Shedeur Sanders finally made his first start. And it was a pretty good one. Sanders went 11 of 20 for 209 yards passing, he threw a touchdown, albeit on a screen, and he had one interception during a 24-10 win over the Cleveland Browns.
ESPN insights posted on their x account, “Shedeur Sanders just became the first Browns QB since Eric Zeier in 1995 to win his first career NFL start, snapping a 17-game losing streak.”
Are there kinks that need to be worked out? Absolutely. No Shedeur lovers said this game had to be perfect. And he wasn’t perfect today, by any means. There were a lot of incompletions that were his fault.
Dov Kleiman said it best on his X account.
“Everyone doubted him, and he proved everyone wrong.”
And that’s exactly what he did today. He wasn’t going to get a full load of a playbook in one week.
There were a lot of scripted plays, but next week, he should get better, if he continues on the trajectory that people believe he will.
He scored his first passing touchdown on a pass to fellow rookie running back Dylan Sampson on a screen play that Dylan took 66 yards to the endzone.
After the game, Shedeur did have this to say, per Dov Kleiman:
“A lot of people wanted to see me fail. It ain't gonna happen.”
And if he keeps working hard, he won’t fail.
This might just be the redemption Cleveland has been looking for if they’re willing to accept it.