you know, you have Philly coming off the break.
11:37And you have the Giants a couple weeks later.
11:38You have a chance in the division to make up ground.
11:40All those reasons.
11:41And plus, the other thing they know is Quinn hasn't, like, whatever people don't always like him.
11:47He hasn't lost the locker room.
11:48So, I think if the locker room had turned on him, then I think he's like, okay, this is not
11:54a good situation.
11:55But that, you know, whatever, like, again, for better, that's not the case.
12:03And this is what you hear from players, right?
12:06You know, so all of that adds up as to why they weren't going to make a chance.
12:10I don't know that they feel like they have, you know, I don't know what alternatives they would have there.
12:16But that really is the case.
12:18And if you did that early, like, it doesn't turn with an interim coach.
12:21It's just not.
12:22So, if their minds are still in it, and they are mathematically, and you have to win.
12:27But they are, and so that's why they're going to stick.
12:31John, thanks for waking up and joining us so early.
12:33Safe travels back to the East Coast, my friend.
12:35We'll talk to you soon.
12:37Thanks, guys.