Since 1999, Browns QBs making their first start are 0-16. It is now 0-17 with Dillon Gabriel, as the Browns lost in week five in London to the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday, 21-17.

I want to start this off with saying that Dillon Gabriel was not bad. Having your first ever NFL start be overseas in EUROPE is a pretty crazy beginning to a career. Not only that, but he went up against a top pass defense in the Vikings. He still managed to go 19/33 for 190 yards and two touchdowns without a pick.

Not only that, but rookie running back Quinshon Judkins looked like a beast, carrying the rock 23 times for 110 yards, with a catch for 18 yards as well.

Furthermore, the Browns defense kept Vikings’ RB Jordan Mason to 52 rushing yards, had two sacks and forced two fumbles. It was basically just Justin Jefferson who beat us. He over 50% of the teams receiving yards, racking up 123 on seven catches.

Overall, the Browns had, in my opinion, a great game in London. Yet somehow, they came away with another loss. Let’s look at what went wrong.

The offense had trouble finishing drives. More than once, a great drive ended just short of a score, and many of these third downs that weren’t converted were incompletions by Gabriel. Many times Gabriel looked a little panicked, taking a sack or throwing the ball away when he still had time to make a play.

The Browns went 3/15 on third downs. And before the final drive, Gabriel was 1-7 on passes that were 10+ air yards. That cannot continue moving forward if the Browns want to put points on the board. However, these are likely just rookie mistakes for Gabriel, and I’d expect him to only improve on third downs in the future.

However, there was arguably more good than bad in this game. I already mentioned the defense’s two sacks and forced fumbles, but they also consistently pressured Carson Wentz and wreaked havoc on the line. Check out this sack by Alex Wright, who completely annihilated his block for the big play.

a monster play in the backfield!#MINvsCLE on NFL Network and NFL+ pic.twitter.com/elIOjAM8ou

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) October 5, 2025

Both tight ends, Harold Fannin Jr. and David Njoku, contributed a touchdown, with Njoku especially being the favorite target for the rookie QB. He put up 6 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.

DAVID NJOKU TD
pic.twitter.com/8S10UUZQpO

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) October 5, 2025

But despite all this, we lost. A blown coverage with under a minute left led to an inexplicably easy touchdown for the Vikings, giving them the victory.

Jordan Addison was suspended for the first 3 weeks of the season arrives in Ireland with the team doesn’t get any snaps first half gets a game-deciding score with 25 seconds left Vikings win. What a roller coaster season. The NFC North is a blur. pic.twitter.com/IQGkYB3Ru8

— Global Utopia Sports (@GL8BAL_SPORTS) October 5, 2025

It seems to me that it doesn’t really matter how well or how poorly the Browns play in a game.

Take the Packers game for instance. The defense was magnificent, but the offense was horrible. Just abysmal. And somehow the Browns won.

Then we have this game, where our offense actually looked pretty good. And our defense kept making plays. But yet we only put up 17 points and lost.

It makes you wonder what the real problem is with Cleveland. It feels wrong to blame the coaching… the Browns had done nothing for decades until Kevin Stefanski got here. You certainly can’t blame the defense, and the offense looked a whole lot better under Gabriel than Flacco.

Maybe it is just a matter of time. We know this team has the potential to beat great teams. They handed the Packers their only loss of the season. But we also have seen the Browns lose games in wild fashions.

Next week the Browns face a big test in Pittsburgh. Will Gabriel bring a new era to the Browns vs. Steelers rivalry? One can only hope.