Aaron Rodgers stands alone in third place on the NFL’s career touchdown list. His 4-yard throw to tight end Darnell Washington late in the second quarter on Sunday, October 25, was the 540th regular-season touchdown pass of his career, one more than Peyton Manning, and it gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a lead they never gave back in a 16-10 win over the New Orleans Saints at Stade de France.
A week after he drew level with Manning in an overtime win at Tampa Bay, the 42-year-old needed only one more scoring throw to settle the tie. He did not dwell on it. Asked about the afternoon in Saint-Denis, Rodgers praised his defense and then turned straight to what his offense left on the field.
The record throw
The drive began with Rodgers finding DK Metcalf for 51 yards, a completion that took Pittsburgh to the edge of the goal line. On the next snaps he went to his biggest target. Washington, listed at 6-foot-7, was matched up with cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Rodgers lofted the ball where only his tight end could reach it. The six-play, 77-yard march put the Steelers ahead 10-3. Washington had also caught one of his two touchdown passes in Tampa the previous Sunday.
Rodgers finished 19 of 30 for 212 yards with that touchdown and no interceptions. Late in the fourth quarter he added an 8-yard scramble on third-and-6 shortly before the two-minute warning, a first down that let Pittsburgh run out the clock.
Aaron Rodgers & Payton Wilson spoke to the media following our win over the Saints. @Acrisure pic.twitter.com/ThjjJqfKsr
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 25, 2026
Red-zone misses and flags
Rodgers was blunt about the rest of the day. Pittsburgh’s points came from one touchdown and three Chris Boswell field goals. “We were really bad in the red zone,” he said, and he named the flags as the other problem: “too many penalties, especially 15-yard penalties.”
He also pointed to the schedule. The team flew to France late in the week, and Rodgers said his players were worn down by kickoff, which is why he rated the result as one the group had to grind out. The defense, he said, carried the game. Pittsburgh allowed New Orleans 18 rushing yards, and linebacker Payton Wilson’s diving interception at the Steelers 11 in the third quarter ended the Saints’ best chance to go in front.
Four countries, two names ahead
France is the fourth country where Rodgers has started a game that counted, something no other NFL passer has done. He had already started in London for Green Bay and the New York Jets, and he led Pittsburgh in Dublin last season before this first league game in France.
Only Tom Brady, with 649, and Drew Brees, with 571, have thrown more regular-season touchdown passes. Rodgers is 31 short of Brees, a gap that looks out of reach in what he has said will be his final season. He turns 43 in December. His career numbers and season log are on his WhyNFL player page.
What comes next
The win was Pittsburgh’s third in a row and lifted the Steelers to 5-2. They host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, November 1, at 1:00 p.m. EST. The Saints, now 2-5, go into their bye week and return against Cleveland on Sunday, November 8.
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