The Pittsburgh Steelers will go overseas as part of the NFL International Games series this week, with their matchup against the Minnesota Vikings marking the league’s debut regular-season appearance in Dublin, Ireland. The Steelers haven’t played a game outside of the United States since a 2013 game in Wembley Stadium, also against the Vikings. This is a rematch twelve years in the making, which means we should probably take a look at how the last meeting went before we figure out what to expect in the Emerald Isle on Sunday.

THEN

With both teams entering the continent winless, the initial European matchup resulted in a 34-27 loss for the Steelers. Cam Heyward is the only Steeler who made the initial trip across the pond back in 2013 still with the team. With no disrespect intended towards the current Vikings running back stable, he’ll certainly be relieved that he doesn’t have to face Adrian Peterson anymore. The legendary back went for 140 yards and two touchdowns at Wembley, including a 60-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Matt Cassell also had two touchdown passes to Greg Jennings, while Jerome Simpson led all receivers with 124 yards.

The Steelers saw glimpses of what would become "The Killer B’s”, as rookie Le’Veon Bell had two rushing touchdowns and Antonio Brown hauled in twelve passes, While Ben Roethlisberger threw for 383 yards and connected with Jerricho Cotchery for a late touchdown.

NOW

Both Pittsburgh and Minnesota are 2-1 coming into Week 4. After a rough start to the season, Pittsburgh’s defense erupted for five caused turnovers against the Patriots in a 21-14 victory. The offense has been experiencing some growing pains as the new additions settle into Arthur Smith’s scheme, but the components for a dynamic passing attack are there. Minnesota will be without starting quarterback JJ McCarthy, although Carson Wentz has performed well in his absence. Superstar receiver Justin Jefferson will be the biggest test the Steelers’ defensive backs have faced all season; look for Jalen Ramsey to mark him for most of the day.

Defensively, Minnesota is coming off a historic performance against the Bengals, with cornerback Isaiah Rodgers scoring two touchdowns off of his own forced turnovers while his teammates added three other turnovers throughout the game. Unlike the 2013 contest, this isn’t likely to be a high scoring affair. International travel throws a team’s weekly schedule into disarray- especially when playing in a different time zone (Sunday’s game kicks off at 9am Eastern). Because of this, Mike Tomlin declined to disclose travel information until after Sunday’s game so as not to take focus away from the team’s preparation for New England, according to Sports Illustrated’s Jacob Punturi.

The Vikings will remain in Europe after the game to prepare for another international game in England against the Browns, so their travel plans will likely differ from Pittsburgh’s. The impact of jetlag and deviation from routine, combined with the fact that both defenses are looking to build off of strong performances, point to this matchup being a low-scoring one. Regardless of the score, this game has plenty of star power to create an entertaining matchup for both the Irish and the American fans making the trip over.