If you are just looking at the box score from Week 14’s matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans, you would see that rookie QB Cam Ward’s team got the win, and rookie QB Shedeur Sanders put up some gaudy stats. Ward played better than some of the raw data would suggest, and Sanders played well enough, except for a couple of rookie mistakes, to get the victory.
The reality of football is that the nuance makes it the most popular sport in America. Yes, fans love big hits, exciting offense,
and all the drama, but discussing the variables that led to outcomes is what brings community, especially here at DBN.
Given his big stats and bigger name, Sanders’ future will likely be the big talking point, along with a few key coaching decisions, coming out of Week 14. The numbers are eye-catching for sure:
- 23/42, 364 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT; 3 rushes, 29 yards, 1 TD; sacked 2 times
At times, the game looked a little too fast for the rookie quarterback, but the same was true for Ward. Ward’s stat line was much more in line with what we expect from a lot of first-year starters:
- 14/28, 117 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT; 2 rushes, 4 yards; sacked 1 time
The difference? One was the first overall pick, while the other waited until the fifth round to hear his name called.
The reality is that the difference in NFL draft capital could continue to haunt Sanders. For better or worse, the Titans are far more invested in Ward (who made a few really great throws and decisions in the game despite the low numbers) than the Browns are in Sanders.
It is also important to note that we expected Sanders to play well, given the competition he was facing on the field.
The loss also sets up Cleveland’s pick to move up in the draft order, in a better shot to invest in a quarterback if they have a high grade on them, something that obviously wasn’t true with Sanders.
Shedeur Sanders showed a lot of great things in Week 14. In many ways, there was a lot of Baker Mayfield in his play on Sunday (gritty, a bad interception, big numbers). While the loss wasn’t because of some mistake Sanders made specifically, the Browns still lost the game and have a better chance at drafting a top-flight quarterback prospect in the 2026 NFL draft.
Cleveland made the mistake of moving on from a good but not great quarterback (Mayfield) to shoot for the moon with a high upside player at the position (Deshaun Watson), and it didn’t work out. Sanders now has four more games, against much better teams, to prove to whoever is in charge of the Browns this offseason that drafting a quarterback high in 2026 would also be a big mistake.
Now, after outplaying Ward, Sanders is likely to face (can never assume with injuries) Caleb Williams, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, and Joe Burrow to finish the season. He won’t have to outplay those quarterbacks, but if he shows he belongs on the same field as all four, Cleveland may just have their QB of the future. If he can’t definitively prove he belongs on the same field, Week 14 will just be an exciting blip and a point of argument for fans in the future.
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