Heading into the 2025 season, there didn’t figure to be many winnable games on the Cleveland Browns’ calendar, but a Week 14 matchup against an equally destitute Tennessee Titans team was presumed to be one of them, if not the only one. Well, that date has finally arrived, and it couldn’t have come at a more convenient time for Myles Garrett and co.
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Tennessee’s rookie signal caller and first-overall draft pick, Cam Ward, has endured 48 sacks throughout the first 12 games of his career, making this a potentially historic opportunity for Cleveland’s premier pass rusher. Garrett has already managed to harvest 19 sacks this season, placing him well within striking distance of both the official (22.5) and unofficial (23) all-time single-season sack records, which were previously set by Michael Strahan and Al Baker.
According to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, however, it is Shedeur Sanders, rather than Garrett, who is in need of a standout performance on Sunday. “Shedeur Sanders is going to have a lot to prove in this game,” Cabot noted while alluding to the pre-draft rivalry that existed between Sanders and Ward.
Unfortunately, Sanders has received more criticism from his own WR1 than he has from Ward in recent times. The team’s veteran wide receiver, Jerry Jeudy, infamously scolded Sanders on the sidelines during their Week 13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Several former players, such as Cam Newton, Michael Irvin, and even Asante Samuel, have since criticized Jeudy for the way in which he approached Sanders. Nevertheless, Cabot seems to suggest that it’ll ultimately be up to the 144th overall pick to make sure that he’s on the same page with everyone, not just Jeudy.
“He really needs to get it together with his wide receivers. He needs to have some kind of a connection with Jerry Jeudy, with Ced Tillman, with David Njoku. He needs to do more than trying to get the ball to his hungry dogs. It’s time for him to develop that chemistry and open it up a little bit, air it out a little bit, and win a football game on his own merit.”
Despite the question marks surrounding Sanders, Cabot is still confident enough in the Browns’ defense to predict a 23-10 victory for them in front of the hometown crowd. Seeing as the rest of their schedule is composed of teams like the 9-3 Chicago Bears, Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills, and a Cincinnati Bengals squad that’s guided by Joe Burrow, this may be Cleveland’s last chance to put themselves in the win column this season.
Even though he decided to take the cash and stay, winning ball games is something that Garrett still cares about, so fans can expect him to help the Browns grind towards their fourth and final win of the 2025 calendar year in Week 14.
