Shedeur Sanders crashed back down to earth in Week 15 after his historic performance in Week 14.
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Sanders and the Cleveland Browns lost a rough one, 31-3, to the Chicago Bears in the Windy City on Sunday. While the Bears are 10-4 and lead the NFL in takeaways, their defense is not nearly as dominant as Sanders and company made it look.
All in all, Sanders managed just 177 yards, zero TDs, and three INTs on a 51 completion percentage. Not ideal. And Shannon Sharpe was often frustrated by Sanders while watching the game. Not because of his passing, but rather what he was doing (or not doing) with his legs in the pocket.
“He’s gonna have to learn. He keeps bubbling! He’s not gonna outrun defensive ends in this league. But somehow he thinks he is,” Sharpe said on Nightcap, before adding,
“You’re not your father, Shedeur, you don’t have that kind of athleticism. Sometimes, you can step up and then go! But you’re trying to bubble? It ain’t gonna happen.”
Sharpe also talked about how Sanders needs to learn to throw in the cold. The Hall of Famer brought up a couple of times when the rookie had open guys, and instead of hitting them on a line, he lofted the ball up, at which point it was caught in the cold wind and fell incomplete.
However, Sharpe did say Sanders had “a couple of good quarters” during the game, and his co-host, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, said the 23-year-old would be able to “grow” from the experience.
“He did make some good throws, but he didn’t play well enough today. Obviously, this is a game that he can continue to grow from,” Ocho said.
“And playing in those conditions … you’ve got to go out there in warmups and adapt to the elements. Understand what you can and what you can’t do. There’s certain throws you won’t be able to make… I mean, he just didn’t play well, there’s really nothing else to say about it,” added the former wideout.
Sanders was pressured all day long. He was sacked five times, and he was hit 15 times as well. He did make that one lovely throw to Jerry Jeudy in the end zone that hit the receiver right in the chest before it was stolen by the defensive back. But apart from that, “he didn’t play well” was a pretty good summary of his and the Browns’ performance.
Sanders will remain the starter for the rest of the season. However, he will need more performances like Week 14 and fewer like Week 15 if he wants to convince Cleveland brass to believe in him. The team may otherwise consider selecting a quarterback with what promises to be a top 5-7 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
And that will be a tall task, as the Browns wrap up the season with tough games against the Bills, Steelers, and Bengals.
