The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings 24-21, winning the NFL’s first regular-season game in Dublin, Ireland and improving their record to 3-1 heading into the bye week.

• The game went down to the wire.
• The score was certainly closer than it should have been. But…
• Don’t let the final score fool you.

And while many will find reasons to fret about Minnesota’s late rally, the overarching takeaway for Pittsburgh remains positive: The Steelers won because they flipped the script that they’d been writing for themselves during the season’s first three weeks.

Jordan Mason going no where as Steelers gang-tackle. Photo Credit: Imgn Images, via Tribune-Review

Turning the Narrative on Its Head

As my wife and I were in Europe working and then celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, I missed the Steelers win against the Jets and loss to the Seahawks. And what I was able to gleam during week three through the obstructed view at Rome’s La Botticella confirmed what I’d been reading about the team thus far:

• The run defense in general and Keeanu Benton specifically was soft.
• The offensive line could neither protect Aaron Rodgers nor open running lanes.
• Arthur Smith stubbornly tried to force the ball to a too small and ill-suited Kenneth Gainwell.
• The defense’s failure on fundamentals and reliance on turnovers was unsustainable.
• Payton Wilson was in over his head and failing to make the year-two leap.
• D.K. Metcalf was little more than a “Nice to have” on offense.

Well, well. Things look a little different this morning, don’t they?

OK. It is only one game, against a re-tread quarterback no less, but does anyone think that scribes like Jim Wexell who’ve defied the naysayers by insisting “…things are slowly coming together for this team” look a little smarter? See for yourself:

• The Vikings totaled 70 yards rushing and Keeanu Benton had a sack and a half.
• Aaron Rodgers was sacked only twice and touched 3 other times.
• Kenneth Gainwell rushed for 99 yards and 2 touchdowns
• The defense held the Vikings to 4-14 on third down
• Payton Wilson made several exception stops even before running downfield to save a touchdown

As for DK Metcalf? Well, take a look for yourselves:

RODGERS TO DK METCALF 80 YARD TOUCHDOWN

THE STEELERS ARE UNSTOPPABLEpic.twitter.com/VbNp8w6O0e

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 28, 2025

…I’d say D.K. Metcalf was worth a 2nd round pick.

Getting the Job Done in The Trenches

Let’s make one thing clear: Both Steelers lines remain works in progress.

• The offensive line played effectively.
• But effectiveness should not be confused with dominance.

Had the Steelers risen to the latter level, then Gainwell’s attempt on 4th and goal would have been successful and/or the Steelers would have been able to run out the clock on their last possession. They didn’t do either, so things got more interesting than they should have.

But both Gainwell and Kaleb Johnson had room to run, and the Steelers did convert a 4th down with their own variant of the Tush Push.

Rodgers got sacked twice, but generally didn’t not play under duress, although Arthur Smith’s play calling was again designed to get rid of the ball quickly.

• The wise observer should never let perfection obscure progress, at least not in week 4 in the NFL.

The defensive line played at a higher level than its offensive counterpart. The knock on Keeanu Benton has been the he lacks the size to be a true nose tackle. And his signature plays were sacks in a season where his run stuffing ability was under question.

Fair enough. But Benton played a good game, and wasn’t a liability against the run as he’d been in week’s past.

Yes, the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive line entered the game ailing from injuries and lost players during the game. The Steelers defense won the battle of scrimmage against inferior talent – as they should.

Splash Players Make Splashes, But Defense Does Not Live by the Sword

The Steelers defense has been making splash plays this season, and they continued to do so against the Vikings.

• T.J. Watt, Patrick Queen, DeShon Elliott and Nick Herbig all had sacks
• Watt and Elliott both had interceptions, Watt’s coming off of a Cam Heyward deflection

But unlike one week ago against the Patriots, the Steelers defense used sacks and takeaways to complement sound defensive play as opposed to substituting for it. Indeed, the Steelers defense forced Vikings to go one-dimensional, as Carson Wentz threw 46 passes.

Begging Wentz, a career choke artist, to beat you is a sound strategy. For most of the afternoon, he seemed incapable of doing so. Until he almost did.

(1 Error – 2 Kicks)+ 2 Great Linebacking Plays = Photo Finish

The NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry. Scouts comb the country evaluating talent 365 days a year. Assistant coaches work 70-80 hour weeks. Teams will do the smallest things (i.e. Renegade) to get a competitive edge.

• Yet, in the National Football League, a couple-of-three plays can swing — or almost swing — a game

Against the Vikings in two of those plays involved Chris Boswell. The first was a blocked kick at the end of the first half that took 3 points off the board. The second was the field goal Mike Tomlin opted not to try late in the 4th quarter only to see Gainwell get 2 when he needed 3 on 4th down.

• It says here Tomlin should have taken the points.

But its in Tomlin’s character to be bold on this situations. Besides, he trusted his defense to bail him out of needed be. They did, although looking only at the box score would lead you to think otherwise.

• The defense, of course gave up an 81 yard pass.
• Someone made a horrendous coverage error.
• But Payton Wilson responded with the play of the game in running Jordan Addison down.

Payton Wilson made a tackle here. Incredible. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/O6oRrOGSLt

— Josh Rowntree (@JRown32) September 28, 2025

Wilson not only saved a touchdown, but forced Minnesota to burn 1 minute off of the clock to close the deal. The Steelers of course were unable to kill the clock after recovering the onsides kick, and it says here that Tomlin did the right thing in punting, and that decision may have looked quite different had Corliss Waitman pinned Minnesota down at the five.

But he didn’t. He gave them a touchback and that gave Minnesota 6 more plays. They only made 12 yards and frankly, were never a real threat to get into field goal range thanks to Nick Herbig forcing an intentional grounding call.

Mike Tomlin certainly has no shortage of critics, but the network executives gotta love him because his teams keep things close. But that’s not the salient fact here this morning. His teams do keep games closer than they need to be, but more often than not, they find ways to win them.

And a Steelers win is how the NFL’s first regular season game in Dublin will do down in the history books. Yes, Dan Rooney is smiling from above.

Follow @SteelCurtainRis