Quinn -- Commanders rode doubters' 'dismissiveness' all way to NFC title game - ESPN

ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn said he felt the team's potential was dismissed early this season, but his response revealed a mindset that has helped it reach the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.

After a season-opening 37-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Quinn said an acquaintance told him, «Hang in there. It's going to be a long time.»

«I was like, Hey F you, that's not how it's going to go down,» Quinn said. «It wasn't disrespect, it was dismissiveness, and I felt some kind of way. ...It was we're going to be a lot better than what we just showed today. And eventually we'll show that. So not to prove it to everybody else or underdog stories, it's how we get down.»

And how they got down after that loss was to win 12 of the next 16 regular-season games as well as their first two playoff games on the road. It's why the Commanders (14-5) will play at the Philadelphia Eagles (15-3) at 3 p.m. Sunday for a berth in the Super Bowl.

Yet the Commanders still wonder if the outside world believes in their success.

Rookie corner Mike Sainristil said outsiders have missed «just how dominant we really are. I think we're underestimated because teams just might think that they're better than us or we're a newer team. [But] whatever the outside noise is, it doesn't matter to us.»

He then looked at a slogan painted on the wall that reads: «Anybody. Anywhere. Anytime.»

«We believe in who we say we are and that's all that matters,» Sainristil said.

Washington wasn't considered a title contender entering the season — and perhaps not deep into the season — after going 4-13 a year ago. The Commanders also have a new power structure with Quinn and first-time general manager Adam Peters in addition to a rookie