The Cleveland Browns could not find a way to get past the Tennessee Titans, who walked into Huntington Bank Field for the Week 14 contest with an NFL-worst record of 1-10.
Tennessee left Northeast Ohio with a 31-29 win and their second victory of the season. And while there were a number of people in the Browns’ locker room to blame, quarterback Shedeur Sanders was not one of them.
Sanders put up 364 yards and three TDs through the air. He also scored one touchdown with his legs on an impressive scramble. The QB accounted for two of those TDs in the fourth quarter, bringing the Browns back to the brink of victory, though two failed two-point conversions by the offense sealed Cleveland’s fate.
Following the game, media members asked Sanders about his breakout play, which represents the most successful performance by any rookie signal-caller for the Browns in the Super Bowl era.
“I been this way,” Sanders said. “So this is God showing a lot of people who I am. A lot of circumstances that sometimes get you mentally not in your best place, and you gotta find your happy place, you gotta find that for you.”
Kevin Stefanski Blamed for Browns’ Loss
GettyCleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski.
While Sanders did everything in his power to earn Cleveland its fourth victory of the year, head coach Kevin Stefanski took significant heat after the game for his decision to pull Sanders off the field for the final two-point conversion attempt.
Stefanski opted to put running back Quinshon Judkins in the wildcat formation and take a direct snap on the game-tying try. The play ended in disaster, while the game ended in a loss.
The head coach admitted in the postgame press conference that he was responsible for the play call, though he did not elaborate much more on the topic.
“Yeah, not going to get into all the specifics … but obviously did not go as we thought it would,” Stefanski said. “It’s a two-point play. Didn’t come through on our first two-point play, got to the second two-point play, we didn’t come through. But that’s on me.”
Sanders also spoke to the controversial play call after the game.
“If I’m out there any play, I wish I would always have the ball in my hand,” Sanders said. “But that’s not what football is. Sometimes you gotta run the ball. Sometimes you gotta kick a field goal.”
He added that the play was practiced during the week, and that Judkins was successful running it in practice sessions.
Myles Garrett Complimentary of Shedeur Sanders Following Loss to Titans
GettyDefensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns did not get a typical performance from what has been among the elite defenses in the league this season.
Defensive end Myles Garrett admitted as much after the Browns surrendered 31 points and 184 rushing yards to a beleaguered Titans offense. The edge-rusher, who now has 20 sacks on the season, was complimentary of Sanders following the contest, as the offense was the unit that kept Cleveland in the game in what was a break from the norm.
“I think he looked good. I mean, he came up big when we needed him to,” Garrett said. “There’s going to be some ups and downs for anyone, especially a rookie. But he went in there and he looked composed. He escaped out of some sacks, broke the pocket, made some big-time plays. And just looking for him to continue to grow, looking for that clock to speed up a little bit, but it looks more and more at ease each week.”
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