The locker room was eerily quiet after the Washington Commanders' devastating 28-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, a defeat that felt like a punch to the gut. Benjamin St-Juste sat slumped on a bench, his head buried in his hands, trying to process the magnitude of the loss. His teammates filtered out of the room, but the weight of the moment kept him rooted in place. As reporters began to circle around him, he knew what they would ask. He could feel it coming—the hard questions, the moments of reflection.
“I just got caught up in trying to make the play,” St-Juste admitted, his voice heavy with disappointment. “I tried to guard everything, but in these situations, you’ve got to pick your battles. You have to pick the right option.”
The Commanders were riding high with a six-point lead over the Steelers with just 2½ minutes left in the game. Washington seemed on the brink of securing another victory, but everything changed in an instant. Quarterback Russell Wilson, who had been sharp throughout the game, launched a perfect fade route to wide receiver Mike Williams, who had only just joined the Steelers through a trade with the New York Jets. St-Juste was lined up about 10 yards away from Williams at the snap, but he couldn’t keep up as Williams sprinted past him for a go-ahead touchdown that sealed the game for Pittsburgh.
St-Juste knew his mistake had cost the team. “You’ve got to play the fade,” he said, looking back on the play. “That’s what Russ is good at. That’s what he likes to do.”
The loss, which snapped Washington’s four-game home winning streak, was full of missed opportunities. It dropped their record to 7-3 while the Steelers improved to 7-2. Alongside St-Juste’s costly decision, rookie defensive tackle Johnny Newton had a crucial offside penalty on a fourth down in the final seconds, allowing Pittsburgh to milk the clock and secure the win. But these were just a few of the mistakes that compounded a frustrating afternoon of football, as Washington head coach Dan Quinn put it, "full of missed opportunities."
Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who had been steady throughout the season, struggled against the Steelers' defense. He completed only 50% of his passes (17 of 34), the worst completion rate of his career so far, for 202 yards with no touchdowns and a low 68.5 passer rating. He missed open receivers, threw behind targets, and, perhaps most frustratingly, failed to make plays when it mattered. Big moments were followed by mistakes, and Daniels wasn’t immune.
Take a critical sequence late in the third quarter—Daniels had the chance to spark a comeback after edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr. sacked Wilson and safety Jeremy Chinn intercepted him on the next play. With Washington in possession, Daniels launched a deep ball to Terry McLaurin, who made a spectacular diving 28-yard catch to energize the crowd. The stadium buzzed with the chant of “TER-RY! TER-RY!” but it wasn’t enough to carry the team to victory. The drive stalled after Daniels took a sack, and wide receiver Dyami Brown was tackled for an 11-yard loss on the next play.
“We didn’t make the plays when the opportunities were there,” Daniels said after the game, his words echoing the sentiments of his coach. There were other moments, too, where the offense just couldn’t seize the moment.
Washington knew the Steelers would be a tough matchup—this game had all the makings of a physical, high-stakes battle—and to give their team a boost, they handed out nearly 50,000 burgundy towels to fans. The idea was to create an electric home-field advantage, but the Steelers’ fanbase showed up in force, waving their signature terrible towels and outshining Washington’s efforts. Pittsburgh’s defense also stepped up, putting the clamps on Daniels and the Commanders' offense for much of the game.
In the first half, Daniels struggled to find any rhythm. He rushed for a season-low five yards, and the offense couldn’t find a spark. But Washington’s coaching staff made adjustments, and Daniels began to look more comfortable in the second quarter. A 23-yard strike to Luke McCaffrey helped set up a one-yard touchdown run by Austin Ekeler, capping off a 15-play, 94-yard drive that was extended by a penalty on Pittsburgh. This drive kept Washington in the game and allowed them to take a 17-14 lead into halftime.
In true Commanders' fashion, they started the second half with a bang. McLaurin made a huge play with a 54-yard catch and nearly crossed the goal line on the next play. Then, Jeremy McNichols capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to give Washington a 24-14 lead early in the third quarter. The energy in the stadium was palpable, and Washington seemed poised to take control.
But the Steelers weren’t about to roll over. They responded immediately with a touchdown of their own, despite Fowler’s sack of Wilson earlier in the drive. Washington’s defense, which had been solid all season, struggled to maintain consistency, and penalties only added to their woes. Two costly penalties on Pittsburgh’s second drive—a pass interference on St-Juste and a roughing the passer call on Chinn—allowed the Steelers to march down the field and score the game’s first touchdown.
Still, Washington caught a break when Pittsburgh botched a fake punt attempt. Safety Miles Killebrew’s lob pass was dropped by cornerback James Pierre with no defenders around him, giving the Commanders the ball at the Pittsburgh 14-yard line. Washington capitalized quickly, scoring with a three-play drive that was capped by Ekeler’s first touchdown.
But the Commanders, who were playing without some key players like starting running back Brian Robinson Jr. (hamstring) and kicker Austin Seibert (hip), couldn’t seem to put it all together. Injuries kept piling up, and the depth of Washington’s roster was tested. Even with the added pressure, the team had their moments—like when Quan Martin forced a fumble at the Pittsburgh 8-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. Martin punched the ball out of running back Jaylen Warren’s hands, and Chinn recovered it, setting up Washington for what could have been a game-sealing drive. But instead, the team was forced to punt after a penalty stalled the drive.
The final dagger came when Wilson connected with Williams for the game-winning touchdown, leaving St-Juste and the rest of Washington's defense helpless in the secondary. Despite one last attempt for a miracle, including a fourth-down play to tight end Zach Ertz that fell just short, Washington couldn’t overcome the Steelers' resilience.
The loss was hard to swallow, especially with so many missed opportunities throughout the game. As the final whistle blew, the locker room was filled with a heavy silence. Sam Cosmi, one of the team’s offensive linemen, took it upon himself to address his teammates. He hadn’t spoken up like that before, but he felt it was necessary. “I just wanted to remind everyone of our standard,” Cosmi said. “We’ve got to keep fighting, no matter what. This should hurt, but we use it to fuel ourselves for next week.”
Cosmi’s words echoed in the locker room. Despite the frustration and disappointment, there was still belief in the team, and they knew that the loss, as tough as it was, could propel them forward. With a short turnaround before Thursday night’s game against the Eagles, the Commanders had little time to recover, but plenty of motivation to keep fighting. It was a hard lesson, but one that Washington hoped to learn from as they headed into another high-stakes matchup.
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