THIS Sunday Croke Park will play host to one of the biggest event of the year when two of the biggest franchisees in American Sports come to Ireland as the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Minnesota Vikings in week four of the NFL season.
Dublin's fair city will welcome the match-up as it will be the first competitive NFL fixture to take place on Irish soil in the history of the sport with the Steelers only previous visit to the emerald isle being in 1997 where they faced off against the Chicago Bears in a pre-season game.
Aaron Rodgers and Justin Jefferson shake hands
How does the NFL work?
For those who are not familiar with American Sports, the NFL breaks down simply into a 32-team (franchise) league split into two conferences and then eight sub-divisions based on your whereabouts in the USA.
These teams battle every year for a win and loss record, at the end of the regular 17 game season (one bye-week). The two conferences are the National Football Conference (NFC) and American Football Conference (AFC) and the eight divisions are based off the compass marker with AFC North, East, West and South and the same goes for the alternative division.
Seven teams from each conference (14 in total) qualify for the play-offs at the end of the regular season with the number one placed team in each division earning the first four spots regardless of their win and loss record.
The other three wildcard spots are offered to the next three best winning records in the conference.
NEW-STAR: RB Jordan Mason signed in the off-season for the Vikings
The play-offs themselves are pretty self-explanatory as they are one-off fixtures designed in a knock-out format with the winner of each earning a spot in the next round.
The outright winner of each conference (NFC and AFC) then compete for the prestigious Vince Lombardi trophy – a.k.a the SuperBowl.
Who are the teams in Sunday's Match-up?
Sunday's game is between two great teams in the NFL's history.
The Pittsburgh Steelers boast the most Super Bowl wins of any team in NFL history with six to their name, but have had a barren spell with the last victory coming in 2009. The Steelers play in the AFC North Division competing every year with the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens.
The Minnesota Vikings are one of the few teams to have played in as many as four Super Bowls yet not win any of them with their last appearance coming in 1979.
The Vikings compete in a North division also but in the opposite conference where they compete with the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers for supremacy in the NFC North.
In recent years the two are always pinned against each other in terms of similarity and skill level and of the 19 times which the pair of teams have met in the NFL season they are split 10-9 in favour of the Vikings, but the Steelers do hold the only play-off victory over their NFC opponents.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Who to watch out for?
This Sunday's match-up has talent galore on offer and it truly will be a treat to all the Irish fans and those travelling from further afield to experience Croker in all its hypnotic glory.
The Steelers struggled offensively last season with Russell Wilson in at the Quarter-Back spot but with the addition of a certain Aaron Rodgers.
The four time NFL MVP and Super Bowl winner hopes to earn his Steelers side their third win of the season as they go on the hunt to become AFC North champions once more having beaten the New York Jets and New England Patriots so far this season.
Rodgers has thrown for seven touchdowns so far this season for his new side and has totalled 586 passing yards in just three games.
Jaylen Warren in the running back room is another exciting player that awaits the green grass of Croke Park.
The Running Back is renowned for his blistering pace and explosive nature coupled with great strength which gives them the edge over his mammoth sized opponents and alongside last-season's Super Bowl champion Kenneth Gainwell, they could provide an entertaining crowd.
The Defence as a whole unit deserve credit for any remote success that the Steelers nation has enjoyed in recent years and Sunday will be no different as they look to stop the Vikings from using any Irish luck.
Minnesota Vikings: Who to watch out for?
The Vikings come to Dublin as the official away team but that means very little when both sides have to make the long trip across the Atlantic Ocean to hopefully put on a great show.
Last year the Vikings drafted rookie sensation JJ McCarthy, but a slow start and a bad injury on week two means he'll miss Sunday's game. But never fear, the vintage and timeless Carson Wentz will no doubt drop in ready to put on a show as the 2017 Super Bowl champ will put his veteran status to good use.
Justin Jefferson is the star-man for the Minnesota Vikings
The big player for the Vikings this weekend will no doubt be star wide-receiver Justin Jefferson.
The 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year has struggled the last two seasons with injury and the constant changing Quarter-Back room that has been ongoing in Minnesota for quite some time.
Jefferson will no doubt see the first ever game in Ireland as a chance to be remembered worldwide as the four time Pro-Bowl wide-receiver hopes to add to his one touchdown and 200 yards so far this season.
The Vikings new running back Jordan Mason will also be one to keep an eye on as the fast paced and explosive player will be hoping to add to his two touchdowns so far.
The Viking's edge the bookmakers odds as favourites with a -2.5 point spread but that is not to be taken as gospel if anyone knows the NFL.
Sunday's game will no doubt be a spectacle, some tickets are still available on Hill 16 in Croke Park, but the rest of the stadium remains a sell-out as the NFL rolls into town for the first but certainly not the last time.
Kick-off is at 14:30pm on Sunday with live coverage available on Sky Sports.
