CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns dominated the Raiders in a 24-10 win on Sunday, but that’s just what the scoreboard said.
Here are the real winners and losers from the game:
1/13
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders vs. Las Vegas Raiders, November 23, 2025
Winner: Lessons
It was a long week.
Shedeur Sanders’ long-awaited NFL debut against the Ravens last week was underwhelming; his home was robbed while he was at the game; and the doubters were loud.
His response? A life perspective that’s rare to hear from a rookie.
“I don’t think too much into that, I think in the moment present, today,” Sanders said on Wednesday. “When you start moving too fast in life sometimes, you miss the small details of things. So, I never want to overlook anything.”
Sanders applied the lessons learned over the last week to his three-hour session against the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. He approached Sin City with a certain flair, like he was Ric.
His throws were crisp and on the money, even downfield. Las Vegas sent the blitz and he stayed collected.
The Raiders doubted Sanders’ deep-ball ability and he made them pay.
He still made some rookie mistakes.
Las Vegas’ Charles Snowden acted like he was following Dylan Sampson before dropping back inside and intercepting Sanders’ telegraphed pass to Jerry Jeudy.
But Sanders shook it off and gave the fans more reasons to throw their wrist up.
This was the best Cleveland’s offense has looked all season.
It’s not about the points.
This is the first time all season a Browns quarterback kept the offense flowing and forward-looking. Almost as though there was a new-found confidence that helped players believe they’d score no matter the obstacles.
Their fifth-round selection made that happen.
Now, the rookie has a chance to make that happen again six days from now.
Loser: Geno Smith
Sunday was a sack-fest for the Browns.
Ten sacks. Three belonged to Myles Garrett.
We’re four days away from Thanksgiving but Cleveland’s defense wanted to feast early.
The Browns had to have known it would be a field day. Las Vegas quarterback Geno Smith entered Sunday ranked fourth in most sacks taken (31), while the offensive line ranked fifth in sack yards lost (214).
It became silly after a while. Even Oprah Winfrey-esque — you get a sack, you get a sack, everyone gets a sack. Smith took a beating while completing 30 of 44 passes for 285 yards and one touchdown, with most of that yardage coming in garbage time.
It’s hard to choose a favorite sack, so we’ll go with one that best exemplified the Browns’ mantra of creating defensive pressure.
Winner: Film study
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and his staff noticed a hole in the Raiders’ defense in the red zone, and called for a direct snap for running back Quinshon Judkins out of the wildcat formation.
It worked not once, but twice in the opening quarter.
Exquisite.
Loser: Awareness
Sanders delivered a beauty to a wide-open Jerry Jeudy.
Nothing but green was in front of Jeudy before three Raiders defenders popped up.
Jeudy slowed it down and did a quick skip, plotting his next move. Instead, Raiders defensive back Jeremy Chinn ended that quickly and punched the ball out from behind, with Elandon Roberts recovering.
Cleveland could’ve scored in that series. Even if Jeudy hadn’t gotten any farther, the Browns were well within field-goal range.
Lucky for him, Las Vegas didn’t capitalize off that takeaway.
Gotta watch that blind side.
Winner: Slinging it deep
Sanders’ 52-yard bomb to Isaiah Bond late in the first quarter is an important highlight.
Not just because it set up Cleveland’s second touchdown drive, but also because it could increase the amount of deep passes we see from the Browns the rest of the season.
Sanders’ arm strength was a topic of conversation ahead of the NFL Draft. He showed a glimpse of that last week, and play-caller Tommy Rees looked to build on that Sunday in Sanders’ first career start.
Especially in an offense that entered Sunday averaging the fewest yards gained per play (4.0).
Talk about staying calm.
Sanders rolled right while escaping the blitz and even dipped away from Tyree Wilson before getting rid of the ball as Devin White and Maxx Crosby tried to reach him.
The deep pass set up Judkins’ second touchdown, and after the win, Stefanski praised Sanders’ ability to make that play happen.
“That was obviously an outstanding play,” Stefanski said. “They were in a max look that we couldn’t block, and they had a free runner right there, and to be able to escape and find IB [Isaiah Bond] down the field, I mean, that’s a high-level play.”
Sanders forced Las Vegas to respect his deep-pass ability. Lining up in Cover 0, with no deep safety, there wasn’t anyone to offset a sudden deep shot from Sanders. The Raiders sent the blitz and the rookie handled it like he pre-planned it in his dreams the night before.
Even Raiders coach Pete Carroll complimented Sanders’ after the game.
“The play of the game was really that scramble play. That was an extraordinary ball that (Sanders) threw on that one,” Carroll said. “That was the kind of dagger in the ball game as it turned out, that changed things.”
Cleveland Browns vs. Las Vegas Raiders, November 23, 2025
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders eludes the tackle attempt of Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Tyree Wilson one a pass play in the first half. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
Of Sanders’ 20 pass attempts Sunday, five traveled 20 or more yards downfield, and two were completed, per Next Gen Stats.
Before Sunday, Joe Flacco had accounted for Cleveland’s longest pass of the season (35 yards, Week 4). And Jameis Winston had accounted for Cleveland’s most recent completion of 50 or more yards (70-yard touchdown, Week 12, 2024).
Sanders’ 52-yarder and 66-yard score to Dylan Sampson gave him entry to that club.
When comparing his ability on deep shots this season compared to other Browns quarterbacks this season, it’s not even close.
On passes that traveled 20 or more yards downfield, Flacco completed four deep passes through four starts. Dillon Gabriel has completed two of those deep passes through six starts, per Pro Football Focus.
Counting Sunday, Sanders already has three deep-ball completions, per PFF.
Cleveland’s fifth-rounder is on the verge of leading the team in deep-ball completions with only three halves of action to his name.
Winner: This play
There’s so much good to point out from Sampson’s 66-yard touchdown.
Sanders
Sanders did a nice job of not telegraphing the pass and continuing to look downfield. It wasn’t until after quickly drawing the defense in that Sanders turned his body and delivered the screen pass to Sampson.
Think of how many rookie quarterbacks would’ve dropped back and looked directly in that direction before even making the pass. That alone is enough for an opposing defender to make a read.
Good on the rook.
Njoku
Think back to your junior high coach screaming at you to find a body to block on a screen pass, but you and a teammate end up blocking the same person. The play gets stopped short and you get an earful.
That could’ve happened on Sunday if not for David Njoku’s instinct.
Njoku searched for a defender and landed on Darnay Holmes before realizing Browns tight end Harold Fannin Jr. had Holmes on lock.
The elder tight end quickly looked elsewhere and got to Jeremy Chinn just in time to help make way for Sampson.
Cleveland Browns vs. Las Vegas Raiders, November 23, 2025
Cleveland Browns running back Dylan Sampson runs for a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders in the second half of play. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
Sampson
The rookie back turned on the jets and took care of the rest.
He also showed how effective he can be on those screen passes and in the overall short passing game.
It had been a while since Sampson had touched the ball as much as he did on Sunday.
In the season opener, Sampson recorded 93 total yards from scrimmage, including 64 off catching all eight targets.
He wouldn’t have a game like that again before Week 12, seeing a decrease in carries and targets after Quinshon Judkins became active.
Fast forward to Sunday, and Sampson recorded a 82 total yards from scrimmage, and his second career score.
A cherry on top for the rookie.
Winner: Feats
Multiple feats were accomplished on Sunday.
Let’s run through them.
Sanders
Before Sunday, Browns quarterbacks had gone 0-17 in their first starts dating back to 1999 when the franchise returned to the NFL.
Sanders broke the dry spell.
He also became the first Browns quarterback to win his first start since Eric Zeier did so on Oct. 29, 1995 in a Week 9 overtime win over Cincinnati.
To show how long it’s been since a Browns quarterback won his first start, let’s see what was popping on that date:
Apollo 13 was No. 1 at the box office.
Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” was the top record on the Billboard Hot 100 for the fifth week in a row.
The price of the Sunday New York Daily News increased from $1 to $1.25.
Sanders’ 66-yard touchdown is currently the longest completion by a rookie quarterback this season, per ESPN Insights.
Garrett
Garrett climbed to 18.0 sacks on the season, which broke Cleveland’s franchise record for sacks (16.0)...set by Garrett in both 2021 and 2022.
Garrett joined Reggie White (19 sacks) and Mark Gastineau (17.5) as the only players to record at least 17 sacks through their first 11 games of a season, since individual sacks became an official statistic in 1982.
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