In a landmark day for the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24-21 at Croke Park on Sunday in the league’s first-ever regular-season game played in Ireland. Backed by a crowd of 74,512 that leaned heavily in their favor, the Steelers delivered a win steeped in both football history and family legacy.
For Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers, still early in his tenure with the team, the stakes were more than just a Week 4 victory. The Steelers’ ownership — the Rooney family — has deep ties to Ireland, and Rodgers acknowledged that heritage in the buildup to kickoff. “We knew what this meant,” Rodgers said. “We couldn’t leave without a win.”
He made sure of it. Rodgers was efficient, completing 18 of 22 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown — an 80-yard strike to DK Metcalf in the second quarter that electrified the pro-Steelers crowd. Metcalf finished with five receptions for 126 yards.
But it was Kenneth Gainwell who carried the ground attack, rushing for 99 yards and two touchdowns. His 4-yard score in the third quarter, set up by T.J. Watt’s interception off a tipped Carson Wentz pass, gave Pittsburgh a commanding 21-6 lead.
Minnesota, however, made it interesting late. Wentz, starting again in place of the injured J.J. McCarthy, threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns, though he was intercepted twice and sacked six times. Trailing 24-6 in the fourth quarter, he engineered a pair of touchdown drives — finding Zavier Scott for a 16-yard score, then hitting Jalen Nailor from 2 yards out after an 81-yard bomb to Jordan Addison.
The Vikings had one final chance, but Wentz’s fourth-and-17 attempt from their own 32 fell incomplete, and the Steelers ran out the clock.
Justin Jefferson and Addison both topped 100 receiving yards, with Jefferson hauling in 10 catches for 126 yards and Addison posting four grabs for 114 in his season debut after a suspension. Still, the Vikings finished just 4 of 14 on third down, a crucial factor in their comeback falling short.
The victory was Rodgers’ first international win, and it capped an emotional weekend for the Steelers. Head coach Mike Tomlin reminded the team Saturday of the late chairman Daniel M. Rooney’s love for Ireland — Rooney served as U.S. ambassador to the country from 2009 to 2012.
There was even a touch of Irish luck involved. Just before halftime, Rodgers fumbled on a scramble but the ball bounced directly to lineman Broderick Jones, who advanced it 4 yards. The Steelers failed to capitalize after a blocked Chris Boswell field goal, but the bounce still drew cheers from the Dublin faithful.
Now at 3-1, the Steelers head into their bye week with momentum and a sense of history made. The Vikings (2-2) travel to London next week for another international matchup, this time against the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
