The Cleveland Browns knocked off the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12 of the 2025 NFL season. Browns fans are happy with a victory, but the team now sits outside of the Top 5 of the 2026 NFL draft order. For
some Cleveland fans and much of the general population, how QB Shedeur Sanders performed was the most important thing, but the Browns dominant defense and DE Myles Garrett taking his performance to another level were actually the keys to the game.
Sanders’ raw numbers were fine:
- 11/20
- 209 yards
- 1 touchdown
- 1 interception
As our Tom Moore pointed out, a couple of big plays hid the overall offensive performance led by Sanders:
- 3-of-12 on 3rd down
- 113 yards of offense on 45 plays (taking out the three big plays that still count, even if Dylan Sampson did all the work on his play)
- 55% completion rate
- 8 punts on 12 drives (not counting kneel down at end of first half)
Brian Baldinger of The NFL Network highlighted three plays, including the Sampson screen, as signs of Sanders’ upside:
Everyone, including Garrett, was impressed with the throw to WR Isaiah Bond, but the video shows the amount of pressure he was under when he made that deep pass. The slight pocket movement and accuracy to get the ball to TE Harold Fannin Jr. on the second highlighted play show the subtlety of the rookie’s playmaking, especially as he is about to get hit again.
The Jeudy throw is a good combination of the first two highlights as Sanders gets out of pressure, directs traffic, floats a perfect pass downfield, all while preparing to get hit.
The screen pass is nothing special, but it is nice to see the quick look toward the middle of the field before flipping his hips and hitting Sampson in the right position to be able to take off and run instead of having to adjust to the football. In the NFL, half a second can make a huge difference in a play going for a long touchdown or being a quick stop. Sanders did the little things right on that screenplay.
For the Browns future, it is also exciting to see Sanders hit three rookies on four of those plays with Bond, Fannin and Sampson all getting involved in the action.
Shedeur Sanders wasn’t perfect, far from it, but those four plays give a hint at who he can be as a quarterback. It is also important to note that Sanders only took one sack and did not try to escape out of the back of the pocket, his biggest struggle in the preseason and his Week 11 debut.
All and all, a positive start for Sanders. Now we find out if HC Kevin Stefanski will give him a second start in Week 13 or stick to his word about Dillon Gabriel being the starter when healthy.
What did you see from Shedeur Sanders’ debut? Does Baldinger’s video provide more context to his Week 12 performance for you?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below
