The Pittsburgh Steelers won’t come out of this weekend feeling great about anything. Pittsburgh was upset by the Cleveland Browns in a 13-6 slog, in which the Steelers offense completely crumbled, despite holding Myles Garrett to zero sacks.
In addition to falling to the Browns and putting their playoff chances in jeopardy, the Steelers also lost impact tight end Darnell Washington in the defeat. Washington fractured his forearm in the first quarter as he made a catch for a short gain. Looking to leap towards the first down marker, Washington landed awkwardly while being tackled. He came up gingerly, though he played a couple more snaps before leaving the game.
NFL insider Ian Rapaport gave further clarity on Washington’s injury during his appearance on “Good Morning Football” on Monday.
“Darnell Washington is going to be out for the foreseeable future with a broken arm, a fractured forearm,” Rapaport said. “Generally that is a five or six week injury, so maybe if the Steelers advance all the way to the Super Bowl he could be back.”
Washington Likely Done for the Season
Washington has been a nice little revelation for the Steelers this season. A massive human being listed at 6-foot-7, 265 pounds, Washington is a mismatch for most opposing teams defenses; he’s caught 31 passes for 364 yards and a touchdown. 16 of those catches have been for a first down.
As it stands though, Washington will likely miss the remainder of the Steelers 2025 campaign. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I don’t think this team has the juice to make a Super Bowl run, which is likely when Washington could return.
Pittsburgh has deployed three tight ends in large quantities this season in Washington, Pat Freiermuth, and Jonnu Smith. Without Washington, Pittsburgh may have to move away from the 12 personnel they’ve been running, so as not to overwork Freiermuth or Smith.
To further complicate things in next weeks “win and in” game for Pittsburgh against the Baltimore Ravens, D.K. Metcalf will still be out, serving the second of his two game suspension for his altercation with a fan.
The Steelers will need all of their eligible weapons to step up in a must-win game for a playoff berth.
AFC North on the Line For Sunday Night Football
The winner of Ravens-Steelers will earn a berth into the playoffs and host a home wild card game by virtue of winning the division. Although a Baltimore win would force a 9-8 tie between the teams, the tiebreaker is divisional record; both teams are 3-2 in the division, so the winner will own the tiebreaker as well.
The Steelers surprised a lot of people by getting off to a 4-1 start, though in retrospect, only one of those wins was against a good opponent, the New England Patriots. After that 4-1 start, Pittsburgh went 2-5 in it’s next seven games, putting their season in jeopardy as the Ravens made a midseason turnaround.
Both Baltimore and Pittsburgh have played decent football down the stretch, and though neither has proven to be world beaters, the winner of their matchup will have plenty of momentum heading into the postseason, a scary matchup for whichever team has to travel for the first round.
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