Aaron Rodgers helped steer the Pittsburgh Steelers to a narrow 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the inaugural NFL match in Ireland on Sunday afternoon (September 28).
The veteran quarterback, who joined the Steelers from the New York Jets for the 2025 season, threw for 200 yards and recorded just four incompletions in Dublin.
The 41-year-old's first-half touchdown pass to fellow new arrival DK Metcalf was among the game's biggest highlights, as the star receiver acquired from the Seattle Seahawks travelled 80 yards at a blistering pace to the endzone.
Mike Tomlin's team seemed to be cruising to victory early in the fourth quarter with a 24-6 lead, but the Vikings mounted a comeback through two touchdown passes by backup quarterback Carson Wentz.
The showdown at Croke Park became a very tense affair during its climax as the Vikings required just a successful field-goal attempt to draw level.
However, Wentz was unable to put together a successful final drive to get his team in field-goal range, and the Steelers eventually ran out the clock to improve to 3-1 for the season and sit atop the AFC North standings.
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The crowd in Dublin was filled with Steelers fans and those lucky to be in attendance will feel that the wait for the first regular season game to come to the Irish capital was worthwhile.
Rodgers on Dublin experience
Travis Register-Imagn Images
After taking down the Vikings, Rodgers was asked about his experience of playing in Ireland and whether he thought future NFL games should be staged in the location.
"100%. The whole experience was fantastic. Shout-out to the country and everybody who made this happen. Win or lose, I would have said the same thing," the quarterback told BBC Sport NI.
"I felt like the reception from the people here was outstanding," he added.
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The Super Bowl XLV champion and four-time regular season MVP then touched on what exactly made the occasion so special.
"In most NFL stadiums there's two hours when the stadium opens and (fans) start to trickle in. Somebody came in the locker room at 11:00 (three-and-half hours before kick-off) and goes, ' there's a tonne of people out there already'," Rodgers explained.
"I was, like, 'yeah, we're not in the (United) States anymore'. This is a different type of fan. I loved it."
Irish fans will be glad to hear that Rodgers was thrilled to be apart of the historic outing in Dublin and will echo his hopes of more games coming to the Emerald Isle in future seasons.
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