The long awaited trip to Ireland is upon us. It’s week four of the 2025 NFL season. Here’s everything you need to know about the Pittsburgh Steelers “hosting” the Minnesota Vikings.
What: Minnesota Vikings 2-1 at Pittsburgh Steelers 2-1
Where: Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland
When: 9/28/2025 930amET Kickoff
Weather: 57 degrees and partly sunny. Winds to 8mph.
Surface: Natural Grass (Keep an eye on this. The Steelers declined the opportunity to get on the field for a light practice/walk-thru. Teams historically have had footing issues when playing in Europe.)
Wagering Information: Vikings -2.5 O/U 40.5
Last Week: Minnesota used five turnovers and two pick-sixes to beat the Bengals 48-10. The Steelers also used five turnovers in their 21-14 win over the Patriots in New England.
TV: NFL Network Joe Davis (play-by-play), Greg Olsen (analysis), Pam Oliver (field reporter), Jamie Erdahl (field reporter)
TV Coverage in Your Area (courtesy 506sports.com): National Audience
Radio: Steelers Audio Network Rob King (play-by-play), Max Starks (analysis), Missi Matthews (field reporter)
Westwood One: Kate Scott (play-by-play), Kyle Rudolph (analysis)
Head Official: Brad Allen. The CEO of a non-profit, Allen is in his 12th season as a head official. He most recently called a Steelers game in November of last year. A 24-19 loss to Cleveland. His crew called 14 penalties that day.
Key Injuries/Game Status (courtesy steelers.com) PIT:No. 24 CB Joey Porter Jr. (Hamstring) – Questionable, No. 30 RB Jaylen Warren (NIR – Resting Vet/Knee) – Questionable, No. 56 LB Alex Highsmith (Ankle) – Out, No. 81 TE Jonnu Smith (NIR – Resting Vet/Hip) – Questionable MIN: No. 9 QB J.J. McCarthy (Ankle) – Out, No. 43 LB Andrew Van Ginkel (Neck) – Out, No. 74 G Donovan Jackson (Wrist) – Out, No. 85 TE Ben Yurosek (Knee) – Out
Injury Notes: Warren and Smith popping up here are a bit surprising. Sounds to me like both will play however… Van Winkel being out is one less pass rusher the Steelers will need to worry about.
2025 NFL Ranks:
Total Offense: PIT 30th, MIN 28th
Passing Offense: PIT 24th, MIN 30th
Rushing Offense: PIT 31st, MIN 13th
Total Defense: PIT 28th, MIN 6th
Passing Defense: PIT 26th, MIN 3rd
Rushing Defense: PIT 27th, MIN 22nd
AFC North Standings:
Cincinnati 2-1
Pittsburgh 2-1
Baltimore 1-2
Cleveland 1-2
This Week in the AFC North: Cleveland at Detroit 1pmET, Baltimore at Kansas City 425pmET, Cincinnati at Denver (MON) 815pmET
What You Need to Know: The Steelers are 2-0 away from home this season and they are 2-0 on artificial turf as well… Both the Steelers and Vikings each recorded five turnovers last week… Pittsburgh is 21-13 all-time in games preceding the BYE week… T.J. Watt now has 110 career sacks in 124 total games played… Mean Joe Greene holds the Steelers’ record for most sacks in a game with five. He did it back in 1972… Cam Heyward needs two more games played to tie Dermontti Dawson for fifth most at 181… Aaron Rodgers needs 27 pass attempts to tie Dan Marino for the 7th most all-time.
Tomlin Time: Coach Tomlin is one win away from tying Chuck Knox for 11th all-time in wins at 186… He is 49-27-1 all-time against NFC opponents… Tomlin is 13-5 in games preceding the BYE week…
Minnesota Vikings Names to Know: QB Carson Wentz, WR Justin Jefferson, WR Jordan Addison, RB Jordan Mason, S Harrison Smith, CB Isaiah Rodgers, LB Andrew Van Ginkel, LB Dallas Turner, DT Javon Hargrave, K Will Reichard
What’s at Stake: Minnesota finds itself tied atop the NFC North at 2-1 with Green Bay and Detroit. The Vikes realize that with two straight games in Europe, they’ll need to remain focused to keep pace. The Steelers meanwhile find themselves atop the AFC North with the Bengals. With Ravens traveling to Kansas City and the chance of falling to 1-3, a Pittsburgh win would give them some cushion should the Ravens lose.
All-Time Series: Vikings lead 10-9 and they lead 1-0 in neutral site games
Last Meeting: 2021 in Minnesota. Vikings 36 Steelers 28
Postseason History: Steelers lead 1-0 (Super Bowl IX)
Steelers Game Highs vs MIN:
PASSING: 383 yards Ben Roethlisberger 09/29/2013
RUSHING: 158 yards Franco Harris 01/12/1975
RECEIVING: 141 Yancey Thigpen 09/30/1995
SACKS: Four players with 2 sacks. Most recent 2.0 James Harrison 10/25/2009
INTERCEPTIONS: Three players with 2. Most recent Ahkello Witherspoon 12/09/2021
Check out the latest Steel City Blitz Steelers Podcast for more on the Steelers.
Three Things We Need to See for a Steelers’ Victory:
1. No Choice. Have to Run the Ball. Last season, Aaron Rodgers threw three picks against Brian Flores’ defense as it hounded and confused him all day. The single best way to keep that from happening is by running the football. Considering the Steelers are almost dead-last in the NFL at running the ball, this will be a tall order. I advocate that Arthur Smith throw on early downs to set up the run. Get Rodgers on half-rolls and use some early play-action. At worst, it might open things up. At best, it may make Flores adjust and open up some lanes for Jaylen Warren and company.
2. Take Advantage! Last week the Steelers’ defense created five turnovers and the Steelers’ offense did very little with those opportunities. I don’t see them getting five turnovers again this week but Carson Wentz is prone to make some mistakes. Whether he throws a pick or two or fumbles the ball under pressure, he always seems bound to make some critical errors. If the offense doesn’t take advantage then forget winning this one.
3. Keep Things in Front of You. The Steelers defense has given up a ton of yards in the first three games and part of that has been due to big plays. Now you have Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison who are more than capable of ripping off those same big plays. The Steelers’ secondary can’t necessarily give ten yards of cushion, but they cannot afford to get beat deep. In that same train of thought, they have to tackle well too. Big plays will be the team’s undoing if they don’t do the little things.
The ‘X’ Factor: Each week I will select a player from each team who I believe will need to play above and beyond in order for his team to win.
X-Factor Steelers: Aaron Rodgers. The question came up this week on our podcast about whether or not the Steelers would be 2-1 or 0-3 were it not for Rodgers… That’s always debatable but for this game, Rodgers’ importance becomes even greater. Considering his poor performance against Brian Flores’ defense last year, his ability to determine what the Vikings are doing is going to be critical. He has to help the young offensive line with protections and he has to be able to see where his hot reads are going to be. If he struggles then the entire offense will be even worse than it has been.
X-Factor Vikings: T.J. Hockenson. For the second straight week I’m going with a tight end. As it turned out, I was pretty ‘spot on’ with regards to Hunter Henry who had a big game for New England. This week, it’s Hockenson. You already know the Steelers will want to limit what Justin Jefferson does. Now they get Jordan Addison back too which will only take more attention away from the tight end. If Hockenson has a big game, don’t be surprised.
Prediction: I was way off last week and I credit the Steelers for proving me wrong. In all honesty, I can see this one being a blowout if Wentz takes care of the ball. I have little faith in the Steelers’ offense to be able to score a lot of points against this defense. With the firepower Minnesota has, I can see it getting ugly. I think however, this one is still tight into the fourth quarter before the Vikings put it away.
Vikings 23 Steelers 17
Season Prediction Record: 1-2
