The Cleveland Browns went to London with rookie Dillon Gabriel making his first NFL start, but they’re heading back home with the same result, and probably a heavier head. Gabriel kept them in control for most of the game, but Carson Wentz’s game-winning drive and Jordan Addison’s 12-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left gave the Minnesota Vikings a 21-17 win.

The Browns walked out of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with their fourth loss of the season, and the first with Gabriel under the center. After the game, the head coach, Kevin Stefanski, weighed in on his young quarterback’s performance. The HC said it’s premature to judge Gabriel’s debut, noting, “There were some good things, some rookie things to certainly clean up.”

Gabriel wrapped up his first NFL start, going 19-of-33 for 190 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t force things to try to play superhero. He just ran the offense and kept Cleveland in it. The rookie out of Oregon gave the Browns a 17-14 lead in the third quarter with a strike to tight end David Njoku, but couldn’t take advantage of a fumble recovery and a missed field goal that followed.

That opened the door for Wentz and Addison, and they closed it. Wentz marched the Vikings on a 10-play, 80-yard drive in the fourth, finishing with a touchdown pass to Addison with 25 seconds left. Though Gabriel had a final chance to answer, pushing Cleveland to the Vikings’ 27, no denying it. But the clock ran out before he could finish the job.

Sure, as Stefanski said, there were positives and some rookie mistakes to fix. But he also stressed the obvious: The Browns need to do better at closing out games.

Kevin Stefanski’s team started well but faltered at the end

The Browns did well throughout the game, but until it mattered most. And right after their fourth loss went down, Stefanski addressed the obvious: They need to close out the game with a win.

“We need to do a better job closing out,” the HC said. “That’s an offensive thing, defense, special teams, coaches, players, you name it. We got to come away and be at our best in those moments, and we were not.”

If history tells us anything, it’s that Stefanski’s postgame comments are starting to sound like a weekly… or maybe even yearly, routine. For most of Week 5, it looked like the Browns had it. The offense was moving the ball, with rookie running back Quinshon Judkins carrying the load. He racked up 110 yards on 23 carries, powering a ground game that finished with 140.

On the other side, the defense held strong, just as it had in the first four weeks. The defense forced two turnovers, recovering a pair of fumbles forced by the defensive line. Throughout the entirety of the fourth quarter, Cleveland held a 17-14 lead until the late game-winning drive from Wentz. The only issue, though?

Kevin Stefanski’s play-calling. The Browns could have drained all of the Vikings’ timeouts or run the clock below three minutes, but on a crucial third-and-long, Stefanski chose to pass, stopping the clock and handing Minnesota far too much time. From there, Wentz and Addison made them pay. That said, the Browns did have an opportunity to make it 2-3, sure. But thanks to a late-game falter, they’re now 1-4.