Feats of Strength: DK's big play, Kenny G's TDs key Steelers win in Ireland

For much of their game in Ireland, the Pittsburgh Steelers felt like they were leading the St. Patrick’s Day parade.

The Guinness was flowing. The Terrible Towels were waving. Everyone was dancing an Irish jig.

Then the fourth quarter happened, and the tone changed.

The Steelers hung on to win 24-21 to improve to 3-1. Our “Feats of Strength” outweigh our “Airing of Grievances.” But it definitely got dicey in Dublin.

FEATS OF STRENGTH

Rodgers’ response: After a horrible first drive that lost 2 yards on a three-and-out, the Steelers got in gear.

Aaron Rodgers orchestrated a fantastic second drive. As astutely outlined by Fox’s Greg Olsen during the broadcast, Rodgers appeared to make some adjustments at the line of scrimmage to get out of some bad run looks and turned them into effective short passes.

Four players had receptions on the drive, including Kenneth Gainwell. He ran the ball twice, including one for a touchdown.

Kenneth Gainwell scores the first NFL touchdown in Dublin ????????

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In all, it covered 71 yards on nine plays in 5 minutes, 29 seconds, and the Steelers took a 7-3 lead.

Rodgers was really good during the game, going 18 for 22 for 200 yards, a TD and a passer rating of 119.7. Gainwell was superb replacing an injured Jaylen Warren as the starter, going for 99 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He also added 35 receiving yards.

DK’s day: After just six catches and 52 yards over the last two weeks, DK Metcalf exploded. He ended the day with five catches for 126 yards.

One of those catches was an 80-yard TD in the second quarter.

RODGERS TO METCALF. 80 YARD TOUCHDOWN.

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Metcalf now has a score in three straight weeks.

Rodgers did a nice job recognizing that coverage behind a linebacker would be exposed once the defensive back went with the motion man pre-snap.

Glad to have you back: DeShon Elliott missed the past two games after suffering an injury in the season opener against the New York Jets. He made his return in Ireland and made a significant impact during a key second-quarter sequence.

On a fourth-and-1, the Vikings ran Justin Jefferson in an orbit motion. It seemed to mesmerize the Steelers, and a handoff to Jordan Mason went for 9 yards.

It could’ve gone for a lot more, but Elliott brought Mason down by the ankles. Otherwise, he might have gone the distance for a touchdown.

Three plays later, Elliott intercepted a pass intended for Jordan Addison.

DeShon Elliott with the INT for the @steelers

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Credit rookie Derrick Harmon for a tipped ball on that pick as well.

Also, on the final pass of the game from Carson Wentz, Elliott broke it up. Plus he had a few effective blitzes that disrupted Wentz pass attempts.

Third-down turnaround: The Steelers were much better on conversion downs than last week.

While they did allow that fourth-down conversion to Mason, Elliott’s interception came on a third down, and the Steelers had four sacks on third-down snaps.

T.J. Watt also intercepted a third-down pass by Wentz.

T.J. WATT PICKS IT OFF

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After allowing 10 third- or-fourth-down conversions to the Patriots, the Steelers defense managed to stop Minnesota on six of its first seven third-down attempts and held them to 4 of 14 on the day.

Although Minnesota did convert two fourth downs.

A couple of Watt’s fellow former Wisconsin Badgers were a big reason for that. Nick Herbig and Keeanu Benton each had 1 1/2 sacks.

Tight on the tight end: After getting roasted by tight ends over the past few weeks, Teryl Austin’s defense was much better in that regard Sunday.

T.J. Hockenson, a two-time Pro Bowler at the position, had only four catches on five targets for 39 yards. He didn’t even have a pass thrown in his direction until the final minute of the first half.

Last week, Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper combined for 10 catches, 118 yards and two touchdowns. Seattle’s A.J. Barner and Elijiah Arroyo combined for four catches, 57 yards and a touchdown the week before.

AIRING OF GRIEVANCES

Lack of commitment: I wasn’t wild about some late-game decision-making.

Mike Tomlin was half-hearted in his decision to go for a fourth-and-goal late in the fourth quarter. With his team up 24-14, Tomlin initially appeared as if he was going to kick a field goal.

It then looked like the offensive players changed his mind by asking to stay on the field. The Vikings called a timeout. The Steelers put the offense back on the field. But instead of letting Rodgers have some options and throw into the end zone, they handed the ball to Gainwell, and he got tackled at the 1-yard line.

I get going for it. A field goal just makes a two-score game into a slightly bigger two-score game. And if you fail, then Minnesota still has to go over 95 yards to score.

But, in the end, by running, Tomlin walked away without any points, preferring the sure option of not yielding field position with an end zone interception.

It was Tomlin “living in his fears” while looking like he was taking a chance.

Naturally, the Vikings went 99 yards and scored a touchdown set up by a blown coverage on an 81-yard bomb to Addison. It would have gone for a touchdown if not for an extreme effort tackle by Payton Wilson.

Peculiar punt: On the ensuing possession, after recovering an onside kick, the Steelers faced fourth-and-1 from the Minnesota 40 with 1:08 to go.

Again, it looked like they were indecisive. With the Steelers up 24-21, Rodgers got to the line of scrimmage and gave one hard count. The Vikings didn’t bite. The Steelers took a delay of game and punted, with Corliss Waitman blasting it into the end zone for some reason.

It seemed like going for it there made more sense. Or at least get to the line earlier and give it a better effort to draw them offside and try to drop a punt closer to the goal line.

Block party: After scoring two defensive touchdowns against the Cincinnati Bengals, Isaiah Rodgers blocked a Chris Boswell field goal attempt in the first half.

He came screaming off the left side of the offensive line and blocked Boswell’s attempt from 30 yards.

Isaiah Rodgers blocks the field goal!

THIS MAN CAN'T BE STOPPED.

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Pat Freiermuth whiffed on the block there. With the Steelers up 14-3 at the time, it didn’t seem like a catastrophe. But the Vikings responded with a field goal of their own before halftime to make it 14-6 with 30 minutes to go.