ASHBURN, Va. -- Two days before Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn debuted as his team's new defensive playcaller last month, he rattled off the ways the unit could improve. And it would be a group effort.
They would run plays over and over in practice, and if they didn't get them right, they'd eliminate those calls from their game plan. They would conduct more walk-throughs, hoping to cut down on mental mistakes.
They also hoped the change would sharpen the players' focus.
"For sure that was part of the goal," Quinn said that day. "This is not acceptable."
Hint: They already knew that.
"I didn't need a change of anything to know that that wasn't good," safety Jeremy Reaves said. "What we were doing wasn't good enough."
The past two games, with Quinn calling plays, things have been a lot more acceptable for Washington -- even if it hasn't resulted in a win. The Commanders' defense -- after one of the worst five-game stretches in franchise history -- has at the very least righted itself.
Now Washington's defense can do something once thought unlikely: finish strong. It faces weaker offenses in the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants the next two games, then a struggling Philadelphia Eagles group in two of the last three weeks.
If the Commanders indeed finish strong, it could force Quinn to make a decision: Does he continue as playcaller, or does he go back to being the head coach who came to Washington saying he wanted to delegate more responsibilities?
"I haven't gone down that road too far," Quinn said of sticking as the playcaller in 2026. "But, yeah, that's a possibility."
That stems from progress made over the past two weeks, an improvement that could be related to a number of factors: from the quarterbacks the team has faced, to some needed defensive tweaks, to Quinn's involvement. Quinn still receives help from Joe Whitt Jr., who has the title of defensive coordinator and provides what Quinn calls his eyes on coverages.
When asked if he missed playcalling and was perhaps energized in handling this job again, Quinn said: "Missed, yes. Energized, no [laughing]. Calling is a lot of fun. The players energize me."
It helps, too, that they've played more respectably.
Steady progress
But it's not as if the numbers show a defense that was near the bottom and then vaulted into the top 10. Rather, there have been improvements in some areas.
From Weeks 7 to 10, the defense allowed 154 points in losing each game by at least 21 points -- the first time that has happened to the franchise since 1954. Entering Week 11, Washington ranked 28th in scoring and 30th in yards.
The Commanders allowed only 33 combined points in regulation in the past two games -- while surrendering 14 points in overtime. That's their best two-game showing since Weeks 1 and 2, but that also included six points to the Giants and 27 to the Green Bay Packers.
In this two-game stretch, they rank 14th in scoring but 25th in yards.
Quinn said before playing the Miami Dolphins in Madrid last month that they would "run it and run it and run it until we get it. If we don't, I'm not going to call it in the game. There's not going to be a lot on [the play sheet] but the things we do, we've got to go hard and get it right."
"It's just everybody being more intentional when it comes to getting the call out, receiving the call, and just really knowing what we supposed to be doing," said safety Quan Martin. "There's not a whole bunch that we're doing. So guys have the opportunity to hone in on the calls and just play fast."
Opposing quarterbacks
Washington played a stretch from Weeks 6 to 10 in which it faced high-scoring offenses led by Caleb Williams, Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes, Sam Darnold and Jared Goff. Those quarterbacks guide five of the top eight scoring offenses in the NFL and five of the top nine in yards per game. Four of them rank in the top 15 in total QBR.
During that five-game stretch against the Commanders' defense, those quarterbacks posted a combined 85.8 quarterback rating out of 100.
In the past two games, Washington has faced Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix -- ranked 28th and 20th, respectively, in total QBR. Against the Commanders, their combined QBR was 45.6.
"We've still got to go out there and react and make the play," Martin said. "No matter who's back there throwing the ball we just got to play."
It's not as if Denver has a bad offense: It ranks 11th in points and 12th in yards. Miami, meanwhile, is 25th in both points and yards.
The rankings allow for more improvement as the Commanders' next two games are vs. Minnesota (28th in scoring) and the New York Giants (19th). That's followed by two of their last three games against a struggling Eagles offense, which has averaged 15.5 points over the past five games and is 22nd in scoring.
But in between those Eagles games, the Commanders play the Dallas Cowboys, who scored 44 in a Week 7 win against them and rank third in scoring.
"We've still got more opportunities," Martin said. "Just being able to put our best out there."
More zone
In Washington's first 10 games, it averaged 17 snaps of man coverage per game. But, over the past two, the Commanders played a combined 15 snaps in man. Some of that stems from no longer having their starting outside corners -- Trey Amos and Marshon Lattimore -- because of injuries. With those two, Washington had wanted to play more press-man coverage this season.
But in the past two weeks, the Commanders have shifted heavily to zone coverages. In Week 13 no team played more zone (38 snaps), and in Week 11 they played zone on 17 of 22 dropbacks.
Their current starting outside corners, Jonathan Jones and Mike Sainristil, can also play inside, where the ability to have their eyes on the quarterback longer can help. With both having that ability, it can help them on the outside in zone.
"Zone just clouds the picture for the quarterback," Reaves said. "When quarterbacks see man, they predetermine pretty much where they're going to go."
Early in the season, Washington was hurt when teams -- Green Bay in particular -- used motion vs. their man looks. As Reaves said, it created leverage issues. Now, he said, "We're presenting zone and now that creates that split second hold of, 'I don't know what they're in.' Now it creates time for the rush."
Against Denver, there were a handful of times Nix had to hold that extra second and it resulted in 14 pressures -- their most since Week 3. But along with coverages, they played the run better vs. Denver, allowing only 87 yards and 3.8 yards per carry. Reaves said their run gap fits were among the best they've had this season.
"Honestly, man, it's the same defense and it's the same calls that we were already getting," Reaves said. "We just execute. That's just the big difference."
Future playcaller
Whether Quinn sticks with playcalling in 2026 remains to be seen. As the Atlanta Falcons' head coach in 2019, Quinn served as the defensive coordinator. But after a disappointing start, he began to delegate playcalling responsibilities, with Raheem Morris eventually taking the role full time.
But Quinn also landed a head coaching job initially because of his work with Seattle in 2013-14, when the Seahawks were first in both points and yards each season. In three years with Dallas from 2021 to 2023, the Cowboys ranked the top seven in points each season and were fifth in yards in his last year.
Quinn made it clear he wanted to delegate in Washington. But he also likes how he works with Whitt and that he has two former head coaches on offense in Anthony Lynn and Kliff Kingsbury. He also said he has leaned heavily on pass game coordinator/assistant head coach Brian Johnson.
"When you're a first-year coach, you're learning one another and how that routine goes," Quinn said. "Our staff definitely grew tighter this year. I definitely leaned in hard on them, which definitely would've been harder earlier."