The Cleveland Browns fell to 1-4 on Sunday, losing to the Minnesota Vikings 21-17. This was the first start for rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, and he and the Browns played a solid game, leading 17-14 going into the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the result was still the same in the end. Now, Cleveland has to figure out what other changes it needs to make so the team can start winning games.
Sunday’s game made it clear what needs to change. Head coach Kevin Stefanski still has the team playing a conservative brand of football, and with nearly everything going right for Cleveland, it still lost. This has to be a wake-up call to Stefanksi that he needs to change his coaching philosophy.
The Cleveland Browns had a Rookie QB in Dillon Gabriel making his first career start and threw 2 TDs with no turnovers on foreign soil. Had a rookie running back run for 110 yards. Had a defense force 2 turnovers and get 3 sacks. And still lost. That’s a coaching issue.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) October 5, 2025
Browns' loss to Vikings exposed Kevin Stefanski’s coaching philosophy
Stefanski has made it clear how he wants the Browns to play: he wants them to be a run-first team that protects the ball, controls the game, and leans on a good defense. On Sunday, Cleveland was that kind of team. Dillon Gabriel and the rest of the team protected the ball, not committing any turnovers, and the defense took the ball away twice. The Browns also outrushed Minnesota by 43 yards (140 to 97), and slightly won the time of possession with 30:29.
Still, Cleveland lost the game, and that’s because this style of football gives teams a small margin of error. Even when almost everything goes your way, the outcome can still be a coin-flip difference.
In Stefanski’s defense, Cleveland’s top-ranked defense was walked down by Carson Wentz, as the Vikings put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive to score a game-winning touchdown in the final three minutes. The Browns left the door open for that possibility, though, by playing so conservatively.
Stefanski may feel Cleveland has to play this way to give itself a chance to win games, but it clearly isn’t working. The Browns have lost four of five games, and the lone win was only possible because of a horrible interception by a good quarterback and a blocked field goal. Cleveland can keep waiting for fortuitous situations like that to happen, or the team can switch things up to see if it will spark a change.