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Titans’ Defense Trolls Shedeur Sanders With Signature Celebration After Forcing Turnover

Liam McKeone

The Titans broke out Shedeur Sanders’s signature celebration after forcing a turnover against the Browns on Sunday.
The Titans broke out Shedeur Sanders’s signature celebration after forcing a turnover against the Browns on Sunday. / NFL on Fox
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The Titans traveled to Cleveland to take on the Browns in a snowy affair on Sunday. There wasn’t much in the way of stakes, given it was a battle between two cellar-dwelling AFC teams, but intrigue could still be found in the duel between rookie quarterbacks Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders.

It was a sloppy affair by both signal-callers and the Tennessee defense did not hesitate to troll Sanders once they got the opportunity to do so. With the score at 21-17 a few minutes into the fourth quarter, Sanders threw a swing pass to Cleveland RB Dylan Sampson. But the Titans’ defense quickly swarmed Sampson and hit him hard enough to force a fumble, which Tennessee recovered. All the defenders on the field sprinted to the end zone, where they held up their wrists in mockery of Sanders’s signature watch celebration.

It wasn’t the first turnover the defense forced on the day. Sanders threw an interception in the third quarter on an ill-advised heave to the middle of the field. But the unit found a clutch turnover the right time to troll the popular rookie quarterback, perhaps inspired by All-Pro DT Jeffrey Simmons doing the same on a sack of Sanders minutes earlier.

Such is life when you have a signature celly like Sanders. Opponents are always looking for an opportunity to use it against you. Two big moments in the fourth quarter sufficed for Tennessee.

On the day, Sanders actually played pretty well. Before his teammate fumbled Sanders completed 12 of 24 pass attempts for 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Titans’ defense is not exactly the stiffest in the NFL, but it was a respectable outing for Sanders.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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