Vikings vs. Steelers (Ireland) Recap - Steelers Imposed Their Will
Screenshot via NFL+
The Steelers takeover in Ireland ended in a 24-21 victory, and their luck didn’t stop there - week four losses for the Browns and Ravens also feels pretty good. Even more, since the Bengals lost last night, the Pittsburgh Steelers now sit in first place atop the AFC North heading into their extremely early week five bye. Let’s hope these old cowboys hold up at the tail end of this season.
My feet didn’t get to grace any of that beautiful Irish grass, but just watching from home, Dublin looked like an unbelievable host city. Truth be told, I don’t like to wake up that early on a Sunday, so I haven’t had too many opportunities to watch these overseas games and I don’t have much of a real benchmark for what these things should look like. With that being said, I’m not sure what could’ve been done differently that would’ve made the viewing experience any better for me personally, and I can only imagine what it was like to experience in person. I would imagine Dan Rooney would’ve been over the moon.
The Steelers really dominated a majority of this game, but it didn’t start out that way. Aaron Rodgers got sacked on the first play of the game, and the Steelers immediately went three-and-out. On the ensuing Vikings drive, J Jettas got going quickly amassing 4 catches for 38 yards. If not for this sack by Patrick Queen (above) on third down, the Vikings were probably going to walk it down for 6. Take a look at that play, though. Jordan Mason (MIN #27), chips T.J. Watt then sinks into the flat…but that’s PQ’s man. I’m not sure if he thought Mason’s only responsibility was to double team T.J., or if he just liked his angle to the QB, but that’s a big time heads-up play by him to force a field goal try.
What happened from that point on was three of the most comfortable quarters of football that I have watched from this team in at least a few years. Defensively, we’re starting to see the fruits of all the investments the team has put into that side of the ball. In my pregame thoughts, I said that if we can stop the run and force Carson Wentz to think, he’d make some mistakes, and that’s exactly what happened. Shahtaht the big rookie #99 Derrick Harmon, who was able to get a hand on one of Wentz’ throws in the second quarter (above), resulting in an interception for DeShon Elliot. Speaking directly to DeShon Elliot: thank fucking god for you and your contributions my good brother. It’s always nice when someone comes along and blows your expectations clear out of the water, and DeShon Elliot has done just that for me, and seemingly the rest of Steelers Nation, too. Juan Thornhill just had his best game as a Steeler as well - he certainly benefits from the presence of, not only DeShon Elliot, but the rest of our star-studded secondary.
Offensively, the Vikings really had no answer for the Steelers’ jumbo packages. Before the game, when Jaylen Warren was ruled out, I thought it was pretty much curtains from there, but Arthur Smith went with an extra offensive lineman and Darnell Washington on the field early and often, and the Vikings couldn’t do anything to stop it. Kenneth Gainreallywell had a career day with 134 scrimmage yards and 2 TDs. I’ve been really harsh about giving Gainwell meaningful snaps running the ball every week, but I’m eating my words today. For right now, September 30th, 2025 at 11:29 am CST, I am wrong. 99 yards on 5.2 ypc is good for me. What a day for him, and who knows, maybe a sign of things to come.
DK Metcalf also turned in his best game as a Steeler - 5 catches for 126 yards, including an 80 yard touchdown reception early in the second quarter. What an absolute freak that guy is, and I mean that in the best way possible. There’s no combination of words I’m going to be able to put together that is going to tell you anything you didn’t already know about Mr. Metcalf. He’s just different, and he’s ours. What a blessing.
All-in-all, this was the most complete team win we’ve seen in a long time, although our special teams unit gave up a blocked field goal, which isn’t ideal. That group, usually among the most reliable, has been strange so far this season, but I have faith in Danny Smith to find the right combination of guys to start making an impact. There’s so many different things I could talk about from this game; for example, how have I made it this far into the post without mentioning Payton Wilson making the potentially game-saving tackle on the blown coverage to Addison towards the end of the game? That tackle forced the Vikings to eat up another 1:00+ of clock, valuable time they surely wanted back on their final drive. After a tough start to the year, he also had himself a hell of a day. With the bye week upon us, I’ll have an opportunity to pass out some more flowers as I comb over the film this week.
I won’t lie to yinz…these first couple weeks have had some tough moments, but all things considered, we’re 3-1 and should come out of the bye mostly healthy, although we’ll see what happens with Calvin Austin III (shoulder) and Jalen Ramsey (hammy). We’ll have our first two divisional games after the bye: vs. Browns in Pittsburgh, then @ Cincinnati. 5-1??? I see you over there big fella..
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