The first half of Monday night’s game included a botched fourth-and-two by the Commanders from the San Francisco 13. After the end zone pass fell incomplete and the Commanders were called for an illegal shift, ESPN cameras caught Commanders coach Dan Quinn surprised to learn it was fourth down.
When he met with reporters nearly an hour after the game ended, Quinn was ready for the question about the viral lip-reading moment.
“Obviously I knew it was fourth down,” Quinn said. “We were going for it, and I was — I think what you’re referring to, maybe I was saying, like, with the illegal shift, there’s not a penalty to go for a field goal. Like, it doesn’t go, like, it’s the down turn. Like, I think someone asked me, ‘Can we kick a field goal?’ So now we were going for it. We knew we had to go for some fourth downs to be bold in the game. I didn’t think it would be a 17-14 game. I probably thought it would take 28, 30 to score, you know, to win it. And so it was on purpose that we would go, but I knew what happened. I think, maybe I was just commenting that I remember, at least in the headset, someone asking me, after an illegal shift, like it was a turnover on downs, and (quarterback) Jayden (Daniels) saw the foul as well. He also came out and saw the penalty.”
You can watch the clip and come to your own conclusion. Again, he looked surprised, not stating a fact. And he had his story straight by the time he arrived at his press conference — along with plenty of post-game time to craft it.
Of course, after what happened last week, Quinn couldn’t afford to admit he didn’t know he was on fourth down. Even if he didn’t know it was fourth down.
