The Dillon Gabriel era begins on foreign soil for the Browns

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.

LONDON

Four downs on Browns (1-3) v. Minnesota Vikings (2-2)

First down: The other bloke.

When the 2025 Browns schedule was unveiled in May, Shedeur Sanders fans expected their hero to be at quarterback when the team reached its International Series game in London in Week 5. But while Sanders dominated the noise about the Browns from the day he was drafted in the fifth round, it’s been the other rookie quarterback who earned the chance to succeed demoted starter Joe Flacco. Diminutive Dillon Gabriel bootlegged out Sanders’ enormous shadow and now takes over as the Browns look to spark a dead offense that has held a lead for less than 7 minutes in four games. “I’m pretty sure that’s what everyone’s looking for is that spark,” said receiver Jerry Jeudy. “I guess this is how the league works when you need a spark. A quarterback change can help that. Dillon, he’s a smart dude. He knows where to go with the ball. He knows what the coaching staff wants within the offense.” Edge rusher Myles Garrett added, “He just has a youthful exuberance … just a different vibe, different attitude, and he just always has a smile on his face. He’s got a lot of energy and [I’m] looking forward to seeing how he moves around the pocket and how he plays the game.”

Second down: The history lesson.

For the record, Gabriel is the 41^st quarterback to start a game for the Browns in their expansion era and the 12^th in six seasons of coach Kevin Stefanski. He joins Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa and Atlanta’s Michael Penix as the only left-handed quarterbacks to start an NFL game this season. And he’s only the second southpaw thrower in Browns history. Paul McDonald was 8-13 as a starter with the Browns from 1982 to 1984. How much will a left-handed QB change the way Kevin Stefanski calls plays on Sunday? “Yeah, you’re so used to right-handed guys, you even think like, ‘All right, we want this going right’. So, you have to flip your mind a little bit on certain calls and certain things,” said offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. “But we do train our guys to have to do a keeper left, do a keeper right, do some things that you typically wouldn’t ask a righty to do. We are going to ask him to do that so you don’t limit what the playbook entails. So, for Dillon, he’s done all these things. Are there certain things here and there that you got to maybe think about? Sure. But it really doesn’t change a lot in what you’re doing.”

Third down: A bloody advantage.

Both teams have had severe offensive line issues. Each is fielding its fifth different starting lineup in five games on Sunday; the Vikings actually have had to use eight different combinations in their first four games. The Vikings are down to their third-string left guard, third-string center and second-string right tackle. “They probably don’t get a lot of sympathy from our guys, do they?” said defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. The Browns have used three left tackles and three right tackles through four games, but they are getting healthier and may field their best starting offensive line yet. Jack Conklin is expected back at right tackle after missing three games with an elbow injury, just in time to protect Gabriel's blind side. And newly-acquired Cam Robinson is expected to make his first start for the Browns at left tackle – their fourth in five games. Anyways, the matchup of vaunted Browns defensive line v. Vikings makeshift offensive line figures to swing a huge advantage to the Browns. “It’s up to us to try to exploit those matchups, so you know that’s a big part of the game,” Schwartz said. “Usually as our defensive line goes, we go. They’re the tempo setter for us. They’re the people that we lean on to be our engine. And you know, if they can capitalize on some of those matchups, all the better for us.”

Fourth down: Carson Turnover.

Carson Wentz’s last season as a regular starting quarterback was 2020 with the Eagles. That year he led the league with 15 interceptions and 50 sacks, and fumbled 10 times. Since then he has been a journeyman backup with five teams in five years and will fill in for the third game in a row for injured starter J.J. McCarthy (high ankle). Wentz defeated the Browns in his NFL debut in 2016 with a two-TD, no-interception game. In two subsequent starts against the Browns – one with Philadelphia and one with Washington – he’s thrown five interceptions in two losses. In the Vikings’ 24-21 loss to Pittsburgh last week, Wentz was intercepted twice, fumbled once and was sacked six times. “He actually has a history of turning the ball over a lot,” safety Grant Delpit said. “So that's something that we have to exploit, make him uncomfortable and go get that thing.” Schwartz added, “Wentz has fumbled a lot in his career, and we have to be aggressive at the ball when we’re in the pocket there because there’s going to be opportunities there.”

The pick: Browns 26, Vikings 17.

My record: 1-3.