The Vikings at Steelers in Week 4 (Ireland!): Six Rapid-Fire Details
The Vikings at Steelers in Week 4 sees a 2-1 team from the NFC North taking on a 2-1 team from the AFC North.
In a lot of ways, Minnesota is trying to turn itself into Pittsburgh. Not the current iteration of the team, but the franchise more broadly. There’s a long, respected history for Pittsburgh alongside six Super Bowl championships. Getting to that level takes decades, but it’s a long-term goal that begins with regular season success before finding a way to shine in the playoffs.
The Vikings at Steelers in Week 4
1 | Efficiency is the Name of the Game
Last week, the Minnesota Vikings played an efficient ball game.
Carson Wentz completed 70% of his passes. The excellent number could have been even better had he hit Jalen Nailor and Adam Thielen when they were open down the field. Even more impressive is that Jordan Mason had a great day. The new RB1 saw his 16 carries go for 116 yards and 2 scores. The 7.3 yards-per-carry average is elite work.
2 | All Eyes on Rodgers
For a while, Aaron Rodgers was Voldemort. The evil villain did villainous things versus the Vikings with great regularity, much to the chagrin of all Vikings fans.
The older quarterback isn’t the passer he once was. He is nevertheless an above-average player capable of making magic. Creating further difficulty for the Vikings is that Andrew Van Ginkel won’t be out there. Can Brian Flores still find a way to make the Pittsburgh QB1 uncomfortable when dropping back to pass?
Rodgers is completing 65.1% of his passes for 586 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions.
3 | Just How Dangerous Can Jordan Addison Be?
Jordan Addison is an excellent receiver. He’ll need to quickly build a rapport with Carson Wentz.
Since getting drafted in 2023, Addison has had strong but not sizzling numbers. As a rookie, Addison had 70 catches for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns. He followed up the promising rookie season with 63 catches for 875 yards and 9 touchdowns. Can he push the receiving yards beyond 1,000 for the first time in his career over these next fourteen games?
4 | Look for the Defensive Tackles
So far, the Vikings have been seeing some excellent play from the young defensive tackles: Jalen Redmond and Levi Drake Rodriguez. What about the expensive veterans?
Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave were at their best in Week 1. The issue in that game wasn’t Chicago’s offensive line; rather, Caleb Williams — a magician in shoulder pads — was the issue. Allen and Hargrave need to return to that level of disruptiveness. Rodgers isn’t as elusive as he once was. Getting into the backfield so commonly would mean walloping Rodgers several times.
5 | Possess the Football
Minnesota needs to do a better job of possessing the football. Consider how that has gone across three games:
- Week 1: 27:07
- Week 2: 23:28
- Week 3: 30:56
So, a step in the right direction after the most recent game. Minnesota may yet be greedy for more. A game where they hold onto the football for 35+ minutes would help a ton. Pulling off that level of ball possession would hinder the Steelers’ offense.
6 | History Says Vikings are Favored
The Steelers are a historically great team. The Vikings have nevertheless been better in the head-to-head matchup. Minnesota is sitting on a 10-8 record all time versus the AFC team.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Stat Muse helped with this piece.
