Shedeur Sanders’ much-anticipated NFL debut turned into a dud.
When starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion, in came Sanders to try to rescue the Cleveland Browns on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. The former Colorado star and son of NFL legend Deion Sanders entered the game with 12:43 left in the 3rd quarter, with the Browns looking for a spark in Gabriel’s absence.
But it didn’t go well for Sanders, the rookie who infamously had to wait until the 5th round and 144th overall pick to hear his name called at the draft by the Browns. Sanders’ first chance to prove everybody wrong came in mid-November of his rookie season in front of the home fans, but things went horribly for Sanders and the Browns.
First, there was Sanders himself, who completed just 4 of 16 passes for 47 yards, with 0 touchdowns and 1 interception. He was harassed by the Ravens’ defense while struggling, too, being sacked twice while finishing with a 13.5 passer rating.
To add insult to injury, the Browns lost the game in crushing fashion, with Baltimore tight end Mark Andrews scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 2:31 left in the 23-16 comeback victory. So, not only did Sanders not play well at all, his team didn’t get the win either, falling to 2-8 on the season.
Sanders had 1 final chance to save the day for himself and the Browns after Andrews’ go-ahead score. Things began well, too, with Sanders completing a 25-yard pass on the first play of the drive to get Cleveland to the Baltimore 25-yard line. The tying score was well within reach, but things stalled from there, and Sanders’ last pass on 4th-and-5 fell short of the target.
Before the injury, Gabriel, the former star at Oregon, went 7 of 10 for 68 yards with a passer rating of 88.8.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
