The Cleveland Browns have officially decided to bench Joe Flacco and start Dillon Gabriel against the Minnesota Vikings in London this weekend.
Though it was undoubtedly a hard decision to make for the coaching staff, Kevin Stefanski felt like it was the best decision for the team going forward.
This is not about one person. Joe is a captain of this football team and will need his leadership going forward … Excited for Dillon. He’s handled everything really well since he’s been on campus here. We need to
all be better. I know the QB position gets quite a bit of scrutiny, but this is about our entire team being better.
Despite Stefanski applauding Flacco’s experience and leadership ability, he mentioned that part of the benching decision was based on turnovers as well. He’s thrown 6 interceptions throughout the first 4 games of the season in 2025, and the Browns are currently last in the league in turnover differential at -6.
Under Flacco’s lead, the Cleveland passing game is currently ranked:
- 30th in completion percentage at 58.54%
- 31st in yards per pass attempt at 5.1
- 29th in interception percentage at 3.66%
This complete failure of a passing offense is undoubtedly the main reason why the team is making the switch to Dillon Gabriel on Sunday. Flacco’s obviously lost a step, and it’s good that the team recognized it early on instead of digging themselves deeper into a hole by waiting to bench him until the Dolphins game (which was assumed to be the original plan).
The passing game was almost unwatchable over the first four weeks of the season, mostly because Flacco was making incredibly bad decisions with the football and consistently making turnover-worthy throws despite having a decent amount of time to throw.
The most noticeable thing that Gabriel’s going to bring to Cleveland’s offense going forward is mobility. He’ll be much more effective moving around the pocket and rolling out on play-action and sprint-out plays in comparison to Flacco, who could barely move. The Browns’ offense could look much smoother in general this weekend, and if it does, Dillon Gabriel will be a huge part of the reason why.
What are your thoughts on Joe Flacco’s benching for Dillon Gabriel? Join fellow Browns fans in the comment section below.
