How Steelers defense finally showed up to terrorize Carson Wentz, Vikings in NFL Dublin win

Teddy Ricketson

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How Steelers defense finally showed up to terrorize Carson Wentz, Vikings in NFL Dublin win image

The Pittsburgh Steelers have long been known for their defense, but they had lost that identity to start the 2025 season.

Pittsburgh gave up 32 points in their Week 1 win against the New York Jets, 31 in their Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, and 14 in their Week 3 win over the New England Patriots.

Star outside linebacker TJ Watt didn't record a sack until Week 3, and he had two in the victory. As a team, Pittsburgh registered one sack in Week 1, two in Week 2 and five in Week 3. While the Week 3 performance was nice, the Steelers had shown inconsistency, and a date with the Minnesota Vikings across the pond was a game they had to step up. 

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Here is more on the Steelers' dominant defensive performance against the Vikings in Dublin.

Steelers defense vs. Vikings

Despite traveling overseas, the Steelers maintained their defensive momentum. Pittsburgh was all over Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz all game, whether it was from general pressure and not giving him time in the pocket, or when they actually sacked him.

The Steelers' defense sacked Wentz six times in Dublin, with no player recording more than 1.5 sacks, showcasing the depth that Pittsburgh's defense can possess. Watt added another to his season total, while Patrick Queen and DeShon Elliott added a sack each, and Keanu Benton and Nick Herbig finished with 1.5 sacks each.

Pittsburgh's defense was fired up from the jump. They forced a fumble on Minnesota running back Jordan Mason that was only called back because of a shaky camera angle, where it looked like Mason touched the ball when he was out of bounds. Otherwise, Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey would've had a scoop-and-score. 

Later in the game, Elliott had an interception on a ball that was tipped when Wentz threw it. Watt later also tipped a ball to himself for an interception and was so hyped that he punted the ball into the crowd.

When the Vikings had the chance to drive to tie the game, the defense struggled with penalties. But, they were able to get into the backfield, and even though they didn't sack Wentz on the play, he was hurried and threw the ball well short of the line of scrimmage for intentional grounding. This was a huge play because it carried a ten-second runoff at that stage of the game.

Due to the intentional grounding, it resulted in a loss of down. Wentz later grounded the ball, wasting a down, and they faced fourth down and 13. He hurled the ball downfield, but the Steelers' secondary knocked it down, and it fell to the turf. 

The Steelers' defense was also highly criticized for the amount of rushing yards it gave up this season, but it held Jordan Mason to only 57 yards and the Vikings' offense to 70 rush yards as a whole.

After the game, Cam Heyward talked about the defense and their effort. He said, "This is the first game we stopped the run to an extent. That led to us teeing off on the pass rush. Whether you got the sack, whether you got the pressure, there was always someone in his [Wentz's] face, and he was uncomfortable."

Pittsburgh's defense allowed too many late-game points for comfort, but the fact that they were in the backfield all day is a great sign. The Steelers will now be on bye before a Week 6 matchup against the Cleveland Browns.

Teddy Ricketson

Teddy Ricketson is a Digital Content Producer at The Sporting News. He joined the team in 2024 after spending the last three years writing for Vox Media as part of its DK Nation/Network team. Teddy does his best to support the South Carolina Gamecocks and Carolina Panthers, but tends to have more fun cheering on the Atlanta Braves. In his free time, he loves spending time with his wife, Brooke, and their two dogs, Bo and Hootie.