Dillon Gabriel made his first-ever NFL start in Week 5 in London against the Minnesota Vikings, as the rookie officially took the reins from the veteran Joe Flacco. The offense played clean football as a whole, but the Browns were unable to make enough plays to put away the Vikings in a tough 21-17 loss on Sunday morning (Cleveland local time).
Browns suffer brutal 21-17 loss in Week 5 London clash vs Vikings
The game plan looked as expected offensively for a rookie's debut - leaning on the run game with lots of quick, short throws to get the ball out quickly. Gabriel did well driving the bus and keeping everything under control, but they weren't able to generate enough explosives or get enough first downs late with the lead to put the game away.
Cleveland's defense had a slow start to each half, but they ended up settling in and winning the line of scrimmage more in the second half. Unfortunately, the Vikings were able to get things going on the final drive again, and Justin Jefferson was too much to handle. Jordan Addison had the game-winning touchdown on a play where the Browns appeared to be in cover two, and Denzel Ward and Ronnie Hickman were a bit late closing the void in the hole created.
After taking a 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter, the Browns had the ball four more times with the chance to add on and potentially put the game away. They converted just one first down in those drives, and play calling seemed to lean extra conservative in the fourth to put the defense in the best position possible to win the game. They weren't able to pick their offense up one final time, unfortunately, as neither side made the plays needed down the stretch to close the game.
It's a crushing loss, as the difference from 2-3 to 1-4 feels massive in their chances to get back into a potential playoff push. The game was in their control, but neither the offense nor the defense was able to make the final few plays needed to return home with a win. Hopefully, more explosives are on the way in the coming weeks, so the promising rookie class can start contributing to winning football.