The Washington Commanders had their season come to an end with a 55-23 loss in the NFC Championship to the Philadelphia Eagles, and head coach Dan Quinn spoke on some of the calls on fourth downs early in the game.
“For sure, living on the ball and working stuff off, we were aggressive on our fourth down opps to do for it, and then once it got out of wack at the end, I don’t know what those numbers would say at the end,” Dan Campbell said, via Zach Selby of the Commanders. “Thought we had to be bold, we had to be aggressive, take our shots against their offense and they worked into that space as well.”
The Commanders converted two fourth downs on the first drive of the game, but then decided to kick it on a third fourth down to take a 3-0 lead. Saquon Barkley then ran for a touchdown on the first play for the Eagles on offense. The Commanders hung around in the game, but were not able to take the lead, and the Eagles eventually ran away with it in the fourth quarter.
It was a wildly successful season for the Commanders, who went from the second-worst team in the NFL by record in 2023, to a contender, largely because of the selection of Jayden Daniels at No. 2 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. The rookie quarterback had arguably the greatest season for a player at the position. With the Commanders having a lot of perceived holes coming into the season, it is an accomplishment for them to make it to this point.
There will undoubtedly be a lot of excitement for the organization next season, as the team has cap space to make additions to give Daniels help. It will be interesting to see who the Commanders add, and how they fare next season when everyone is expecting them to contend.
