Croke Park hosts the first regular season NFL game in Ireland this afternoon as the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Viking meet at the Jones’ Road venue.
The game, which begins at 2.30pm, is the first of the European NFL games this season, with clashes to follow in London, Berlin and Madrid in the coming weeks.
Both sides come to Dublin with two wins and a loss in their three games so far this season.
Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steels opened their season with a narrow 34-32 victory against the Jets. They lost their game against the Seattle Seahawks on a score line of 31-17. Last weekend, they got back on the winning trail with success against the Patriots.
In Week 3, Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre (508 touchdown passes) for the fourth-most regular-season touchdown passes in NFL history. He also passed Philip Rivers (63,440 passing yards) for the sixth-most regular-season passing yards all-time.
Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings opened their campaign with a three-point win over the Chicago Bears, before losing to the Atlanta Falcons in week two.
They were easy 48-10 winners over the Bengals in their most recent game, and come into this afternoon’s clash in good form.
Last week, Minnesota cornerback Isaiah Rodgers recorded two forced fumbles, an 87-yard interception return for a touchdown and a 66-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the Vikings’ 48-10 win over Cincinnati. He became the first player in NFL history with an interception return touchdown of 85-or-more yards and a fumble return touchdown of 65-or-more yards in the same game.
Live on Virgin Media
Croke Park previously hosted an American Football game when the Steelers and the Chicago Bears played a pre-season game at GAA HQ in 1997. The Pittsburgh outfit won 30-17 on that occasion.
The game is live on Virgin Media 1 television this afternoon. The channel will also broadcast the other European NFL games this season.
