Aaron Rodgers has accomplished almost everything in his career in the NFL, but he has never played a regular season match in Ireland.
No one has. At least it will be true until Sunday.
The Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1) and the Vikings of Minnesota (2-1) will make history when they compete in Dublin.
The Steelers have known the road trip since February, when they were announced as the “home” team, and the Vikings were revealed as the opposing team in May.
However, no one knew for certainty that Rodgers would be part of the force test abroad. He signed with Pittsburgh later in the offseason and succeeded 586 yards, seven affected and three interceptions during his first three departures.
Rodgers, 41, ranks fourth with 510 Touché passes. The only players in front of him in the record book are Tom Brady (649), Drew Brees (571) and Peyton Manning (539).
“This match means a lot for all of us,” said Rodgers. “At the League. To the Rooney family (who owns the Steelers). And we therefore want to represent the team and the Rooney Legacy.
“Being part of the first match in Ireland is pretty cool. I have the Irish heritage, so I’m very excited to go out.”
The Steelers will have consecutive victories after dominating the New England Patriots for a 21-14 victory on the road last weekend. Rodgers found Calvin Austin III for a touch of 17 yards with 2:16 remaining to put Pittsburgh on the top for good.
Minnesota is also going for consecutive victories. The Vikings won a 48-10 home victory against Cincinnati Bengals last week during the Carson Wentz team start.
Wentz will make his second consecutive departure at the quarter-back in place of JJ McCarthy, who suffered a sprained ankle raised during a defeat of September 14 against the Falcons of Atlanta. During its beginnings at the Vikings last week, Wentz finished 14 of the 20 passes for 173 yards and two affected without interceptions. He recorded an impressive 129.8 passer note.
This week, Wentz will welcome another playmaker in the passage game. Jordan Addison is expected to make his debut in season after having finished a suspension of three games which arises from an arrest in 2024 in which he would have led under the influence.
Wentz and Addison worked together in practice this week to develop chemistry in the field.
“Many things are still first,” said Wentz. “So, also throw him into the mixture. Obviously, I saw his game from afar. Extremely talented, the way he enters and gets out of the breaks, competitiveness.”
Addison joins Justin Jefferson All-Pro Wideout, who has 12 catches for 200 yards and a touchdown during the first three games of the season. Jordan Mason will probably get most of the work in running once again with the veteran Aaron Jones in the injured reserve.
The Steelers have excluded the injured assistant Alex Highsmith (ankle), but they hope to welcome a pair of other players. Coin half Joey Porter Jr. (ischio-legs) and the safety Deshon Elliott (knee) both participated in limited exercises on Wednesday after everyone missed the last two games.
“(They) certainly have a chance,” said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. “We will work with these guys this week and will leave the amount of their participation and the quality of their participation to be our guide. …
“The health and packaging of football and packaging can sometimes be different things, so we will watch these guys close, and (we) can make appropriate decisions in the last part of the week.”
– field level media
