If Art Rooney wants a Steelers win in Ireland, he needs to change the travel plans

The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for the 2025 season with a game played overseas for the first time in 12 years. With the same opponent on the same week of the season, the Steelers are hoping for a different result against the Minnesota Vikings as they fell in defeat 34–27 in Week 4 of 2013. But this time, the Steelers are in Dublin, Ireland, and are the designated home team for the game.

Going back to the Steelers last trip across the Atlantic, there were some issues. The Steelers had a significantly slow start as they were trailing by 10 points at halftime and by 17 points with 20 minutes remaining of the game. The Steelers did manage to outscore the Vikings 10-0 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late as they fell by a touchdown.

While some might write off a slow start for the Steelers simply because it’s something they’ve been known for over the last several seasons, that was not necessarily this case in 2013. When talking about their matchup against the Vikings 12 seasons ago, both Ben Roethlisberger and Cam Heyward mentioned similar things on their individual podcasts this week as to how the Steelers did not adjust well to the time change. Both players stated the team was very lethargic throughout practice and warm-ups. Heyward went as far to say that players were falling asleep in practice, team meetings, and stretching before the game.

Although it seems this would be an issue for both teams, and even more so for the Vikings coming from one time zone further west than the Steelers, it was not the case. The Vikings arrived on Tuesday the week they played the Steelers while Pittsburgh took an overnight flight that departed on Thursday and arrived Friday morning. Simply put, the Vikings were more adjusted.

Thinking the Steelers would learn from this mistake 12 years ago, and looking at some of the recent data, many fans expected the Steelers to spend the week in Ireland preparing for their matchup. But according to an interview with art Rooney II following the release of the 2025 NFL schedule, he’s ready to fall into the same problem.

Art Rooney II says the Steelers will likely have a similar approach to the Ireland game that they had in 2013 vs. Vikings in London — leaving Pittsburgh Thursday, practicing in Ireland Friday.

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) May 15, 2025

While Rooney may not see this is a big issue, it’s much more significant than many realize. Often times both teams leave the same day and arrive around the same time for international games, but when there’s a discrepancy in which day the team arrives it has significantly impacted the final score. Going back through the 2018 season, teams who arrive on an earlier day than their opponent for international games are 8–1. The only loss came in 2022 when the New Orleans Saints arrived very early in the week in London but were defeated by the Minnesota Vikings who arrived on Friday. It should be noted the Vikings pulled out a three-point victory in a season where they finished 13–4 while the Saints ended up 7–10.

Looking just at the 2024 season, there were only two games in which there was a discrepancy of when teams arrived for an international game. The Jacksonville Jaguars, preparing to head to England for two games, left later in the week compared to the Chicago Bears who left on Tuesday. The Bears cruised to an easy victory defeating the Jaguars 35–16. With the Jaguar staying in London to face the Patriots the next week, they were much more adjusted and had an easy 32–16 win. There was not much difference between the Chicago Bears (5–12) and the New England Patriots (4–13) when it came to their records in 2024, so having them each on opposite ends of a blowout against the same team only a week apart seems unusual. Perhaps it had to do with the team adjusting to the international travel.

While it is frustrating for Steelers fans as the team should have all this data in front of them to make the best decision, it does not mean it will work against them in this case. In fact, it will probably be a situation where both teams arrive on the same day for their international game. With the Minnesota Vikings playing back-to-back games in Europe, one in Ireland and one in England, they are unlikely to travel early in the week since they are also staying over until their next game. Additionally, when Minnesota played in London in 2024, they left on Thursday and arrived Friday morning. So the Steelers might not be putting themselves at a disadvantage by leaving so late in the week, but they certainly aren’t taking what could be an advantage of going early and properly adjusting.

Why the Steelers may wait to travel to Ireland could be for multiple reasons. The most obvious could be the financial implications of having to house the team and staff for additional days if the Steelers were to leave earlier in the week. If that’s the case, fans would hope that Art Rooney II would be willing to open his wallet in order to better secure a victory, especially for a country that is near and dear to his family. But as of right now, that does not appear to be the case.

There’s still time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to correct this issue. The fact Cam Hayward was so outspoken about it on his podcast, taking into account he is both a team captain and the longest tenured player on the team, perhaps the Steelers will reconsider. If not, the Steelers could be in line for yet another Week 4 game where they do not have things together and cannot find a victory.