4. There are Still Plays to be Made
Despite Gabriel's struggles and a putrid running game thanks to the offensive line's inability to create holes, regardless of their opponent, the offensive coaching staff is still putting their players in positions to make plays; the execution just isn't there.
Gabriel attempted two deep shots to rookie Isaiah Bond, and neither of them were completed. On the first, Bond was wide open for what should have been a touchdown, but Gabriel couldn't get enough juice on the ball, forcing Bond to turn around and come back, while allowing the corner to recover and knock Bond out of bounds. It was a huge missed opportunity early in the second quarter that could have changed the complexity of the game.
Late in the third, Gabriel made an ill-advised attempt to split the safeties against Cover-2 even though Bond was drifting towards the sideline. Even though Bond had slowed down, the ball was still short, and had so much air under it that the far safety made it all the way over to watch Jaylinn Hawkins pick it off right in front of Bond.
In the red zone, Gabriel attempted to get the ball to Jerry Jeudy in the back of the end zone on a scramble to his left, but couldn't connect. Had Gabriel looked a little to his right, he would have seen Harold Fannin Jr. running parallel with him, open for a touchdown.
As has been the case for the entirety of Kevin Stefanski's tenure in Cleveland, save the second half of the 2020 campaign with Baker Mayfield, the receivers are being schemed open, but the quarterback isn't executing.