Shedeur Sanders Cleveland Browns Offensive Line Protection
© Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Shedeur Sanders finally made his NFL regular season debut for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Kevin Stefanski decided to give Dillon Gabriel the hook in the third quarter after yet another lackluster performance from the third-round rookie.
His successor did not play any better. In fact, he played much worse.
The Cleveland Browns failed to score during the second half. Their quarterbacks combinedfor only 115 yards on 11 completions with Sanders completing just four of his 16 attempts.
Shedeur Sanders struggled.
The son of Deion Sanders entered the game early in the second half. He completed only 25% of his passes for 47 yards with one interception and zero touchdowns, and finished with only six net yards on 16 total dropbacks. He also took two sacks, fumbled, and got called for intentional grounding.
His 13.5% passer rating was the lowest of the season thus far.
Shedeur Sanders proved the haters right in his NFL debut ⌚️🔥
– 4/16 (25% Completion Percentage)
– 47 Yards Passing
– 0 TD / 1 INT
– 2 Sacks
– 1 Fumble
– 1 Intentional Grounding
– 13.5 Passer Rating
– 6 Net Yards on 16 Dropbacks#LEGENDARY pic.twitter.com/ATOVJkHviJ
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) November 17, 2025
To add salt to the wound, Kyle Hamilton hit Shedeur Sanders with his own celebration after a sack.
KYLE HAMILTON SACKS SHEDEUR SANDERS.
Tune in on CBS. pic.twitter.com/DoPoMljqZt
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 16, 2025
You could see the frustration on the rookie signal-caller’s face after the second sack.
Shedeur Sanders takes another sack.
Looks like he’s getting frustrated 💔 pic.twitter.com/o2WMcuDTe3
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) November 16, 2025
To be completely fair, it’s not like the offensive line did him a ton of favors. The Ravens defense was swarming but Sanders once again failed to get the ball out. It is the same problem as college.
A look at one of the sacks Shedeur Sanders took tonight.
I believe he’s got the talent, but you could see he was taking too much time to get the ball out.#DawgPound pic.twitter.com/MbjyYwBwpV
— Cade Cracas (@CracasCade) November 17, 2025
Some fans are choosing to blame Kevin Stefanski for the horrible debut because he did not give Shedeur Sanders any first-team reps during practice, which is fair. It is always hard to step in and run an offense you aren’t fully familiar with or don’t have a lot of reps in. Kurt Warner agrees with that sentiment but he offered a different perspective on the rep split. QB2 doesn’t get a lot of reps with the first-team offense.
Everywhere I was, the backup rarely got #1 reps – I wanted all the reps when I was #1 and if backup got any it was a couple at the end of different periods! https://t.co/v3syhKw11W
— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) November 17, 2025
Others tried to blame the offensive line.
The quarterback sets the protection.
One particular image from the second half sparked a debate. Shedeur Sanders was essentially hung out to dry. His offensive line was essentially split in half, with the center, right guard and right tackle blocking only one defender to the right— and the left guard, left tackle and running back blocking two guys to the left. A free rusher came flying down the middle.
Shedeur Sanders offensive line protection
@INTPhoenixRay / X
How is Sanders supposed to succeed in that situation? He’s not!
However, it is the quarterback who sets the protection. Former Texas Tech, LSU, Chargers and Steelers defensive lineman (and Grey Cup champion!) Breiden Fehoko set the record straight.
“Oh buddy wait till you find out who sets the protection & tells the OL which way they are going,” he wrote on X. “These people are among us.”
Some people are still choosing to blame the offensive line. They put it on center Ethan Pocic for changing the protection at the line of scrimmage and/or failing to pick up the free rusher as if he has eyes in the back of his head. Maybe there is some truth to both. Maybe it doesn’t even matter.
Shedeur Sanders’ NFL regular season debut was horrendous.
Grayson Weir BroBible editor avatar