The Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings will kick off the NFL's international series of games next week, as they travel to Dublin, Ireland, to clash in Week 4. Both teams come in at 2-1, with both coming off victories in Week 3.
The Vikings are dealing with issues at quarterback, with J.J. McCarthy playing poorly through his first two career starts before injuring his ankle against the Falcons. Veteran QB Carson Wentz stepped in for McCarthy in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals, and the results were unexpected to say the least.
Minnesota crushed Pittsburgh's AFC North rival 48-10, with Wentz playing a clean game with 170 yards and two touchdowns. The Vikings' defense and running game did all the heavy lifting, but they proved that they can win with their backup QB under center.
It's a good thing they did, because we already have confirmation that they will need to do the same in Week 4 if they want to beat the Steelers.
Pittsburgh Steelers already know they are facing Carson Wentz in Dublin against Vikings
The Steelers have faced Wentz just twice during the former No. 2 overall pick's career, going 1-1 against him while he was a member of the cross-state Philadelphia Eagles. Wentz's career got off to a white-hot start, including a near-MVP season in 2017 before tearing his ACL late in that season.
The Eagles famously won the Super Bowl that season without him, and his Eagles career slowly evaporated before being traded to the Colts in 2021. After stops in Washington, Los Angeles (Rams), and Kansas City, Wentz was brought in to be the veteran backup to the young McCarthy.
So far, the Vikings' decision to add him right before the season looks like a great one. Of all the veteran options they could have brought in to backup (or even compete with) McCarthy, I doubt many would have guessed it would be Wentz. He may no longer be the star he briefly was in his younger days, but the 32-year-old seems to have the right mentality to help this Vikings team keep winning.
It's fair to wonder if the Steelers would actually prefer facing McCarthy, especially given Coach Mike Tomlin's dominant 26-6 career record against rookie QBs. The 2024 10th overall pick technically isn't a rookie, but he may as well be after missing his entire rookie season due to a knee injury.
Still, the Steelers have a real opportunity to take advantage of Wentz in their Dublin showdown. The offense has to do what the Bengals could not with their own backup QB, Jake Browning: force Wentz to have to beat them with his arm. That means putting up enough points on a defense that is playing at a very high level right now.
If he only has to throw 20 passes like he did in Week 3, however, things probably didn't go Pittsburgh's way.