The Washington Commanders did not have a happy conclusion to the Cinderella run. In the NFC Championship game, the Philadelphia Eagles’ 55-23 score screams a reality check. Jayden Daniels and the company’s four turnovers were the main cause of their downfall.
Every time, Philadelphia scored 28 points off of them, punishing them. But before Washington coughed up the ball, Skip Bayless thought they were done. Indeed, in the first drive of the game.
Talking on the Skip Bayless Show, he said: “It’s 4th-and-3 at the [Philadelphia] 16-yard [line]… in Philadelphia… and Dan Quinn shocked me. He did not go for it. He sent out the field goal team, and effectively that was game over. That took some of the heart out of… Jayden Daniels’ team,”
On the first drive, coach Quinn decided to settle for a field goal, which Bayless detested. Washington’s fourth-down performance has been outstanding.
During the regular season, they converted on fourth down an incredible 87% of the time (20/23). In the Wild Card round, they hit at a 60% rate (3/5) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They converted at a 75% rate (3/4) against the Detroit Lions in the Divisional Round.
Bayless went on: “He’s gonna convert it. He’s gonna score a touchdown. And 7-0 would have felt way different than 3-0… Dan Quinn let that team down. That was his only hope, was to cash on 4th-and-3. Cash a touchdown and show the Eagles, ‘we came here [on] serious business. We’re all business’,”
On the first drive, Washington even converted two fourth downs. Quinn, however, retreated from the reins and chose to try for three points in the red zone. After then, Philadelphia’s first offensive play put them ahead, and they never looked back.
