Vikings Flashback: Minnesota gives a royal beatdown to Browns in 2017

In their last regular-season meeting with the Cleveland Browns in 2017, the Minnesota Vikings cruised to an easy victory.

The 1-2 Minnesota Vikings and 2-1 Cleveland Browns are set to face off on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings lead the all-time series 12-4, but they have not beaten them in Minnesota since 2005.

Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski is in his second season with the organization after previously being on Minnesota’s staff from 2006 to 2019. He served numerous roles on the coaching staff before becoming the Vikings‘ offensive coordinator near the end of the 2018 campaign and then for the entire 2019 season.

Sunday’s game is a winnable one for Minnesota, but certainly will not be easy. Cleveland is no longer a laughing stock in this league. Last season they made the playoffs for only the second time since 1994. This season they have a great chance to win their division for the first time since 1989. Things have certainly changed since Stefanski has been running their sidelines.

Minnesota Vikings came away victorious against the Cleveland Browns in their previous meeting

The last time these two teams met came in 2017 at Twickenham Stadium in London, England and the Vikings won by a final score of 33-16.

Minnesota quarterback Case Keenum completed 27 out of 43 passes for two touchdowns and an interception. Jerick McKinnon rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, along with six receptions for 72 yards. Adam Thielen caught five passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Kyle Rudolph also caught a touchdown pass.

On defense, Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks had a team-high nine tackles and Everson Griffen recorded one of the team’s three sacks.

For Cleveland, quarterback DeShone Kizer completed 18 out of 34 passes for 179 yards. Isaiah Crowell rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, along with four receptions for 54 yards. Linebacker Joe Schobert recorded an interception and a game-high 12 tackles.

With the win, Minnesota improved to 6-2 on the season and finished at 13-3. Cleveland fell to 0-8 with the loss and finished 0-16.

Fun Fact: Last two times the Vikings defeated the Browns, they advanced to the NFC Championship (2009 and 2017).