We’re accustomed to seeing sluggish fantasy football performances when it comes to NFL games being played overseas. But the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers gave us plenty to get excited about to start Sunday’s slate of games in Week 4. We’re going to recap all the notable fantasy football scoring and what it means moving forward.
Kenneth Gainwell shines with Jaylen Warren a surprise inactive
Reports came out on Saturday that Warren was going to be good to go for Week 4 in Dublin against the Vikings. Instead, the Steelers’ lead back was a surprise inactive, not feeling good the morning of and being ruled out. As a result, we had Gainwell thrust into a RB1 role and he delivered big.
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Gainwell had the bulk of the carries, finishing with a gaudy 25 total touches (six catches), 134 total yards and two touchdowns. That was good for 28.4 fantasy points on Yahoo in half-PPR. It’s going to be tough for any other back in Week 4 to top that total. It will also be interesting to see how Pittsburgh handles the backfield moving forward.
Rookie Kaleb Johnson finally got some extended run with six carries for 22 yards and one target. It wasn’t a lot but it was the most snaps and usage Johnson has had all season. If Warren’s injury persists, Gainwell could become a strong RB2 option in the future. Johnson still doesn’t look very explosive, so his upside is capped. Plus, whenever Warren is back, we should see him get his usual amount of touches. But Gainwell may have earned more of a split after this game. He’ll be worth a waiver wire add going into Week 5.
Jordan Addison returns from suspension
The Vikings got a big boost to the passing game with the return of Addison from his three-game suspension. The game script played in his favor as the Vikings were trailing pretty much all game before making things interesting in the fourth quarter. Addison took his place behind Justin Jefferson in the wide receiver pecking order, catching four of eight targets for 114 yards (13.4 FPTS), including a would-be TD had his not tripped himself up. A lot of Addison’s production was on that one 81-yard catch and we’d like to see him convert more of those targets. However, it was an encouraging start if you stashed Addison on your bench. He looks like a boom-bust WR3/FLEX option at this point.
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DK Metcalf breaks out after slow start to season
Maybe Metcalf didn’t start the season slow by fantasy standards, but he hadn’t had a signature game so far in 2025. He broke out against Minnesota, catching all five of his targets for 126 yards, including an 80-yard TD early in the second quarter, good for 21.1 FPTS. It was Metcalf’s third straight game with a TD but his first game of over 100 yards on the season. QB Aaron Rodgers was able to hit Metcalf in stride on the TD and the veteran wideout did the rest. Metcalf may not get the volume of targets we like but he’s scoring enough and is always one big play away from busting out.
Other notable performances
Justin Jefferson, WR, Vikings — Jefferson would have been the top scorer in this game had he not slipped up on a potential touchdown catch just before halftime. He did see elite volume with 10 catches on 11 targets for 126 yards. Jefferson finished with 17.6 fantasy points and has gone over double-digit points in back-to-back games with Carson Wentz under center.
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Jordan Mason, RB, Vikings — Mason saw high usage but didn’t turn it into much production this week. He almost reached 20 touches for a second straight week with Aaron Jones Sr. sidelined. But Mason only totaled 72 yards and three catches, finishing with a meager 8.7 fantasy points. Last week in that blowout win over the Bengals, Mason went off for 23.6 FPTS. While this result wasn’t what fantasy managers were looking for, Mason still got plenty of work and should continue to be a RB1 while Jones is out.
Zavier Scott, RB, Vikings — Scott got a ton of work in the passing game as the backup behind Mason, who handled the ground work. Scott built on a decent game last week, this time catching six passes (eight targets) for 43 yards and a TD against the Steelers. He finished with 13.4 FPTS and could be a solid waiver wire addition if he keeps getting passing work.
