Football Footnotes: Steelers' D vs. Vikings may be the cure for your Irish FOMO

I love Ireland. I’ve only been there once, and I really hope to go back.

I wish I could’ve gone to Dublin for Sunday’s Steelers-Vikings game. I’m already having pangs of jealousy over the pictures and videos I’m seeing from Pittsburghers who made the trip.

All the parties from Temple Bar. Shots of the scenery. Images from people who have already been to other parts of the county, like the Cliffs of Moher.

How many @maxstarks78 make up the height of the Cliffs of Moher? ???? #terribletoweltour pic.twitter.com/yfqIcc34f7

— Steelers Ireland (@SteelersIreland) September 24, 2025

I’m definitely dealing with a severe case of FOMO right now … until I start thinking about the actual game.

The Steelers are 2½ point underdogs, and I think that line is a little generous toward the Black and Gold.

If I were just going over there for the game itself, I think somewhere in the third quarter it would hit me, “Did we just travel 3,500 miles to see the Steelers get cow-kicked?”

I’ve got Minnesota winning this game 27-20 with the Steelers scoring a late touchdown to make the result look cosmetically better than what it will really be.

With so much attention being paid to the travel, the destination and the surroundings, maybe we haven’t talked about the actual game enough.

So for Friday’s “Football Footnotes” this week, here are five things the Steelers’ struggling defense must do to pull off an upset Sunday.

Contain Justin Jefferson

That may be easier done than in previous years. Jefferson is averaging four catches, 66.7 yards and has just one touchdown so far this year. That’s all modest production by his standards.

That’s, at least in part, because of the quarterback instability surrounding Minnesota this year. But he’s still one of the NFL’s best at the position.

“Every route he runs looks the exact same,” safety Juan Thornhill said. “You can think he’s running a ‘go’ ball, and he’s sitting down. You can think he is sitting down, then he runs a ‘go’ ball. Every release and route looks exactly the same, and those are the guys that are hard to stop.”

Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin echoed those sentiments.

“He’s a really good route runner, and he’s kind of a fearless receiver. He catches contested balls all over the place. Yards after catch. He runs through stuff. It really makes him a complete receiver. That makes him hard to deal with,” Austin said Thursday. “Other guys, sometimes you can figure out where they may come up short in some areas, but he doesn’t really come up short in very many areas.”

The defense was hurt by a tight end (Hunter Henry) in New England. The Patriots really don’t have a stud wide receiver. But Garrett Wilson and Jaxson Smith-Njigba had big games against the Steelers over the first two weeks.

Expect a breakout performance from Jefferson in this one.

Don’t forget about Jordan Addison

The former Pitt/USC standout missed the first three games serving a National Football League-mandated suspension following a 2024 DUI-related citation.

After Jefferson, the next-best Minnesota receiver has been Jalen Nailor, with seven catches for 96 yards. Addison can certainly do better than that.

“I hadn’t seen a lot of significant differences in their concepts between the first three games and what they were, say, maybe doing a year ago. So I don’t know (if) that changes,” Tomlin said. “Certainly, the ‘Jimmies and Joes’ component of it is a factor. I imagine they’ll be glad to have him back.”

If the Steelers throw a lot of collateral at covering Jefferson, Addison could make them hurt.

The Steelers’ D is 28th in the NFL, allowing 386 yards per game (28th in the league). In terms of passing yards, opposing teams are averaging 246.7. That’s the seventh-highest total in football.

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Subtle upgrade?

What about the guy throwing those two the football? Well, it’s Carson Wentz.

Based on how his career has slipped the past six years (which includes stops in six cities), that may not seem like much.

However, Wentz was good in his starting debut, taking over for injured second-year signal-caller J.J. McCarthy. En route to Minnesota’s 48-10 beatdown of Cincinnati, the former Pro Bowler went 14 of 20 for 173 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

“We know he’s got a big arm. We know he can make all the throws and all those different things. He’s got good mobility. He’s got all the things you want,” Austin said.

As Tomlin alluded to on Tuesday, Wentz doesn’t have to be the long-term answer for the Vikings. He just needs to be better right now than McCarthy was with two games of experience under his belt.

“We were in a similar situation a year ago. We were playing in Indianapolis, and I commented to the guys to keep (Anthony) Richardson upright. Don’t put (Joe) Flacco in the game, and Flacco ended up in the game,” Tomin recalled. “I think that’s some of the things that you can run into when you run into a veteran guy, at least from a short-term perspective.”

The Steelers ended up losing that game in Indy, 27-24.

The ‘other Jordan’

Not Addison, Jordan Mason.

The Vikings’ running back only had 98 yards over the first two games while a healthy Aaron Jones was still in the mix. But in Game 3 against the Bengals, Mason went off for 116 yards and two scores.

As we all know, the Steelers’ run defense is bad — 139.3 yards allowed per game, 27th in the NFL. Yet, it did improve against New England. Quarterback Drake Maye had 45 rushing yards, many of those on scrambles. That inflated the stat sheet. Antonio Gibson — just 28 yards on seven carries — had the highest total of any New England running back.

Patriots running backs also fumbled three times in that game against the Steelers’ defense.

One-up the other guy

We’ll end with that thought. Both of these teams have big-play defenses. The Steelers had five sacks and five turnovers last weekend.

The Vikings ran two turnovers back for scores last week, posted four sacks, two interceptions, three fumbles and seven tackles for loss.

Jake Browning is picked off by Isaiah Rodgers for a @Vikings Pick-6!

CINvsMIN on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/4N3OaMpxdA

— NFL (@NFL) September 21, 2025

Based on the struggling offense, the Steelers’ defense is going to have to create at least one more game-altering play than Minnesota’s.

Emphasis on “at least.”

Watch: Tim Benz and Mike DeCourcy preview Steelers-Vikings on the Mike’s Beer Bar “Friday Football” show