'Leaves A Scar!' Cowboys Ex Dan Quinn Reflects On Playoff Loss

Now a month into his tenure as head coach of the Washington Commanders, former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn looks back on his final game in Big D.

For as much good as Dan Quinn did with the Dallas Cowboys, his final game with the team left a bitter taste in the mouths of fans.

Quinn's defense had been a top-five unit in the league for the entire season, but when the No. 2 seed Cowboys hosted the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers in the NFC Wild Card Round, that defense completely fell apart. The Cowboys allowed Jordan Love and co. to march all over them to the tune of 48 points and 415 yards. Even though the final score read as 48-32 Green Bay, the game was essentially over at halftime.

A month and a half after that miserable showing, Quinn has had time to reflect and think about what went so wrong. Despite all that time passing, the former Cowboys defensive coordinator is still upset with how his tenure ended.

“That was a huge reaction to find why that performance wasn’t to the standard that we had set,” Quinn told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine. “And I wish there was one thing to say, this is one thing that we could have done differently in that space because those games are the ones that leave a scar.”

Quinn helped turn the Cowboys' defense into one of the league's best, but the lack of playoff success and especially that terrible performance put a damper on his tenure. 

When asked what the Cowboys are missing to make a deep playoff run, Quinn struggled to come up with an answer, much to his dismay.

“You know, I don’t know that and I wish I did because part of the reason for going back there last year was to absolutely go for it in the biggest way,” Quinn said. “And so to come up short in that end, no doubt about that, that hurt and that left a mark.”

Quinn left to become the new coach of the Washington Commanders just a couple weeks after the Packers loss, and despite his time with the Cowboys ending on a low note, he feels he is exactly where he's meant to be.

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“I’ve really had a chance to reflect and do that,” Quinn said. “And so every once in a while, you’re at the right place at the right time in your life and in your career. And I certainly feel like that’s this place right now for me.”