The Pittsburgh Steelers have spent the week preparing to play the Minnesota Vikings as both teams enter the Week 4 contest with a 2-1 record. This game will take some added preparation as it is being played in Ireland, and players are going to have to focus on making sure their bodies get acclimated to the time change. Dublin, Ireland is five hours ahead of Pittsburgh and six hours ahead for Minnesota, so it will be a significant challenge for both sides.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin roams the practice field as his team works out during a 2025 training camp practice at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
There has been a lot of discussion about the strategies each franchise is implementing to make sure that both teams are used to the time difference, and teams playing internationally often leave earlier in the week to make sure that is not an issue. It was reported earlier in the week by insider Gerry Dulac that Pittsburgh wanted to leave earlier in the week, but the organization was blocked from doing so by the NFL. The NFL's vice president of football and international communications has since come out and stated that that is false, and it was up to the two teams to decide when they departed for Ireland.
Michael Signora, the league’s senior VP of football and international communications, said it is up to each team to decide how early or late in the week it wants to arrive for an international game. Sometimes, those decisions are based on hotel and practice site availability
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) September 26, 2025
This is clearly different from the initial report from Dulac. It is important to note that both Pittsburgh and Minnesota both arrived in Dublin on Friday, so neither side gained any sort of competitive advantage in that regard. However, it is interesting that the NFL and Pittsburgh see the situation differently, with the league stating it had no say in when the teams decided to travel to get to Ireland.
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Steelers Owner and Team President Art Rooney II looks on before a game.
The topic of team travel has been a focus of discussion in Pittsburgh due to the stories that have come out since the last time the organization played overseas back in 2013. That game took place in London, also against the Vikings. Only one player that is currently on the team was with the franchise back in 2013, and that is veteran defender Cam Heyward. He has told stories on his podcast about how the team traveled late in the week and players were falling asleep in meetings. The club was sluggish as a whole when it played the game on Sunday.
Pittsburgh went down big to Minnesota in the game as it faced a deficit of 34-17 at the end of third quarter. The Steelers scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to make the game seem closer than it truly was, and there has been some speculation that the team's struggles in that contest were due to the team not being given enough time to get acclimated to the time change.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin during a regular season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025 in Foxborough, MA.
Steelers Will Have A Tough Test Taking Down The Vikings
The Vikings have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL, even with Carson Wentz being named the starting quarterback in place of JJ McCarthy. The group has one of the most lethal wide receiver groups in the NFL with Jordan Addison making his 2025 debut after serving his three-game suspension, and the defense is near the top of the league in every major stat under Brian Flores. Pittsburgh is going to have to play its most complete game in order to have a chance to win on Sunday, and it is a crucial matchup to win as the team has its bye week in Week 5.
What do you think of the NFL refuting Dulac's report? Let us know in the comments below!
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