The Minnesota Vikings had their chances to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4, but they couldn’t get out of their own way long enough to make it happen.
Carson Wentz was sacked seven times on Sunday, and the Vikings’ last-second effort fell short as they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 24-21 in the NFL’s first-ever game in Dublin, Ireland.
The Vikings avoided disaster on their first drive, as Jordan Mason fumbled the ball away and it was recovered by Jalen Ramsey for what appeared to be a 60-yard defensive touchdown for Pittsburgh, but it was ruled that Mason had touched the loose ball with a leg out of bounds, making it a dead ball. The Vikings took advantage of their reprieve, getting a 41-yard field goal from Will Reichard to stake the Vikings to an early 3-0 lead.
Pittsburgh answered on its second possession, taking the lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Kenneth Gainwell to take a 7-3 lead with less than a minute left in the first quarter. They then added to it early in the second quarter, as Aaron Rodgers found D.K. Metcalf on a short pass that some horrible angles from the Vikings’ defense allowed him to turn into an 80-yard touchdown, giving the “home” team a 14-3 lead.
Minnesota turned the ball over on its next possession, as a pass from Carson Wentz intended for Jordan Addison was tipped at the line of scrimmage by Derrick Harmon into the hands of DeShon Elliott for a Pittsburgh interception. Pittsburgh marched into Minnesota territory again and appeared poised to score more points, but Chris Boswell’s 30-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Isaiah Rodgers to keep the score at 14-3.
The Vikings turned that blocked field goal into a 28-yard field goal from Will Reichard to make it 14-6 going into halftime.
Minnesota’s offense made another mistake midway through the third quarter, as another pass from Wentz was deflected at the line of scrimmage and wound up getting intercepted by T.J. Watt to set the Steelers up in Minnesota territory.
Pittsburgh turned the turnover into points, as Gainwell got his second touchdown of the afternoon, going over from 4 yards out to make it 21-6 with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter of play. Boswell then connected on a 33-yard field goal to make it a three-score game at 24-6 with just over eleven minutes remaining in regulation.
The Vikings finally got into the end zone midway through the fourth quarter, as Wentz scrambled and found Zavier Scott for his first NFL touchdown, with Scott making a great catch and keeping his feet down for the score. Wentz then found Jalen Nailor on the two-point conversion to make it 24-14 with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation.
The Steelers took their next possession all the way down to the Minnesota 3-yard line and faced a fourth-and-goal. They chose to go for a game-clinching touchdown, but the Vikings stopped Gainwell short to get the football back with a little over four minutes remaining and just one timeout left.
Then the Vikings hit a huge play, as Wentz found the returning Jordan Addison for a huge 81-yard pass to get the ball down to the Pittsburgh 3-yard line.
Then, Wentz connected with Nailor for a 2-yard score to cut the lead to 24-21 just ahead of the two-minute warning.
The Vikings then attempted an onside kick, but the Steelers wound up falling on it. The Vikings’ defense needed to get a stop to have any hope, and they got one as the Steelers took a delay of game penalty on 4th-and-1 from inside of Minnesota territory to give the Vikings the ball at their own 20 with a minute remaining.
Wentz’s first through appeared to be a game-sealing interception, but a review said that the Steelers’ defensive back bobbled the ball, so the Vikings kept possession. The Vikings moved to near midfield, but Wentz was then flagged for an intentional grounding penalty to back the Vikings up. Minnesota had one last play, but Wentz’s pass towards Addison fell incomplete, and the Steelers took a knee to seal the victory.
The Vikings will remain overseas in Week 5, as they will travel to London to face the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Your Minnesota Vikings fall to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, Ireland by a final score of 24-21. Thank you to everyone who got their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!
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