Steelers Now
Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t think the Pittsburgh Steelers will win their Week 4 game against the Minnesota Vikings in Ireland this season, and part of the reason is that he thinks the Steelers erred in making their team schedule for their 2013 trip to Europe, when they also lost to the Vikings.
The Steelers and Vikings played in London in 2013, and Roethlisberger and other Steelers players have said they felt the Vikings, who got to England earlier in the week than the Steelers did, had a significant advantage. That process could play out again in 2025, when the Steelers visit Ireland for the first NFL regular season game in that country.
“I played the Vikings in London and they were over there early in the week,” Roethlisberger said during the latest episode of his Footbahlin podcast on Tuesday. “We went late in the week and it definitely affected us and it didn’t affect them as much. So I think it depends on when both teams go over. There’s definitely something to getting over there late and not having a chance for your body to get used to it.”
The Steelers haven’t officially announced a travel schedule for the game, which will kick off at 9:30 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 28 from Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, but president Art Rooney II said recently that they anticipate a similar travel schedule to the last time around.
“From our point of view, I don’t think a lot has changed,” Rooney said in a post-draft interview with Steelers.com. “I think we’re planning to leave similar to what we did for the last international trip. We’ll probably leave on Thursday and practice there on Friday and Saturday and have the game on Sunday and fly out Sunday night. I don’t think it’ll be too much different from the last trip”.
It’s safe to say, Roethlisberger disagrees with that plan. Of course, he also has another reason for picking the Vikings to beat the Steelers that has nothing to do with travel.
“I just think they’re a good team,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Roethlisberger: Critical Mistake Could Sink Steelers in Ireland
