Cleveland Browns Turn To Dillon Gabriel Against Minnesota Vikings In Week 5 Matchup
The Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings will square off this morning in London! This will be the Vikings’ second straight international game, as they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers last week in Berlin. The Vikings will start Carson Wentz for a third consecutive game, and JJ McCarthy is still dealing with a hamstring strain. Cleveland will start third-round Rookie Dillon Gabriel, as they try to inject life into the fanbase.
Browns Make a Change
Cleveland’s defense has been fantastic through the first four weeks, but Joe Flacco, as we all expected, hasn’t been able to get anything going on offense. Kevin Stefanski decided it was time to make a change, turning to Dillon Gabriel as the starting quarterback. Gabriel was drafted by Cleveland with the 94th overall pick out of Oregon and will be under center against the Vikings on Sunday. Gabriel became Oregon’s starting QB after Bo Nix was drafted in 2024. Gabriel has the most starts and touchdowns thrown by a quarterback in FBS history.
Starting Gabriel will give the fanbase exciting young players to watch on offense. Compared to other rookie quarterbacks, Gabriel will be surrounded by a ton of playmakers. Jerry Jeudy, Quinshon Judkins, David Njoku, and Harold Fannin will all play huge roles in the offense moving forward. The Browns have a real chance to upset the Vikings tomorrow, but Gabriel will have to be sharp.
Vikings Want To Bounce Back
The Vikings suffered a tough loss to the Steelers and couldn’t cap off a late comeback. The Steelers held a 24-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter, and the Vikings responded with 15 unanswered points, but their offense stalled on the final drive. Wentz threw 2 costly interceptions, dropping them to 2-2 on the season. With a loss and a win by the Chicago Bears, the Vikings would quickly fall to last place in the NFC North.
While the Browns have struggled, they should not be taken lightly by any means. Kevin O’Connell will need to be creative tomorrow, spreading all of his playmakers around the field. Cleveland hasn’t faced a team with so many weapons on the other side of the ball, and Carson Wentz will have to hit multiple of his receivers.
Can The Browns Pull Off the Upset?
Coming into this game as 3.5-point underdogs, the Browns can definitely take down the Vikings. We’ve seen how the defense can win them games, even if the offense goes quiet for most of the game. Gabriel doesn’t have to throw for 300+ yards and multiple touchdowns, but needs to manage the game. For the Browns to win, Gabriel needs to play clean football and make smart decisions.
The offense needs to keep up with the Vikings and put more pressure on Wentz to make a mistake. It will be fun to watch Denzel Ward go up against Justin Jefferson and see how much Myles Garret disrupts their offensive line. If he can pull off the upset, Gabriel will make history. According to CBS Sports, Gabriel would become the first quarterback since 1999 to win his first career start.
