Shedeur Sanders not solely responsible for Browns loss against Bears

The Cleveland Browns suffered yet another brutal loss on Sunday afternoon as they fell to the Chicago Bears, 31-3. With the loss came an overall poor performance from fifth-round rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, but he does not deserve the blame for the loss.

Sanders finished the loss going 18/35, 177 yards, zero touchdowns, and three interceptions to go along with it. He did pick up 24 yards on the ground off of just two attempts.

But coming into the Week 15 matchup, the Browns were rolling out yet another injured starting offensive line unit which featured four backups.

Of course with four starting offensive linemen out it did not go well and it was a key reason why Sanders could not get anything going. Suffering a career-high five sacks would be all that you need to know for the offensive line struggles on the afternoon.

With only 1 starter available on the offensive line, this has started exactly how you thought it would for #Browns & Shedeur Sanders. End 1: #Bears up 14-0
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) December 14, 2025

In fact, it was so bad that Sanders had to take sacks where the defender was unblocked with a clear path to take down the rookie.

NFL insider Josina Anderson had a perfect example of it when a Chicago defender was unblocked getting a sack to end the first quarter.

#Browns offensive line with protection issues allows D’Marco Jackson to get to QB Shedeur Sanders unblocked, in the front, untouched.

This after taking 13 hits last week—the most of any QB, per the broadcast. pic.twitter.com/YxSVj1Zn9e
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) December 14, 2025

The offensive line struggles in Cleveland have been well known throughout the regular season, but has picked up rapidly due to injuries.

You also cannot forget about the wide receiver problem going on for the Browns. Jerry Jeudy has no business being labeled as a "WR1" in the NFL and he proved it today in which a perfect touchdown pass was taken right out of his hands by Jaylon Johnson in the third quarter.

In fact, Jeudy is not even Cleveland's leading receiver as that would go to rookie tight end Harold Fannin who has 619 yards on the season. Outside of Fannin and Jeudy (497 yards), the Browns next leading receiver would be tight end David Njoku who missed Sunday's matchup.

Rookie running back Dylan Sampson being fourth in receiving yards as well tells you all you need to know about the lack of wideout options. Undrafted rookie free agent Isaiah Bond has been a small standout lately thanks to deep ball connections with Sanders.

But Bond still needs to take that next leap as an undrafted receiver who still has issues with consistency. Take away his two deep connections with Sanders in the last four games, and Bond has just 189 yards on the season.

Despite the lack of consistency from Bond, it shows that Sanders is by far the best Browns quarterback with big play ability.

On top of all of the offensive line and wide receiver issues, Sanders also had an issue with his wristband early on in the game in which he had to switch out wristbands that features the play calls on it.

With all of that Sanders has gone through so far with his time in Cleveland, it is completely valid to say he deserves another shot with upgraded weapons, improved offensive line, and a new coach. The rookie has made enough throws so far proving he has some talent.

Regardless what you think of Sanders, it's unfair to hold a fifth-round rookie to such a high standard considering he just got his first ever first team reps in practice just four weeks ago.