Pittsburgh got the win, but Darnell Washington owned the clip.
Late in the Steelers’ 20-13 victory over the Falcons, Washington hauled in a first-down pass and turned one safety into a highlight. With under three minutes left, he caught the throw and used one arm to put Falcons safety Xavier Watts on the ground. That was enough for the internet to do what it does best.
Pardon My Take posted the moment and summed it up in one blunt line: “Darnell Washington just killed a guy.” The play did the rest.
Washington is listed at 6-foot-7 and 265 in some places, and closer to 300 in others. Steelers teammates call him Mount Washington, and against Atlanta he looked every bit like it. He finished with two catches for 18 yards, but only one of them is the one anybody is saving.
The night itself was messy for Pittsburgh. Aaron Rodgers went 24-of-40 for 221 yards and a touchdown to Pat Freiermuth.
DK Metcalf dropped passes, the run game didn’t offer much, and T.J. Watt’s 35-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter ended up being the play that won it.
It was also Mike McCarthy’s first Steelers game, and it was not clean. There were 16 accepted penalties, three fumbles and missed kicks, but Pittsburgh still came out 1-0 because Watt and the front wrecked Cooper Rush. Rush threw two interceptions that turned into Steelers points, while Bijan Robinson handled most of the rest for Atlanta.
Washington’s moment fit the kind of play Steelers fans have seen before. A defender reaches for the tight end, the tight end doesn’t budge, and the defender disappears from the frame. This time, PMT just said the quiet part out loud.
Washington came to Pittsburgh as a 2023 third-round pick out of Georgia, where he won two college national titles. Through 2025, he had 57 catches and two scores. The numbers have never matched the size, and the size keeps producing the kind of viral finish that makes people stop scrolling.
Rodgers is in what he says is his final season with McCarthy back as his coach. Freiermuth remains the first tight end in the passing game. Washington is still the wrecking ball they don’t always feature - until he flattens somebody and takes over the timeline.
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