Dan Quinn Calls Out Jayden Daniels for 4th-Down Mistake, QB Responds After Commanders Loss to 49ers

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn wasn't a fan of quarterback Jayden Daniels' fourth-down decision in the first half of a 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.

"Even when you know there's a penalty, you still take your shot, man, to go throw it, complete it," Quinn said, per ESPN's John Keim. "You don't know if it's gonna get picked up."

With Washington trailing 13-3 and the ball at San Francisco's 13-yard line in the second quarter, the Commanders chose to go for it on fourth down and two yards to gain. Daniels took the snap and launched a pass out of the back of the end zone as a flag was thrown, although the penalty was on Washington.

"I didn't know. It could have been offside, it could have been on us," Daniels said when asked if he anticipated an offside call on the 49ers, per Keim.

There was some buzz surrounding Quinn potentially being confused about what down it was, although he said that wasn't the case.

"Definitely knew it was fourth down," Quinn told reporters after the game. "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 was going to be a 17-14 game; I thought it was probably gonna be a 28-30 game."

The Commanders were still able to pull within one score in the fourth quarter of the contest, but turned the ball over on downs with two minutes left before Daniels was sacked while attempting a game-winning touchdown pass as time expired.

▶️ Full Commanders-49ers Recap

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Daniels finished 29-of-40 for 300 yards and two touchdowns without tossing an interception. He also rushed for 10 yards.

With the defeat, Washington fell to 1-4-1.