Commanders coach Dan Quinn is taking over as defensive coordinator, replacing Joe Whitt Jr. after Washington lost its fifth consecutive game amid a disappointing campaign, the franchise announced on Monday.
Whitt is still a member of Washington’s coaching staff and will help the team prepare for Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins in Madrid.
“Tough decision, to go into that. Hopeful that there will be the kind of execution, the consistency that we’re searching for,” Quinn said. “That’s the only reason behind the move, so that’s what I’m going to have to chase first.”
The Commanders allowed 44 points and 546 yards in an embarrassing showing against the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon.
Washington has allowed at least 28 points in each of their last four games. The disappointing defense ranks 29th among the NFL’s 32 teams in points allowed per game.
The coach will be calling plays for a defense without its top two cornerbacks for the foreseeable future.
Rookie Trey Amos fractured his fibula during Sunday’s loss and will miss “a while,” Quinn said Monday.
Top defensive back Marshon Lattimore is already out for the season with an ACL injury, while safety Will Harris is still recovering from his own fibula fracture.
Washington needs a spark, especially on defense. Whitt experimented on Sunday, moving from the booth to the sideline in an effort to jumpstart the group. It wasn’t effective.
Morale in the Commanders’ locker room is a concern.
“The frustration, I get that,” Quinn said Sunday. “No one saw that, obviously, coming, about where we’re at. But I also told them … that’s where we are.”
Three Washington defenders committed personal fouls Sunday.
Defensive tackle Daron Payne was ejected for throwing a punch and suspended for the upcoming game against the Dolphins in Madrid.
“It still falls on the line of execution, your poise, understanding what a team is trying to do to you,” linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “If you are the type of person that can get into it after the whistle, they try to do that stuff. That’s on us. We’ve got to keep our composure. We have no excuses.”’
The questions are piling up for the Commanders. Why has the defense been so underwhelming? Where’s the spark that powered this team through an unlikely playoff run less than a year ago? How does the team turn this nightmare of a season around?
The Commanders have suffered through an onslaught of injuries. In addition to the makeshift secondary, the defensive line is missing end Deatrich Wise and pass rushers Dorance Armstrong and Javontae Jean-Baptiste, who are all out for the season.
On offense, star quarterback Jayden Daniels has missed time along with top pass-catchers Terry McLaurin, Noah Brown, Luke McCaffrey and running back Austin Ekeler.
But every team deals with injuries, Washington’s players and coaches have pointed out. The medical issues aren’t solely responsible for a historically inept run.
The Commanders became the third team in the last 35 years to lose four consecutive games by 20 points or more. But the other two miserable clubs — the 2019 Miami Dolphins and the 2002 Arizona Cardinals — didn’t enter the season with realistic Super Bowl aspirations.
Those Cardinals were in the middle of a 10-year stretch without a playoff appearance.
Fans of the 2019 Dolphins, under first-year coach Brian Flores, were encouraging the team to “Tank for Tua,” intentionally losing games to obtain a better draft pick to select Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Flores later claimed in a lawsuit that team owner Stephen Ross was also encouraging him to lose, offering $100,000 for each defeat.
The Commanders aren’t knee-deep in a rebuild, like the Dolphins and Cardinals were. They made the NFC championship game last season. They found their franchise quarterback in Daniels, the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Prior to the season, few analysts foresaw a 3-7 start, a five-game losing streak or a league-worst defense that is deteriorating each game.
Pessimistic predictions pegged the Commanders as an 8-9 club, citing regression in one-score games and a tougher schedule after last year’s breakout.
Through 10 games, Washington would be lucky to finish 8-9 with games remaining against the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos, the wild-card contending Minnesota Vikings and a pair against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
The defensive play-calling change and an overseas trip — which began with a transatlantic flight on Monday evening — could help Washington snap the skid.
“This too shall pass,” linebacker Frankie Luvu said on Sunday. “We just in the storm right now.”