Vikings snatch late win over Browns in London

The Minnesota Vikings denied Dillon Gabriel victory on his first NFL start as they snatched a 21-17 win over the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham.

Rookie Gabriel replaced veteran Joe Flacco as Cleveland's starting quarterback in midweek and his second touchdown pass helped the Browns into a 17-14 lead late in the third quarter.

Cleveland still led by three as Minnesota got the ball back with three minutes left in the first of this year's three NFL games in London.

But after almost fighting back in last week's 24-21 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, the Vikings again showed great character to put themselves in position to win despite playing their back-up quarterback behind a depleted offensive line.

With 25 seconds left, Carson Wentz - making his third start in place of the injured JJ McCarthy - found Jordan Addison in the corner of the end zone to put Minnesota in front.

And Cleveland were unable to pull off a rescue act at the death as the Vikings celebrated a morale-boosting victory in front of a crowd of 61,082.

Sunday's victory also meant the Vikings avoided back-to-back defeats as they became the first NFL team to play two games in a foreign country in the same season.

This Minnesota team is a credit to head coach Kevin O'Connell and his staff.

They have overcome one obstacle after another since O'Connell took charge in 2022 and one of the latest was 2024 first-round pick McCarthy (ankle) adding to their injury woes after two games this season.

Another two players were sidelined last week, meaning three of the Vikings' four starters on the offensive line were out for their trip to London.

Some of the fans who travelled from the US for the two-game jaunt feared the worse against arguably the NFL's meanest defence and Cleveland forced two turnovers while conceding none.

Wentz was also sacked on successive drives in the final quarter, forcing the Vikings to attempt a field goal - which they missed - and then punt, yet still they found a way to win.

Minnesota dialled up a trick play to draw level in the first quarter, with running back Cam Akers stepping at quarterback to make a touchdown pass to tight end Josh Oliver.

Jordan Mason then punched in a touchdown at the start of the third quarter to put the Vikings in front for the first time and 32-year-old Wentz, playing for his sixth team in six seasons, showed his experience by completing nine passes in the game-winning drive.

That saw him finish with 236 passing yards, 123 of them to star receiver Justin Jefferson, as the Vikings improved their record to 3-2.