Dan Quinn’s chances of winning the Coach of the Year award increased slightly tonight. Or a lot.

Two major shortcomings in the coaching stood out on Thursday evening. Both from the fourth quarter.

First, facing fourth-and-2 from the Eagles’ 26 with 8:01 to play and down 12-10, Quinn opted to avoid a potential go-ahead goal from 44 yards and went for it. It failed.

And so instead of potentially giving the Eagles the ball, down by one point with less than eight minutes to play, the Commanders paved the way for a touchdown drive that, with the extra point, made it a two-score game.

“Bold call,” Quinn told reporters after the game, without a question asked. “But I would also say we were prepared for that moment. Don’t like the performance. But we’ve been an excellent fourth-down team. So going into it, we knew we had to take our chances against a strong division team on the road. We thought that was appropriate. I certainly don’t like the execution and the result.”

Still, the game changes as the Eagles trail when they get the ball back. Maybe Quinn wasn’t confident his defense would stop. He should have at least considered that kicker Jake Elliott missed two field goals and an extra point.

Despite this, it was still a two-score game, even after an interception followed by a 39-yard touchdown run from Saquon Barkley. At 26-10 the match was not over yet.

And yet there was no urgency from the commanders. They started the next drive with 4:38 to play. Way too many seconds ticked away as they neared the end zone. The closer they got, the worse it seemed.

Asked by reporters if commanders hoped to save more time on that drive, Quinn said, “Yes, we tried. . . . It wasn’t about going slow or that part. So yeah, we wanted to know the score quickly. Definitely try to get it in before the two minutes mark (warning).

If that was an attempt, I’d hate to see what it would have looked like if they hadn’t been.

The commanders were needed for that 2:38 to go from their own 30 to the Philly 24. At the two-minute warning, they converted a fourth-and-2, and 19 seconds evaporated before the next snap. Then, after a four-yard gain to the 16, 23 more seconds disappeared. Then, after a gain of one meter, the clock ran from 1:18 to 56 seconds. After a 10-yard gain from the 15 to the five, another 22 seconds passed between plays.

The Commanders finally scored with 31 seconds left.

Had they acted with a little more urgency, they would have had enough time (given the two timeouts still in hand) to get the ball back, even after a failed onside kick.

It was bizarre to see. Everyone involved in the game acted like it was over when the lead went to 16 points. It wasn’t. (At one point I wondered if the commanders even realized it was the fourth quarter.)

Details matter. Especially when even the most casual fan knows that basic details like the importance of getting to the line, getting the play in, getting the snap-off and getting the ball down the field become critical to having any chance of making a to enforce a two-score match. overtime. Whether or not it’s primarily about offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, it all comes down to Quinn.

It’s almost as if, after the interception that made it 26-10, the Commanders didn’t want to risk another turnover and another score, which would have made the 33-10 outcome look embarrassing.

In the end it looks respectable at 26-18. It’s not so respectable that they failed to get their last eight points with more than 30 seconds on the clock.