The Minnesota Vikings kicked off their European tour with a game in Ireland against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. However, it felt like only one of the two teams showed up to play in the lopsided contest.
The Vikings came up short against the Steelers. The final score was 21-24 in favor of Pittsburgh, which controlled the game from start to finish. For a game given an uncontested time slot, the purple and gold failed to look like a competent team against an underrated foe on Sunday. Minnesota attempted to make a comeback, but it was too little, too late for the Vikings.
Silly penalties, injuries, and mistakes didn't help the Vikings. However, credit must be given to Pittsburgh for executing its game plan against Minnesota and getting a big win in front of the crowd in Ireland.
The Minnesota Vikings were ineffective against the Pittsburgh Steelers in front of the crowd in Ireland in Week 4.
A lot of attention from a Minnesota Vikings standpoint was directed at the quarterback position. An injury to quarterback J.J. McCarthy put Carson Wentz behind center for the second consecutive week, but the results were very different from what happened against the Bengals last week.
The offensive line was decimated by injuries and struggled to protect Wentz or open holes in the run game for Jordan Mason. Meanwhile, the defense couldn't stop the connection between quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver D.K. Metcalf for the Steelers, as well as the rushing of running back Kenneth Gainwell.
This is the first loss for Minnesota in the NFL's International Series. Entering this game, they were 4-0 in games played outside the United States. They will need to bounce back next week against the Cleveland Browns in England to get back on track and enter their bye week with a positive record.
However, the Vikings are dealing with a ton of injuries for how early it is in the season. The early bye week will be great for allowing the players to rest and heal, but the team is also in a position where they need to treat every game as essential since they play in the highly competitive NFC North division.
That means the Week 5 game against the Cleveland Browns in England almost becomes a must-win situation for the purple and gold. It's too early in the season to think this way, but the Vikings haven't given fans enough reason to think otherwise in the first four weeks of the season.