Following each game in the 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers season, I will highlight the event, or string of events, in the game that was the turning point. Not all turning points will be earth-shattering but are meant to give a unique look at how we arrived at the outcome of the game, one that may be hard to see during the live watch.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears entered Week 12 at the top of the NFL’s turnover leaderboard. Both teams have lived and died by taking away the ball on defense and protecting the ball on offense. While they technically ended the game even at two turnovers a piece, the Steelers turned it over on downs twice. And they had a critical turnover at the end of the third quarter, which ultimately put the game out of reach.
While Darnell Washington was doing Darnell Washington things in this game, both as a blocker and a bulldozer after the catch with the ball in his hands, the Steelers asked a little too much of him. Mason Rudolph was sacked twice, and both were allowed by Washington.
I don’t even blame Washington. The Steelers shouldn’t be matching him up on an island against a former Pro Bowl pass rusher. I don’t care how excellent Washington is, he’s still a tight end by trade. Here is the first sack allowed, which came on 1st and 10 with 13:02 left in the third quarter. The Bears went on to punt a few plays later.
It’s one thing to have that happen once, and to learn from it and shy away from that situation again. But the Steelers went right back to that setup later a couple drives later in the same quarter. This time, it ended in complete disaster. Here was the turning point of the game.
The first one was the result of Rudolph holding onto the ball too long. This one was just Washington getting beat. He was slow out of his stance and got beat soundly around the edge for a Montez Sweat strip-sack that was recovered by the Bears.
This one came with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter when the score was still 24-21 in favor of the Bears. The Steelers fumbled in Chris Boswell field goal range in what looked like a promising drive to retake the lead.
To be clear, I still think Darnell Washington is an excellent blocker. If he wants to play tackle later in his career, this is not evidence that he would fail. He’s still a tight end who trains and prepares as a tight end. The Steelers should not be putting him on an island against Sweat multiple times in true pass-set situations. Shame on them for doing so.
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