Shedeur Sanders bolstered his case to be the Browns’ QB of the future despite loss to the Titans: Mary Kay Cabot
CLEVELAND, Ohio — It was a quadruple “wrist-up” kind of day for Shedeur Sanders, who bolstered his case to show the Browns “I’m who they’re looking for,” despite their 31-29 loss to the Titans.
Auditioning for the Browns’ 2026 QB1 vacancy, Sanders showed all the moxie and grit he was known for at Colorado in almost orchestrating a come-from-behind victory.
He accounted for two touchdowns on back-to-back drives in the final 4:27: a 7-yard scramble for his first Browns rushing TD, and a 7-yard TD pass to Harold Fannin Jr. that narrowed the gap to 31-29 with 1:03 left.
On those last two drives, he went 9-of-10 for 109 yards.
Of course, the Browns failed on both two-point attempts after those TDs.
On the first one, Sanders fumbled the snap from backup center Luke Wypler — with starter Ethan Pocic out of the game with what’s believed to be a season-ending ruptured Achilles.
On the second, Sanders got taken off the field for the play. Then Quinshon Judkins took the shotgun snap and apparently failed to pitch the ball to Gage Larvadain on a reverse, before Judkins scrambled around and threw a desperation pass to Larvadain that fell incomplete.
In the third quarter with the Browns clinging to a 17-14 lead, Sanders did throw an ill-advised interception with 1:41 left that led to a Titans TD. But he atoned for it with the two late scores that demonstrated his gutsy playmaking ability and “it” factor.
With his Hall of Fame dad, Deion Sanders, in attendance, he went 23 of 42 for 364 yards with three touchdowns passes and one interception en route to a 97.7 rating.
He also rushed for the TD, becoming the first Browns quarterback since 1950 to pass for 300 yards and 3 TDs as well as rush for a TD in the same game.
In Browns’ lore, he became the first QB to accomplish the feat, and his 364 yards were the third-most by a Browns rookie.
The top two marks of 397 and 376 are held by Baker Mayfield, who plays with a similar scrappiness. Sanders’ 3 TD passes were also second-most by a Browns rookie in a game.
“He looked good,” said Browns All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett, who was held to one sack for a total of 20 thanks to the Titans’ run-heavy scheme.
“He came up big when we needed him to. There’s going to be some ups and downs for anyone, especially a rookie. But he went in there and he looked composed, he escaped out of some sacks, broke the pocket, made some big-time plays and just looking for him to continue to grow. Looking for that clock to speed up a little bit, but he looks more and more at ease each week.”
Sanders, who was sacked only twice despite 42 attempts, slipped numerous sacks and showed tremendous toughness despite getting hit 14 times, including three times by premier defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who notched 1.5 sacks.
Sanders made a number of off-schedule plays, and was pinpoint accurate on his three touchdown passes and several other big-time throws, despite being under siege on most of them. For the third straight start, he stood tough in the face of pressure and calmly delivered the ball.
His first touchdown pass was a superb 1-yarder to David Njoku on the left side of the end zone between two defenders. Sanders placed the ball outside, where only Njoku, who laid out for the pass, could get it. Unfortunately for him, a defender rolled over him and he left the game with a knee injury.
Sanders also completed a screen pass on the first play to Judkins, who bolted 58 yards up the right side to the 2.
His second TD pass was a 60-yarder on a crossing route over the middle to Jerry Jeudy to make it 17-14 in the second. Sanders raced down to celebrate with Jeudy, who had flipped into the end zone, and the two embraced and took a knee together on the field. They talked excitedly about the score on the bench, a far cry from their heated exchange last week.
The final TD was the ice-in-his-veins perfect 7-yard throw to Fannin on the left side of the end zone to cap an 7-play, 80-yard two-minute drive.
The drive also featured a clutch 31-yard catch-and-run by rookie Dylan Sampson to the Titans’ 15.
It was the kind of excitement Mayfield brought to the lakefront during the good times, and the fans wildly cheered Sanders’ trademark “wrist-up” celebrations after the TDs.
“Yeah, competitor,” said left guard Joel Bitonio. “I appreciated the fight. I told him that. He’s shown, three starts now, that he can make some big plays for us and then those two two-minute drives just make things happen.
“You have to block forever because he’s going to try and make a play. But there was some big time plays that he made for us and kept us in the game.”
Bitonio has seen Sanders’ progress each week despite the 1-2 mark.
“His huddle, the cadence, his comfort and maybe starting to see things, like he flipped the protection this week once and just got things on the same page,” Bitonio said. “So that growth is definitely there and it’s good to see.”
What’s more, Sanders threw for 364 yards while missing his starting right tackle Jack Conklin (concussion) and his starting right guard (Wyatt Teller). He lost Pocic early in the fourth quarter, and Njoku early in the second. He’s practiced with the starters for only three weeks.
“He fought throughout the game, which we knew he would,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “Obviously with any young player, there are going to be ups and downs, and I thought there were some really, really, really good moments. He’ll keep learning from some of the plays that he wants back, but some really good moments.”
The touchdown to Jeudy (3 of 5 targets, 76 yards, 1 TD) was one of those moments considering what happened last week. But they patched it up during the week and got down to business.
“It was truly exciting being able to connect with him because I know the season kind of hasn’t gone the way he wanted it to this year,” Sanders said. “So the fact that one decision from me could bring somewhat joy in his life and be able to help the team out overall, that brings me happiness.”
Of course, the interception was a play Sanders would like to have back.
Retreating under pressure on a second and 20 from near midfield, he saw Larvadain’s hand go up down the deep middle, and took a shot. But he overthrew it, and Xavier Woods jumped the route and swiped it, returning it 35 yards.
The Titans converted it two plays later into a 32-yard TD blast by Tony Pollard (25 carries for 161 yards, 2 TDs).
“Definitely on the interception I felt we were stagnant,” he said. “I’m trying to get a spark. I’m trying to. That’s all it is. I know my dad was mad at me for that for sure, and I know the team, everybody is. But I would say as time goes on, those decisions will slim down and we won’t be in situations where I have that feeling like I’ve got to make something happen.”
Stefanski knows that Sanders will learn from the mistake and live to see another play. A throwaway there would’ve been wise. It was too bad for him because he had placed a perfect 35-yard pass over Fannin’s shoulder on the second play of that drive.
“Young players, you learn from every turn that’s out there,” Stefanski said. “There’s some great stuff that you can coach off of. I thought some of his pocket movement was outstanding. Some really, really good throws, especially late in the drive, I thought he was really good there. But always going to learn from our mistakes.”
The game provided the Browns with great evidence that Sanders is a gamer with a never-say-die attitude to go along with his elite accuracy. They’re traits that don’t come naturally to every QB, but Sanders has them in spades.
“Oh, Shedeur, he’s a competitor,” Jeudy said. “He showed that toughness, that resilience to not let any situation affect him. He just kept pushing forward and kept competing. You’ve gotta respect that.”
Sanders noted that he’s “comfortable being uncomfortable. You’ve got to understand. That’s just kind of the situation I’m in and I’m fine with that. I love that because my story and everything inspires people to make sure even if they’re in uncomfortable positions and situations, to stay on course and keep that mental strong and be able to push through adversity knowing that you’ll be able to see the other side one day.”
The Browns have crisscrossed the country looking for Mr. Right in the 2026 draft, and he may have been on their roster all season, toiling away with the Hungry Dawg backups while Joe Flacco (1-3) and Dillon Gabriel (1-5) started ahead of him.
“He’s commanding the huddle, looking people in the eye and telling them what we’ve got to do,” Dylan Sampson said. “You can see the leadership in him coming out. He did a good job of rallying the troops and giving ourselves a chance to fight. I hate that we dug ourselves a hole like that, but that’s what you want to see in a quarterback.”
Sanders’ fellow Hungry Dawg Larvadain isn’t surprised at all.
“He’s a dog,” Larvadain said. “We knew that. We knew inside of our building. There are people outside who thought differently, but we knew what we had.”
Sanders has four more chances to keep the Browns out of the Fernando Mendoza or Ty Simpson sweepstakes, but if he keeps throwing his wrist up like this, he’ll land the job.
– This post has been updated to clarify that Sanders is the first Browns quarterback since 1950 to pass for 300 yards and 3 TDs as well as rush for a TD in the same game.
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