Shedeur Sanders’ gutsy 364-yard, 3-TD performance wasted in mistake-filled 31-29 loss to the Titans as Browns fall to 3-10

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If Browns fans weren’t on the Shedeur Sanders hype train before Sunday’s game against the Titans, they’ve probably climbed aboard.

Showing all the moxie and flair that made him a star at Colorado, Sanders almost led the Browns to a come-from-behind victory over the Titans on Sunday despite being down three starting offensive linemen and starting tight end David Njoku.

Instead, the Browns failed on two late two-point conversions and lost, 31-29, at Huntington Bank Field. Cleveland fell to 3-10, and Tennessee moved to 2-11.

In his first head-to-head matchup with No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward, Sanders more than held his own, going 23 of 42 for 364 yards and three touchdown passes en route to a 97.7 rating.

He also rushed for a TD with 4:27 left in the game, and threw a touchdown pass to Harold Fannin Jr. with 1:03 left.

The Browns went for two-point conversions after both touchdowns. On the first Sanders fumbled the snap.

On the second conversion attempt with 1:03 left, the Browns put rookie running back Quinshon Judkins in the wildcat formation and snapped to him. He ran right, and apparently was supposed to flip the ball to receiver Gage Larvadain, who was running behind him toward left end. Judkins didn’t pitch the ball to him, and instead, under pressure, threw a desperation pass across the field that fell incomplete.

The Titans recovered the onside kick and ran the clock out to secure their two-point win.

It was a gutsy performance by Sanders, who outplayed his Titans counterpart. Ward went 14 of 28 for 117 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT.

Overall, the Browns made too many mistakes once again that cost them the game, this time to a Titans team that had won only one game heading in against 11 losses. They also sprung a leak in run defense, surrendering 161 rushing yards and two touchdowns to Titans running back Tony Pollard.

In the fourth quarter, Sanders threw an interception that led to a TD, and Dylan Sampson was stripped of the ball to set up another Titans TD for a 28-17 lead. A blocked punt by the Titans led to a Tennessee field goal for a 31-17 lead.

Sanders scored on a 7-yard scramble with 4:27 left in the game. But on the conversion, he fumbled the snap from backup center Luke Wypler to keep the Browns behind, 31-23. Wypler was playing because starter Ethan Pocic had been carted off the field with what appears to be an Achilles injury.

Third-quarter INT

With the Browns ahead 17-14 in the third quarter with 1:41 left, Sanders threw an ill-advised pick. The Titans cashed in two plays later with a 32-yard touchdown run by Pollard, who had 152 yards rushing at that point.

On the pick, Sanders retreated under pressure, and overthrew Gage Larvadain deep. Safety Xavier Woods jumped the route and returned the ball 35 yards to the Browns’ 38.

Pollard, who ran all over the Browns defense all game, bolted up the left side for the score that put the Titans ahead 21-17 with 51 seconds left in the third.

But the Titans weren’t done yet.

With 10:54 left in the game, they forced running back Dylan Sampson to fumble, and recovered.

Three plays later, Ward found Chimere Dike for the 5-yard touchdown pass on the left side of the end zone, where he beat cornerback Myles Harden.

Browns Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward had left the game at that point with a calf injury. The play extended the Titans’ lead to 28-17 with 9:29 left in the game.

To add insult to injury, the Titans blocked Corey Bojorquez’s punt with 8:24 left in the game to start inside the Browns’ 30. The Titans converted it into a 41-yard field goal for a 31-17 advantage.

It was one more special-teams gaffe by the Browns’ struggling unit.

Browns injuries

Ward wasn’t the only one lost to an injury late in the game.

Center Ethan Pocic was carted off with a calf injury with 14:48 left in the game, and coach Kevin Stefanski said after the game that he feared it is an Achilles injury. There was a visible pop in the back of Pocic’s calf on the replay.

The Browns were already without right tackle Jack Conklin (concussion) and right guard Wyatt Teller (calf) for the entire game.

Receiver Cedric Tillman also took a huge blow from safety Xavier Woods with 5:14 left in the game, and was helped off by the medical staff.

Tight end David Njoku was lost to a knee injury in the second quarter.

Sanders steps up

Sanders headed into the game with another chance to prove to the Browns that they don’t need to draft a quarterback with one or both of their picks in the 2026 NFL draft.

He threw some amazing passes and slipped out of numerous sacks, but the interception was egregious at that point in the game.

Still, if he can prove to them that he can be their franchise QB, they can use those draft picks to bolster the supporting cast around him, with perhaps an offensive tackle and a receiver.

Sanders also played the game in front of his Hall of Fame dad, Deion Sanders, who was also on hand for his first career start on Nov. 23, the 24-10 victory over the Raiders.

Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees opened up the game plan vs. the 1-11 Titans, allowing Sanders to go deep more and throw passes over the middle. Last week, he played it safe vs. the 49ers, and Sanders didn’t have a chance to show off his arm talent or playmaking ability.

It was an excellent step forward for Sanders, who now has four more games to show the Browns that he’s “who they’re looking for,” as he said before the Raiders game.

Sanders and Ward worked out together before the draft, and are good friends. When Sanders tumbled to the fifth round of the draft, he received words of encouragement from Ward.

“Really everything happens for a reason,” Ward said this week. “God has a plan for myself, He has a plan for you. At the end of the day, you just got to continue to prove yourself right. Every time he steps on the field, I know he’s going to prove himself right. The same goes for me. So we’ve just got to continue to stay in the everyday mindset of getting better, and not letting bad outcomes dictate the next day.”

He’s confident, however, that both will make their mark on the NFL when they work through their rookie growing pains.

“Anytime both of us are in the room, we’re always competitive from throughout college even in the pre-draft process,” he said. “We just both want to be great players. I just think it’s going to be exciting for just a lot of people to see what both of us would be able to do when we play at a high level.”

Browns All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett had one sack, and now has 20, three shy of setting a new NFL record.

Sanders and Jeudy connect for a 60-yard TD

With the Browns trailing 14-10, Sanders hit Jeudy on a crossing route over the middle, where he got behind the defense and beat cornerback Darrell Baker Jr. to the end zone for the TD. It gave the Browns their first lead of the game, 17-14, with 2:47 left in the half, which held into the break,

Sanders, who overcame a 14-3 first-quarter deficit, began the drive with a 14-yard scramble for a first down.

Jeudy flipped into the end zone on the TD, and Sanders met him there for an embrace. They also knelt together in the zone for a moment, and talked excitedly on the sidelines. It was a far cry from last week, when the CBS cameras caught Jeudy and Sanders having a heated exchange over an incompletion.

But the two discussed it during the week, and the Browns weren’t concerned that it would be a lingering problem. They turned a negative into a positive and cooked together on Sunday.

In the first half, Sanders went 9 of 14 for 180 yards with two TDs and 0 INTs for a 147.3 rating

Tony Pollard’s 65-yard TD run, and Quinshon Judkins’ 58-yard catch

On the first play of a first quarter drive, Pollard took the handoff and sprinted 65-yards upfield for a touchdown that put the Titans up 14-3. Denzel Ward made a diving tackle attempt inside the 20, but was blocked by Van Jefferson.

Not to be outdone, Quinshon Judkins caught a screen from Sanders and rumbled 58 yards up the right side to the Titans’ 2-yard line. The spot survived a Titans challenge, and Sanders finished the job with a 2-yard touchdown pass on a corner route to David Njoku. He fired the ball between two defenders and placed it where only Njoku, who laid out for the ball, could catch it. That narrowed the gap to 14-10 with 14:24 left in the half.

Unfortunately for the Browns, Njoku suffered a knee injury on the play when cornerback Darrell Baker Jr. rolled over him

Devin Bush’s INT and Browns field goal

With the Browns trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, Browns linebacker Devin Bush, who was questionable for the game with a foot injury, broke up a second down pass and then picked off Ward on a pass to the left intended for Elic Ayomanor and returned it 44 yards to the Titans’ 39. Unfortunately for the Browns, they could only cash in with a 38-yard field goal off the big takeaway. Sanders hit Fannin with a 17-yard pass on the first play, but ran backward on third down and eluded a sack for an incompletion.

Ward’s TD pass on opening drive

Ward fired a 14-yard TD pass to Ayomanor with 9:52 left in the first quarter to cap an 8-play, 53-yard drive and put the Titans up 7-0.

Ward, who went 4-for-4 on the drive, found running back Tyjae Spears for 24 yards on third down. But the killer on the drive was the 41-yard kickoff return by Chimere Dike. The Browns knew they had to shut down Dike, one of the best returners in the league this season, and they blew it on the opening kickoff.

Next

The Browns visit the Bears next Sunday at 1 p.m.

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