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Ravens and Chiefs square off Wk4 to avoid 1/3

Dan Orlovsky@danorlovsky7
You know what QBs are on 3rd & long against Minnesota this year? 1-for-18

EAGAN, Minn. -- The NFL launched an expansion of its global reach this spring. For the first time, a team would face the daunting gauntlet of consecutive international games in different counties.

Which club would the NFL burden with the job? It turned out to be the Minnesota Vikings, whom the league scheduled for a game in Ireland during Week 4 and England in Week 5.

Immediately, Vikings staffers began hearing from their friends around the league.

"A lot of people reached out and said, 'What did you guys do to the NFL to get this?'" said Vikings vice president of player health and performance Tyler Williams.

Equipment manager Mike Parson laughed and said: "They said we got screwed."

Although they are the visiting team in both cases, against the Steelers in Dublin and the Browns in London, the team's market research and branding efforts have indicated strong local support in both cities. Keisha Wyatt, the Vikings' director of international marketing, estimated that 40% of the crowd at Dublin's Croke Park and up to 60% at London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will be Vikings fans.

Those proportions would effectively neutralize two of the nine road games the Vikings otherwise would have played in 2025. And because they are scheduled in consecutive weeks, the Vikings will remain overseas, making only a 90-minute flight from Dublin to London in between. Owners Zygi and Mark Wilf have aggressively pursued international outreach, having claimed jurisdiction in the United Kingdom as an original participant in the NFL's Global Markets Program, and they eagerly accepted when the league proposed the possibility during the schedule-making process.

"We're club first, but we are also very mindful of making sure the league and the sport grows," Mark Wilf said. "The more the business grows, the more the fandom grows, and it just makes it exciting for everyone. ... We've spent a lot of time with Tyler [Williams] and the crew making sure our players will be ready. Our players are up to it."

The Jacksonville Jaguars have played consecutive games in London, but the NFL wanted to test out a European road trip -- and found a willing partner in the Vikings.

"They're certainly a club that has leaned into the international opportunity," said Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's executive vice president of club business, international and league events. "And we do learn things. We learn things together with the clubs in terms of the operational components, ensuring that we can continue to get better in terms of the team operations, the experience overall, and in this case, moving between two countries.

"We're really confident in the plan that we have in place and the work that we've done with the Vikings leading up to it, but it's really about learning as we continue to grow and potentially grow the number of games even further in the future."

Rest of read:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/4635...n-oconnell

Interesting matchup. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Uncle Sammy sure can throw a nice ball. Such a quick delivery and boom its there. Should be a fun game to watch. And what is to be made of Kyler Murray? Just 28 years old still, yet so inconsistent. How much longer do the Cardinals hang in there? Damn he's elusive in the pocket. Both teams 2-1 I believe heading into the game tonight.

Ryan Kelly returns. Darrisaw is completely off the injured report. Fingers crossed Brandel is serviceable, not 100% convinced but hopeful. Another week of #1 reps for Mr. Wentz. And Jordan Addison's return with everything I mentioned SHOULD mean some good things offensively. Its Week 4, the team has gelled a bit now with all the new parts. It appears the team has a run game. 

This kind of smells like the game to show if the Vikings have some heft to them or not.

Not always a Greeny fan, but for me, he hits it on the head. I'll ride with whatever. I as a fan certainly don't know better, and I guarantee he does. I know this question is mostly 24/7 sports talk fodder, but if the hand is so hot that KOC is inclined to ride, do we care in the very short term? Nobody is giving up on JJ and Wentz will need to play very, very well for this to even be considered. Can Wentz carry the team a bit in crunch time? Can he be consistent? So much to be seen yet for this question, but like I said, its what carries the week of sports talk. Like Penix is fielding ridiculousness now on whether he's the guy and will Houston be drafting a QB next Spring, lol. The micro in sports media is always goofiness mostly.

"Whatever decision Kevin O'Connell makes, I would be convinced it's the right one" 
-@Espngreeny on whatever choice he makes for the #Vikings at QB

https://twitter.com/SKORNorth/status/197...5732039075

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin isn't known for throwing shade at other players, but even he hopped on the bandwagon of people taking a dig at Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson.

Leading up to the Steelers' Week 4 game against the Minnesota Vikings, who will again be relying on Carson Wentz at quarterback, Tomlin made a comparison of his team's game against the Colts last season when discussing the difficulty of facing a backup who might be better from the pocket than the opposing starter:

"I don't necessarily view it as a negative thing for the Minnesota Vikings, at least in the short term, that Carson is playing for them. We were in a similar situation a year ago; we were playing in Indianapolis. Man, and I commented to the guys, 'Keep [Anthony] Richardson upright. Don't put [Joe] Flacco in the game.' And you know, Flacco ended up in the game."

Tomlin was speaking about the way a veteran backup can bring some "intangible components" to the game in a way that a less experienced quarterback is unable to do because they haven't yet learned to do that in the NFL.

In the game that Tomlin is referencing from Week 4 last season, the Steelers weren't exactly stopping Richardson before he left the game late in the first quarter due to a shoulder injury.

The Colts were already up 7-0 and Richardson got them into Steelers territory on their second offensive possession when the injury occurred. Joe Flacco finished off that drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to Josh Downs.

Indianapolis went on to beat the Steelers 27-24, with Flacco finishing 16-of-26 for 168 yards and two touchdowns. It's worth noting Richardson was 3-of-4 for 71 yards and had 24 rushing yards in just 13 plays.

The strategy behind Tomlin's comment was sound. Richardson completed 49.3 percent of his attempts with twice as many interceptions (six) as touchdowns (three) in his first three starts before the Steelers game.

It's entirely possible that if Richardson had played the entire game, he would have eventually turned back into the player he was in the first three weeks.

The fact that Indianapolis is off to a better start through three weeks this season with Daniel Jones than it had in any opening three-game stretch with Peyton Manning only makes Richardson look worse.

Wentz will be making his second consecutive start for the Vikings, with J.J. McCarthy recovering from a sprained ankle. Minnesota won Wentz's first game 48-10 over the Cincinnati Bengals, but he only had to throw the ball 20 times because the game got so one-sided early.

The Steelers (2-1) will likely need their offense to step up on Sunday. They haven't gained 300 yards in a game through the first three weeks, though the defense has stepped up with eight takeaways.

Pittsburgh and Minnesota will be playing the NFL's first game in Ireland on Sunday. Croke Park in Dublin will host the matchup between the two teams with a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff time.

Bleacher Report

NFL Power Rankings: Vikings Move Up After Dominant Victory Over Bengals
Sep 23, 2025 

The last time Isaiah Rodgers was at U.S. Bank Stadium (prior to this season), he was a part of NFL history.

Unfortunately for Rodgers, he was on the other side of it that day during the 2022 season; the cornerback was a member of an Indianapolis Colts team that saw the Minnesota Vikings rally from a 33-0 halftime deficit and earn a 39-36 overtime victory, completing the largest comeback ever seen in the sport.

It's certainly a half of football that Rodgers would rather forget. On Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, he replaced it with one he'll always remember.

Rodgers’ “spectacular” performance – highlighted by an 87-yard pick six, a forced fumble and recovery he took 66 yards the other way for a score, and another fumble he caused (all in the first half) – helped the Vikings rout the Bengals 48-10.

Rodgers not only became the first NFL player (since at least 1991 when forced fumbles became part of the full play-by-play data) with two defensive scores and forced fumbles in the same game, he became the first player in Vikings history to record a pair of defensive touchdowns in a single contest. Coincidentally, during that 2022 game against the Colts, Rodgers nearly witnessed former Vikings CB Chandon Sullivan return two fumbles for touchdowns, only for both plays to be called back (one ruled for forward progress and the other ruled down by contact).

Sunday's victory not only lifted Minnesota into a tie for first in the NFC North with Detroit and Green Bay, but it helped the Vikings move up in this week's power rankings. Here's a look at where the Vikings landed heading into Week 4:

No. 15 (up 4 spots): Eric Edholm, NFL.com

Even if the Bengals were their own worst enemies on Sunday, the Vikings showed enough with Carson Wentz at the helm to have reasonable hope they can hold the fort until J.J. McCarthy's return. Wentz was sharp early, cooled off and then heated back up in a net-positive performance. Even while taking three sacks, Wentz kept the chains moving by finding open guys. Minnesota's run game (even without Aaron Jones, Sr.) and the defense did a lot of the heavy lifting, with two defensive touchdowns and five turnovers giving the offense all the opportunities they needed and then some. Thirteen penalties, most of them on offense, were a bummer, and it will give Kevin O'Connell his white-board point for the week ahead of the big Euro duo against the Steelers and Browns prior to the early bye. If the Vikings can make it back home with a winning record, they'll be in far better shape to handle the most lethal part of the schedule after the bye. Sunday showed it was too soon to punt on Minnesota.

No. 15 (up 4 spots): Kris Knox, Bleacher Report

Let's not go overboard about Kevin O'Connell's ability to coach up quarterbacks or the possibility of Carson Wentz being the next great QB comeback story. Wentz did operate O'Connell's offense efficiently in Week 3, but it was Minnesota's defense that dominated.

The Vikings also got strong contributions from Jordan Mason and the ground game, days after starter Aaron Jones was placed on Injured Reserve.

That's noteworthy because Minnesota is going to get rookie mistakes out of J.J. McCarthy when he's healthy enough to return. If the Vikings can support McCarthy with great defense and a strong running game – as they did in Week 1 – they can stay in the playoff picture while continuing to develop their young quarterback.

No. 13 (up 4 spots): Pete Prisco, CBS Sports

If [the Vikings] play defense like they did against the Bengals, it won't matter who plays quarterback. But Carson Wentz played well with what he was asked to do.

No. 15 (up 7 spots): Nate Davis, USA Today

Next up, the league's first regular-season game in Ireland? On the football front, WR2 Jordan Addison [rejoined] the team for its two-game European swing.

No. 14 (up 8 spots): Josh Kendall, The Athletic

Kevin O'Connell picked up Carson Wentz four weeks ago, and even with limited practice reps and basically no training camp, Wentz guided the Vikings to a blowout win while throwing for two touchdowns and averaging 8.7 yards per pass. At this point, it would be fun to see which quarterback you could drop onto this roster with O'Connell and still win a game.

No. 14 (up 2 spots): Conor Orr, Sports Illustrated

The return of Harrison Smith has been a game-changer for this defense and absolutely ripped apart a quality backup in Jake Browning. I wrote about Smith, and one of the most spectacular defensive plays I've seen in a long time, right here.

No. 13 or 14 (up 3 or 4 spots): Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News

(Writer's note: Iyer's article has two teams ranked No. 12 and none at the No. 16 spot. He doesn't address the tie in this week's rankings, so the Vikings are either No. 13 or No. 14).

The Vikings can be unstoppable when they are swarming defensively and getting sacks and takeaways at a high rate for Brian Flores. Carson Wentz also got a nice break with Jordan Mason and the big running game.

No. 13 (up 3 spots): Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports

The Vikings aren't going anywhere. They need to figure out how to get good, consistent quarterback play. Their defense remains top notch. That showed against the Bengals. This is still a playoff-level roster, especially when it gets healthy.

Vikings defense has learned to master the punch-out to become a turnover machine
Led by cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, the Vikings had their first takeaway frenzy of the season against the Bengals, perfecting a move they have practiced until it became muscle memory.


Vikings defenders shared a realization while hitting the showers postgame of their 48-10 win over the Bengals, safety Josh Metellus said after the game Sunday.

“Is it me, or is the ball coming out a little bit easier this year?” Metellus said they asked each other. “Should we start punching the ball a little bit more than normal?”

The thought came after cornerback Isaiah Rodgers successfully punched two balls loose in the first half, one he recovered himself and returned for a score and the other picked up by cornerback Jeff Okudah. Safety Theo Jackson also had a punch-out in the game.

The week before against the Falcons, linebacker Eric Wilson punched one out from Drake London’s hands after a catch. Jackson recovered that one.

The Vikings defense, which led the league in takeaways last season, viewed its performance Sunday as a return-to-form of sorts. They’re up to seven takeaways with two interceptions and five fumble recoveries through three games.

“Shoutout to Flo. All week he’s been telling us, ‘Just get back to Vikings football,’” Rodgers said postgame, referring to defensive coordinator Brian Flores. “We just wanted to go back out there and showcase our talent and put on a show.”

The punch-out forced fumbles in particular are a rising trend in the past three seasons or so, a turnover tactic that Flores credits special teams coordinator Matt Daniels for helping put in Vikings players’ subconscious.

Daniels said Tuesday that he first took an interest in the subject while working for the Cowboys. He and then-special teams coordinator John Fassel, who’s now in the same position with the Titans, did a deep-dive on turnovers, the science behind them and the dynamic of how to punch a ball out at the request of Mike McCarthy, the Dallas head coach at the time.

Daniels now gives a weekly turnover presentation to the Vikings.

Part of the uptick in punch-outs, Daniels said, is that hand-eye coordination, and athletic performance overall, is reaching new levels.

But he also learned in his studies with Fassel the value of building the motive and movements to achieve it into players’ subconscious minds, making it muscle memory.

“If you can continue just to work it, work it, work it and just build that subconscious mindset, then it just all becomes natural in the football game,” Daniels said.

The Vikings do work it most days in practice. In one particular drill, two defensive players — at all positions — will dive at each other above a foam pad, with one trying to knock the ball out of the other’s grip.

Metellus called it “special” to see the direct translation of that work in practice to gameday.

Flores said he even works it with his young sons, instructing them to punch at the ball every time they give him a hug. It’s produced success for them, too.

Building the move into the subconscious goes hand-in-hand with good tackling, something the Vikings defense did better against the Bengals than they had in the first two games of the season.

The Vikings missed 13 tackles against the Bears and 16 against the Falcons. Against the Bengals, they missed only six.

A player understanding the circumstances around him when he attempts a punch-out is also critical. Where is he on the field? Are there other defenders around to help him? Is his positioning right to actually make a swing?

“It can’t be just me swinging at the football and not getting body-on-body contact at the same time,” Daniels said.

On both of Rodgers’ punch-outs, he made contact with the offensive player beyond just going for the ball. He also had a swarm of teammates around to assist: three on the punch-out on tight end Noah Fant and five on the one on wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.

Flores said he gets less upset now than he might have earlier in his career when a player going for the ball results in a missed tackle because he knows his Vikings players have learned the techniques and fundamentals to back up that intent.

“We know when to do it, why to do it, in what situations,” Flores said. “I think our guys have done a good job of implementing the right techniques in the right situations for the most part.”

Not every punch-out will lead to the history-making splash plays Rodgers created Sunday, but simply winning the turnover margin is a critical stat in winning NFL games.

STRIB