No luck of the Irish for the Vikings.

Minnesota played a physical game against Pittsburgh in Dublin and made a valiant comeback effort, but it was too little, too late, and the Vikings fell 24-21 in their first of two International Series Games.

"I thought our defense kept us battling, a couple big stops," Head Coach Kevin O'Connell said during his postgame press conference.

Minnesota only allowed one play to gain more than 20 yards (more on that later) Sunday, but chunk plays in the teens did plenty of damage.

The Steelers entered Sunday's matchup without running back Jaylen Warren, who had led the team in rushing and receiving yards. Kenneth Gainwell took most of the run snaps in Warren's place and filled in admirably, though, giving Minnesota's defense a significant challenge.

Joshua Metellus emphasized the need to shore up the run defense.

"We hold ourselves to certain standards. And you've got a guy like Aaron Rodgers just sitting back there and controlling the game off running the ball when they don't even have their starting running back in — it wasn't like they were hitting us for 50, you know, it wasn't Bijan [Robinson with] a 200-yard game, but they did enough to keep them in the drives," Metellus said. "Although we were getting stops, they were still controlling … how much time we were on the field, and we've gotta be better."

In the fourth quarter alone, Gainwell racked up 58 yards as the Vikings attempted to claw themselves back into the game.

Gainwell wrapped up his outing with 19 carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to catching all six balls thrown his way for 35 yards.

Rodgers made things tough on Minnesota in his 30^th career start against the former division rival. He was able to rely heavily on the run game, as Metellus noted, but still made things count through the air and took care of the football.

DK Metcalf gouged the Vikings early on, securing three catches for 42 yards during Pittsburgh's first offensive series of the day. On the third, Rodgers found Metcalf in-stride over the middle, and the 6-foot-4, 229-pound pass catcher turned it into an 80-yard touchdown. According to Next Gen Stats, Metcalf covered 103.3 yards of total distance on the play and hit 21.2 miles per hour.

"He's definitely a good receiver, definitely a guy that's gonna go out there and make plays," Byron Murphy, Jr., said. "We knew Aaron Rodgers was gonna try to get the ball in his hands, quick game, all of those types of things. We knew what we were up against; obviously [we needed] better details on that play from the whole defense.

"We've got know where their premier receiver is and be better to the ball," Murphy added.

Metcalf didn't have a catch the rest of the day, finishing the game with four catches for 126 yards and the score. Gainwell's 35 were second on the team, and Darnell Washington added three catches for 20 yards.

Rodgers was 18-of-22 passing for 200 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. His passer rating was 119.7.

"He definitely was getting the ball out fast," Murphy said. "Obviously our goal was to force the checkdown … but we knew he was going to do that. We had to go out there and make more plays."

Minnesota was charged with two penalties after plays had finished.

"Penalties continue to be a critical factor that I need to get fixed," O'Connell said. "Specifically the pre- and post-snap penalties that, when we give away yards and we get things stacked against us, creating third-and-longers for our offense and earned first downs that aren't necessarily happening between the whistles against our defense."

Late in the second quarter, an unnecessary roughness penalty on Murphy — earned in large part by Ben Skowronek's theatrical performance — turned a third-and-1 into an automatic first down for Pittsburgh. That drive did end on a high note for the Vikings, however, when Isaiah Rodgers blocked a 30-yard field goal attempt.

Dallas Turner also was flagged for unnecessary roughness, gifting Pittsburgh 15 yards with 5:37 left in the game. Metcalf was holding onto Turner's facemask, and Turner swiped at him.

After running away with the turnover battle in Week 3, the Vikings were unable to repeat the feat in Dublin. Minnesota didn't nab any interceptions, and Greenard's forced fumble was recovered by Pittsburgh's Broderick Jones.

Jalen Redmond stood out on the defensive line, looking to set the tone early with a sack of Rodgers on Pittsburgh's very first offensive play of the day. He got to Rodgers again late in the second quarter, recording the only two sacks of the veteran QB.

As O'Connell noted, the Vikings defense battled it out, making some big-time stops that included forcing a three-and-punt by Pittsburgh early in the second quarter; then in the fourth quarter, they held the Steelers to a field goal, created a turnover on downs and forced another punt.

With just 4 minutes left and trailing by 10, Murphy tackled Gainwell a yard shy of the goal line on fourth-and-goal.

"[The mindset was] definitely just to stop them. Don't let them get any points," Murphy said. "Obviously, get the ball back for the offense."

It stings to leave Ireland with a loss, the first on international soil in franchise history, but the Vikings know it's much too early in the season to hang their heads.

There's a lot of work left to do, starting with facing the Browns next weekend in London, and they're proud of themselves for playing until the final whistle.

"That's just the guys. That's who we are as a team," Murphy said. "We always fight 'til the end. Everybody held their composure.

"You've gotta strike this one out," he added. "It's not what we wanted. But we're back to another week. Right now, we go back, look at the film and correct it. Then obviously next week, go 1-0."

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