Cleveland Browns vs. Miami Dolphins presents unique historical aspects

Sunday will mark just the 24th time since 1950 that two left-handed quarterbacks collided against one another.

This coming weekend, on Oct. 18, the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins will take on one another from Huntington Bank Field. Leading their respective sides will be rookie signal-caller Dillon Gabriel and sixth-year Tua Tagovailoa.

The battle of the southpaw quarterbacks will end a nearly 20-year drought of such an occurrence. The last time that two left-handers matched up was back in Week 2 of the 2006 season, where Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick took down Tampa Bay quarterback Chris Simms, 14-3.

Both quarterbacks are also Hawaiian natives, with Gabriel competing against Tagovailoa's historical numbers in high school. He broke his high school career passing yardage record.

Funny enough, it will be the first recorded time in NFL history that two Hawaiian quarterbacks squared off against each other.

When asked about being compared to the Dolphins quarterback ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, Gabriel was grateful for the praise.

"Yeah, there's a lefty; I think there's lefty comparisons," he said. "But as you can imagine, there's very few of us, which is cool. It's a differentiator. It makes us different. But I think more than that, there's different playing styles, a great person to be compared to, of course, a guy I've watched growing up and has had a bunch of success.

Prior to the game this week, Tagovailoa spoke to the press and once again reminded everyone that he knew what Gabriel could do.

"He's a smooth thrower," Tagovailoa said of Gabriel. "I knew of him as he was growing up. I might have played him one year as he was a freshman playing varsity. Then, he went into college and did his thing. He's a smooth thrower, can run, sees the field really well and he's a Hawaii boy, so you always have to support the guys from back home."

Both quarterbacks possess very similar attributes, being undersized, quick and accurate players. However, they also hold very different track records up until this point.

Gabriel is still looking to lock down his future in the league, while Tagovailoa has been the top dog in Miami for quite some time now. If the rookie out of Oregon wants to beat out Tagovailoa, he not only will have to build upon his previous two performances but also look to lead this team through the challenges that are set in the Browns' future.

Sunday will be Gabriel's third career start in the league. He has currently posted 430 yards passing on a 57.3% completion mark to go alongside three touchdowns. He was named the starting quarterback of the Browns after veteran Joe Flacco was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Browns and Dolphins currently sit with 1-5 records after rocky starts to the 2025 season. Both teams will have a chance to find win No. 2 and turn a new page in their seasons.

Kickoff will commence at 1:00 p.m. from Huntington Bank Field.