Vikings Fall Short Once Again In Dublin

By Jamie Carter

History occasionally repeats itself in the strangest ways. One thousand years after the age of the Vikings ended at the Battle of Clontarf in Dublin in 1014, a very different wave of Vikes made land on Irish shores last week. These new Vikings, hailing from Minnesota and quite aptly designated as the ‘visiting’ team, arrived boasting an impressive record on the international stage, having won all four of their previous fixtures prior to Sunday. They now rolled into town with the opportunity to right millennium-old wrongs on behalf of their spiritual ancestors. Their foes on this occasion? The Pittsburgh Steelers, making their first return to Croke Park since 1997. Aaron Rogers is no stranger to facing Vikings himself, with this latest encounter his 31st against the team from Minnesota, and on this occasion he proved to have more than enough weapons at his disposal in the shape of DK Metcalf and Kenneth Gainwell to repel this latest invasion, downing the Minnesota Vikings 24-21 in a game that saw the all-consuming juggernaut that is the NFL finally touchdown on Irish shores.

On the train up to the game that morning, one would be forgiven for thinking the Minnesota Vikings were the home team such was the sea of purple and gold awash throughout the carriages. Step foot out of Hueston Station however, and it was clear the terrible towels had made Dublin their fortress. The energy and anticipation was tangible for Ireland’s first ever regular season game of American Football, and the NFL, masters of marketing, made sure their brand and footprint on the city was evident at every turn on the journey to Dublin’s hallowed ground, the fourth largest stadium in Europe. This match-up arrived a crucial juncture, with both teams knowing they can ill afford to lose further ground in their respective divisions having posted an identical 2-1 record.

The Irish weather, famed for its ability to change on a dime, eerily mirrored the Vikes’ performance on Sunday. Both started brightly, with the Vikings going 0-3 up in the first quarter through a 41-yard field goal from Will Reichard in the Dublin sunshine to register the first ever points scored in a competitive NFL game in Ireland, however soon afterwards the clouds rolled in, metaphorically and literally. Kenneth Gainwell found the endzone right at the end of the first quarter before an electric lung-busting 80-yard touchdown from DK Metcalf at the start of the second set the tone for the game. Croke Park was a cauldron of noise as the terrible towels got the party started and the Vikings offence struggled to find any response. The Steelers threatened to run all over the Vikings at this point and the Vikes were fortunate to make it to the end of the half having pulled three points back through a 28-yard field goal with 12 seconds on the clock to enter the break 6-14.

Any halftime pep-talk from Kevin O’Connell failed to have the desired effect however, as Kenneth Gainwell went over for his second touchdown with 2:23 left in the third quarter to see the Vikings fall further behind before a Chris Boswell field goal early in the fourth made it 6-24, leaving the Vikings with a mountain to climb.

But climb it they certainly tried, finally sparked into life 2 hours into the contest. Scott managed to keep his toes in the end zone with 7:50 left on the clock to receive a 16-yard touchdown pass from Wentz before an impressive two point play further narrowed the gap to 14-24. When Nailor went over 8 seconds before the two-minute warning to make it a three-point game, the Vikings threatened an epic comeback against a Steelers franchise who were previously winless in international games. However, it proved too little, too late and the Steelers ultimately held on for a deserved victory to move to a 3-1 record while the Vikings drop to a 2-2.

The Vikings, who have yet to have their five preferred linemen on the field this season, suffered further setbacks with the loss of center Ryan Kelly and right tackle Brian O’Neill during the game. Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell confirmed that Kelly had entered the NFL concussion protocol for the second time this season and that O’Neill will have an MRI to evaluate his knee. O’Connell was proud of the spirit his team showed in spite of these setbacks and cut a defiant figure in his postgame press conference;

I thought the guys battled until the very end of the football game. Put ourselves in way too much of a hole with clearly losing the turnover battle and penalties continued to be a critical factor, something I’ve got to get fixed. I thought our defense kept us in it battling, a couple big stops, and then we were able to put together some two-minute drives despite being down a few guys up front, which is never an excuse. Had a chance to still win the football game in the end because our guys compete until the very end, regardless of circumstances, and just didn’t find a way to get it done. Credit to [the Steelers] for playing a good football game, winning the turnover battle, and their formula to win is that, and they were able to do that.

Carson Wentz, deputising for the injured J.J. McCarthy, at times looked overawed by the atmosphere and raucous crowd. He struggled to get Jefferson and Addison into the game enough and was consistently suffocated by an aggressive Steelers defence throughout the game, taking six sacks and throwing two interceptions either side of halftime to effectively take the game just out of their reach. Carson acknowledged after the game that the pressure applied caused him problems;

“There was definitely times I could have got rid of the ball quicker and gone through my progressions faster. At the end of the day, we lost. That’s all I care about. That’s all I’m concerned about. Got a bad taste in my mouth. Shout out to [the Steelers]. They play hard. They play physical. They made it tough on us.”

The Vikings now head to London to play the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadiums, the first time a team will have back-to-back international games in what is clearly a test case in the NFL’s grand vision to eventually expand its overseas presence to 16 international games. What was undoubtedly clear was that their Irish experiment was a resounding success as both Croker and Dublin rose to the occasion impressively, with Head Coach Kevin O’Connell describing the energy as ‘fantastic’ and both Wentz and Jefferson acknowledging the role the crowd played in the game as ‘electric’ and ‘fun’. Some European venues have struggled to find the balance of cultures but in Ireland everything clicked, from the Artane Band in the build-up to the game, the Irish music on some timeouts and even the on-field presenters that thrived off the energy of the crowd. It is surely now a question of when – not if – the NFL will return to Dublin.

JAMIE CARTER

NFL ANALYST

A Manchester-based casual Cheesehead since 2021, Irish born Jamie is a one-time fantasy football champion.

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