Down 10 with 4:09 remaining at historic Croke Park in Dublin, Carson Wentz and the Vikings offense lined up looking at the length of the field (99 yards) and shocked a Steelers defense in full-on feast mode.

After a 6-yard rush from Jordan Mason and 11-yard catch by Justin Jefferson, Wentz dropped back and unfurled a deep pass to Jordan Addison who flew undetected past flat-footed coverage and grabbed the throw near midfield with nothing but green grass in front of him. An 82-yard sprint for six was imminent.

Except Addison slipped slightly and was hawked by Pittsburgh's Payton Wilson at the 1.

According to Next Gen Stats, the Steelers second-year inside linebacker clocked a top speed of 22.48 mph on the chase-down tackle, the fastest recorded speed by a linebacker in the NGS era (since 2016).

It took four more snaps and an incredibly precious minute off the clock for Minnesota to complete the drive, and keep its comeback prospects intact, with a touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal to Jalen Nailor.

Down 3 as a result with 2:08 to go (and only one timeout at their disposal) the Vikings tried but failed to recover an onside kick and then watched their chances vanish as longtime rival Aaron Rodgers in his new threads drained the game to about a minute. Minnesota's defense did hold strong and return the ball to Wentz and Co. with 1:02 left – but there wasn't much to be done against fierce pressure and a fast clock.

"We're still figuring it out," Jefferson said of the offense's showing. "Just dealing with different circumstances – injuries, people having to step up in different spots – it's difficult. This game of football is not really predictable, and a lot of things can really jump at you when you're really not expecting it to.

"We've got to look at the film to really digest it for real," Jefferson added. "But yeah, definitely a sick taste in our mouth. Just hurting ourselves, really, just shooting ourselves in the foot and just giving them more opportunities to really, you know, get points or gain that momentum. And it's just something that we've got to kind of lean in on ourselves and really understand what we really want to accomplish."

The last-ditch sequence summed up some of Minnesota's many woes in its 24-21 loss across the pond.

On one snap after another, Wentz first was nearly intercepted; then, he received some favor with a defensive holding call and offsides penalty on consecutive downs; he hooked up with Zavier Scott, who caught Wentz's first touchdown of the afternoon (and first of his career), for 9; and then attempted to get rid of the ball on a near sack but didn't chuck it far enough, evoking a flag for intentional grounding.

That mishap resulted in a 10-second runoff and really stressed the need for some Irish luck.

On second-and-26 at Minnesota's 23, Wentz found T.J. Hockenson for a pickup of 14. A spike on the next play set up a fourth-and-12, and an outside opportunity to put the yellow-and-black-heavy crowd on edge. The Vikings were penalized for a delay of game, though, and Wentz's final pass landed incomplete.

At his postgame press conference, Head Coach Kevin O'Connell noted a "unique challenge."

The team learned "about three minutes before the kickoff that end zone's game clock and play clock would be turned off for the day," he said. "Normally that clock right in front of the quarterback is kind of registering: 'I've got to get going.' … It's not an excuse. We knew about it, but that is a unique challenge when it comes to most, if not all, NFL games. You're normally staring right down through the defense at that play clock to be able to speed things up and get the ball snapped. It [affected] us in a big moment."

Wentz added about wrestling without a play clock in that direction, "That was weird. I'm not going to lie. It was weird looking behind me, looking over my shoulder on the side. I thought we handled it OK. Obviously, it got us at a very bad time in the game, unfortunately. But, yeah – that was a little different."

After beginning the day with a career-best 11 straight completions, Wentz finished 30-for-46 passing with 350 yards, two touchdowns and two picks in his second start for the Purple and 100^th career game.

Importantly, Minnesota's offense can't be knocked for caving because it never threw up its arms in overtly grim circumstances, such as a 24-6 deficit in the fourth quarter and in-game losses of right tackle Brian O'Neill, who suffered a knee injury on Will Reichard's first field goal, which put the club ahead 3-0, and center Ryan Kelly, who departed in concussion protocol in his return from sustaining one in Week 2.

The offensive operation, however, didn't meet the Vikings standard – it was too sloppy.

"We ended up throwing the ball quite a bit, so that's always tough on the line and everything, and there's definitely times I could have gotten rid of the ball quicker and gone through my progressions faster," Wentz said, crediting Pittsburgh. "They play hard. They play physical. They made it tough on us."

Minnesota converted just four of 14 third downs (29 percent). Mason averaged 3.6 yards rushing on 16 carries, with a long run of 9. Both of Wentz's interceptions were touched at the line – the first, intended for Addison, was tipped by rookie Derrick Harmon and snatched over the middle by DeShon Elliott; All-Pro game-wrecker T.J. Watt, who had one of Pittsburgh's six sacks, batted the second one to himself after it was tipped initially by Cameron Heyward. O'Connell said the club tried containing Watt's effectiveness.

"We had some breakdowns in some other areas, and it just kind of took us out of the flow of being able to run the football; it took us out of the flow of being able to use our play-action pass game," the coach debriefed. "I thought we did do a pretty good job early moving the football via, you know, the ball coming out pretty quick and trying to find ways to get some catch-and-run opportunities. But as you stack some of those negative plays you just end up in down and distances that are very conducive for them, and then eventually the score is very conducive for them and you're trying to make sure you piece together what was the original plan and making sure you never want to leave 90 (Watt) to an open edge.

"I think one of the few times we did [leave Watt uncovered] he got off the ball so fast they called him for an offside in the neutral zone," O'Connell continued. "But then as you lose your center and then, obviously, B.O., it has some effect on the execution – but I don't look at it as anything more than the next man up and we've got to consistently do some more simple things early on in the game just from a standpoint of doing our job, and that's the execution [that's seen] when it's all 11, when it's all there."

The clearest problems originated by way of pressure – and a couple big changes up front. The Vikings starting five, from left to right, of Christian Darrisaw, Blake Brandel (already filling in for injured starter Donovan Jackson), Kelly, Will Fries and O'Neill played a single series together before the latter left the game and was replaced by Justin Skule. Second-year center Michael Jurgens came on in the second half.

"At the end of the day, we lost. That's all I care about. That's all I'm concerned about. [I've] got a bad taste in my mouth," Wentz said. "The defense stepped up when we needed 'em at the end, got us the ball back. In those situations, it pains me to be left out on the field with a chance and come up short."

Penalties also were an exhausting problem (eight for 82 yards versus five for 35 for Pittsburgh).

Even with Jefferson breaking through in the first half – he matched his receptions total from Week 3 (four) on the Vikings first drive and racked up eight grabs for 97 yards in the first two frames (it was only the second time in his career that he's met the 8-catch, 95-plus yard thresholds in a half) – and reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week Isaiah Rodgers blocking a field goal, momentum eluded Minnesota.

Instead of a touchdown on a 29-yard connection to "Jets" to the Steelers 13, that was defined by his slippage on the playing surface with a minute before the intermission, the Vikings stalled offensively and settled for a chip-shot field goal from Reichard. An opportunity to double-dip on the scoreboard coming out of the locker room was axed quickly, when Wentz was sacked and the group went three-and-punt.

Jefferson was asked afterwards if he needed more time to get familiar with the "softer Irish ground."

"It's not really, like, overly slipping, it's just slipping on, just here and there on these little routes," said the global superstar, who amplified Addison's 114 receiving yards with a season-high 126. "Maybe I'm overextending a little bit too much, and I've just got to understand the surfaces and understand that I've got to get my feet, you know, below me instead of out wide. So that's something to think about, but that's not really something that I put blame on or I criticize at the end of the day (because) whether it's raining, snowing, we've still got to go out there and run good routes and get open for the quarterback."

Overall, it was a mixed bag for the offense.

There were highlights, such as Wentz linking up with Addison on a 22-yard back-shoulder pass that the third-year receiver in his first game action of 2025 nabbed despite draping coverage à la Darius Slay. Later, Wentz's TD toss to Scott was impressive on behalf of both players; Wentz extended the play and zipped it to the back of the end zone, where the college receiver/running back Scott plucked it like a pro.

Wentz's successful 2-point conversion pass to Nailor on the ensuing snap was special, as well. He placed the ball on Nailor's inside shoulder, away from danger, as he executed a short corner route from the slot.

As in the case of most losses, however, the positives were outweighed.

Wentz was under fire as early as Minnesota's first possession when Patrick Queen delayed a blitz and screamed through the B gap unblocked to crush him in the pocket and force the Vikings field goal unit onto the field. Wentz also was dropped on the next series when Nick Herbig beat Darrisaw (right after a false start by C.D.) around the bend and gave chase to and tackled the veteran quarterback from behind.

While the surge in the final frame was inspiring, it didn't satisfy the shortcomings.

"I thought the blocked field goal was big and then obviously the defense at the end, finding a way to get the stop, and then we flipped that into a touchdown and had a chance because of that," O'Connell reflected. "That's where you're just never going to see this team quit. They're going to play to the very end against a good team. We just didn't do enough things to overcome either our own execution or the injuries. I don't really look at anything other than we've got to improve and continue to grow as a team."

One lucky aspect of Minnesota's first overseas loss (4-1 all-time in the regular season) is the team's second chance to return home with a win in hand. The Vikings will hop isles to London to face familiar coach Kevin Stefanski and the Browns next Sunday at familiar grounds, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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