3. The special teams unit struggled.
The Commanders view their special teams unit as one of their "flagships," as Quinn called it, but that unit struggled just as much, and at times more so, as the rest of the team. Aside from the penalties, the kickoff group allowed 187 yards on three returns, including a 100-yard touchdown from Henderson on the first play.
"It stung for us tonight," Quinn said.
It wasn't just the returns, although the lapses in coverage were the most glaring. There were struggles with the field goal unit as well. Matt Gay missed a 49-yard field goal, which eliminated the hope spurred from the sack-fumble from Jer'Zhan Newton and recovery from Jacob Martin that set up the offense at New England's 31-yard line. It's a part of the Commanders' game that the coaches emphasize every day in practice, so to have as many issues as they did was "a gut punch," Quinn said.
Quinn also described the performance as "confusing" and "surprising," because he doesn't believe anyone on the team would have seen that as a possibility. It's worth noting that none of the starters were on the field, but to Quinn, that doesn't excuse the others from failing to meet the standards the team has set for the unit.