SI

How Shedeur Sanders Fared in First Career NFL Start for Browns

Shedeur Sanders got the win in his first NFL start.

Eva Geitheim

Shedeur Sanders led the Browns to a win in his first NFL start.
Shedeur Sanders led the Browns to a win in his first NFL start. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
In this story:

Shedeur Sanders made his first career NFL start on Sunday, leading the Browns to a 24–10 win against the Raiders to move Cleveland to 3-8 on the season.

Sanders saw his first NFL action last week when he came in for an injured Dillon Gabriel during the second half of their loss to the Ravens. With Gabriel still dealing with a concussion, Sanders got a full week of first-team reps to prepare him for his first start.

The Browns came into the game with a very conservative game-plan, showing both a lack of full trust in Sanders, but also a heavy belief in their defense. This was the right call.

The Raiders have one of the worst offenses and offensive lines in the NFL. They have limited skill position talent, and average the third-fewest points per game. Meanwhile, the Browns have the No. 2 defense in total yards and No. 1 defense in passing yards allowed per game. The Browns rightfully trusted that they could rely on their defense to keep the Raiders from scoring and lead the team to a win.

Thus, Cleveland leaned on their defense and run game over Sanders throughout the game—like a team should to support a fifth-round rookie starting for the first time. The defense did their part by sacking Geno Smith 10 times and holding the Raiders to just 10 points.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Browns started the game with a run before having Sanders throw a screen for an easy completion. Sanders completed his second pass, but it fell short of the sticks and the Browns went three-and-out.

The Browns scored the first points of the game on the next drive, when a 44-yard Gage Larvadain punt return and penalty gave Cleveland the ball at the Raiders’ two-yard line. The Browns cashed in two plays later, when they took Sanders off the field and scored on a direct snap to Quinshon Judkins, who ran in for the touchdown to give them the early 7-0 lead.

Two drives later, the Browns scored their second touchdown of the game. This time, Sanders played a much bigger part in the drive. The Browns got into third-and-long again, and the Raiders sent pressure, but Sanders made them pay. He evaded the pressure long enough to roll out to the right and complete a 52-yard pass downfield to Isaiah Bond, his best play of the game. Judkins ran in for a touchdown on the next play, extending the Browns lead to 14-0.

Sanders quickly followed up that exceptional throw with a rookie mistake, throwing a bad interception on his next pass attempt. He rebounded on the ensuing drive by extending the play to throw the ball to Jerry Jeudy for a big catch-and-run, but Jeudy fumbled and kept them from adding to their lead before the half.

The Browns punted twice in the third quarter before finally adding to their lead with a field goal in the fourth. Though Cleveland finally got points on the board again, Sanders made a couple rookie mistakes. He threw a risky screen pass, which resulted in a six-yard loss before the Browns got bailed out because of an unnecessary roughness penalty on Raiders defender Jamal Adams. Later in the drive, the Browns were facing 3rd-and-26. Instead of completing a short pass to give the Browns kicker an easier field goal attempt, Sanders attempted a pass downfield which was nearly intercepted. The Browns ended up making the field goal, but those are decisions Sanders can still learn from going forward.

Sanders capped off his first start with his first NFL touchdown pass, throwing a screen to fellow rookie Dylan Sampson, who took it 67 yards to the house to give Cleveland an insurmountable lead, and eventually, the win.

Sanders finishes his first game 11-of-20 for 209 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He threw for 127 yards in the first half, the most in the first half by any Browns quarterback this season. Sanders notably did a much better job at avoiding drifting back in the pocket and taking big sacks, a key improvement for him from his game against the Ravens last week.

Ultimately, Sanders did what he needed to lead the Browns to a victory. Outside of the interception, he successfully executed the conservative game plan to lead the Browns to their third win of the season.

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

FREE NEWSLETTER. SI BTN Newsletter. Start off your day with SI:CYMI. dark

feed

Published |Modified
Eva Geitheim
EVA GEITHEIM

Eva Geitheim is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor's in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or re-watching Gilmore Girls.

Home/NFL