Regardless of criticism of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ previous worldwide recreation itinerary, proprietor Artwork Rooney II doesn’t appear intent on altering plans for subsequent month’s recreation in Dublin, Eire. Doubling down on feedback he made in Could following the schedule launch, Rooney shared the staff’s probably schedule to fly over for the NFL’s first-ever common season recreation in Eire.
“I believe the staff is planning to go away on Thursday, arriving in Dublin Friday morning,” Rooney informed WTAE’s Andrew Stockey in a one-on-one interview. “So we’ll have two practices Friday and Saturday. And the sport on Sunday. And go away proper after the sport.”
That matches Rooney’s feedback in Could when the Steelers-Vikings recreation was formally revealed to be performed September 28. On the time, Rooney indicated the staff would go away later within the week.
“I don’t suppose it’ll be an excessive amount of completely different from the final journey,” Rooney informed Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews on the time.
Pittsburgh’s final worldwide recreation got here in 2013. A loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London, the Steelers got here out flat and couldn’t full a late-game rally. Within the years since, gamers have criticized the schedule, believing jet lag performed a significant factor within the staff trying unprepared.
In July of 2024, present Steelers DL Cam Heyward cited the choice to go away Thursday and take an over 7-hour flight to London as “the worst factor we did for that journey.”
“We left on a Thursday evening, received in Friday morning, and went straight to observe,” Heyward stated on his Not Simply Soccer podcast. “That was the primary time I’ve ever seen coaches sleep in a gathering. There have been gamers falling asleep throughout warmup. It was tough. Our staff likes to imagine we don’t want sleep, or we don’t have to get adjusted to the time.”
A continuous flight from Pittsburgh to Eire will take roughly the identical period of time.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has provided related critiques.
“That was such a giant mistake”, Roethlisberger stated in 2023. “We had been so exhausted and gassed”.
Pittsburgh by no means led within the London loss, falling behind 10-0 within the first quarter and 20-10 at halftime. By the fourth quarter, the Steelers trailed 34-17, and a livid comeback fell quick, a last-second drive stalling on the Vikings’ 6-yard line.
The Steelers haven’t performed internationally since.
Regardless of clear feedback from previous and current well-respected gamers, the Steelers don’t seem set to alter their schedule for this recreation. It’s not but identified when Minnesota plans to fly out. Many groups decide to reach as early as doable, creating a standard work week and alternative for gamers to regulate to the brand new time zone and quirks of one other nation (even the wall shops are completely different).
If Pittsburgh comes out trying drained this time round towards Minnesota, the staff’s flight plans, not the soccer recreation plan, could be the most important purpose in charge.
