What Minnesota Vikings Fans Need to Know Ahead of Week 5 vs. the Cleveland Browns
The Minnesota Vikings are coming off a tough loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, dropping them to a 2-2 record for the season.
Now. the Vikings are continuing their tour of Europe with a matchup against the Cleveland Browns in London. If Minnesota wants to roll into their bye week with a winning record before their schedule gets absolutely brutal, they’ll need to get a victory this weekend.
Ahead of this Week 5 game, here’s what Minnesota Vikings fans need to know.
How to Watch the Minnesota Vikings This Week
The Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns will kick off bright and early on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. at Croke Park. The game will be broadcast on NFL Network and can be streamed via NFL+ in the NFL app as well as NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV.
Browns vs. Vikings History
The Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings have met a grand total of 17 times in the histories of the two franchises, including one playoff matchup. That playoff matchup just happened to be the 1969 NFL Championship Game, which the Vikings won by a score of 27-7 after beating the Browns 51-3 earlier in the regular season.
The Vikings dominated the early portions of this series, winning seven of the first eight games. However, the Browns have come back in recent years with wins in five of the last nine matchups as well as two of the last three.
In total, Minnesota still has a commanding lead in the all-time series with a record of 12-5, but Cleveland took the most recent matchup with a 14-7 win during the 2021 campaign.
Browns Spotlight Player: QB Dillon Gabriel
The call has been made, and Dillon Gabriel is set to make his first NFL start of his career against the Minnesota Vikings. The Browns went 1-3 and scored an average of 14 points per game over the first four weeks, which ranked 31st in the NFL.
As a result, Joe Flacco is out, and Gabriel is in after the 40-year-old Flacco led the NFL with eight turnovers. Gabriel becomes the latest in a long line of quarterbacks to have started for the Browns, and we’ll see if he can find success behind an offensive line that has lost both tackles, forcing the team to trade for former Viking Cam Robinson.
Especially if Andrew Van Ginkel is able to return to the field this weekend, Gabriel could be in for a long day at the office.
Vikings Spotlight Player: OL Blake Brandel
This could apply to just the offensive line in general, regardless of who is playing and at what position. The Vikings are being forced to piece together a makeshift offensive line at this point after injuries to Donovan Jackson, Michael Jurgens, Ryan Kelly, and Brian O’Neill over the past couple of weeks, and so far, it seems like that won’t be changing anytime soon.
That means Blake Brandel will have to be ready to play at any position that he is needed at this weekend whether it be offensive tackle, guard, or even center.
All of these injuries come as the Vikings are getting ready to face a fearsome Cleveland Browns defensive front, a group that ranks at the very top of PFF’s pass rush and run defense grades. The Browns have allowed just 2.7 yards per carry this season, and they have recorded 11 sacks in the first four games.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference.
You must be logged in to post a comment.