BEREA, Ohio — The throw heard ‘round the world on Sunday by Shedeur Sanders was a wow moment that [even had Myles Garrett smiling on the sideline](https://x.com/Browns/status/1993417255758225475?s=20).
Who could blame him? The defense has been doing its job all season only to see the offense sputter again and again. A big play like that had to be a relief for everyone on that side of the ball.
It turns out a few big plays can make a world of difference.
Sanders’ 52-yard throw to Isaiah Bond was the highlight play from a starting debut that earned the Colorado product a second start this Sunday in Cleveland against the 49ers. It has made the rounds on highlight shows and social media all week.
The first Browns touchdown of the day was set up by a 44-yard punt return by Gage Larvadain that included a personal foul penalty on Raiders punter AJ Cole for tripping.
The final Browns touchdown came on a 66-yard catch and run by rookie running back Dylan Sampson that put the Browns ahead, 24-3.
Who knows what would have happened on the drive when Sanders hit Jerry Jeudy on a 39-yard pass if Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn had not stripped the ball while Jeudy was trying to make a move?
“We had three pretty explosive pass plays, which we haven’t had in a few weeks,” left guard Joel Bitonio said.
It reinforced the idea of what could have been with the way this defense has played all year.
The three passing plays represented the longest passing plays of the season by the Browns offense and three of the four longest offensive plays overall. The punt return and the explosive to Bond allowed the Browns to play with a lead of two or more scores for just the second game all season.
This has never been an offense that was going to grind out long drives. It’s simply too flawed in too many areas and it only got worse when they began the process of handing over the keys to their rookie quarterbacks.
Sanders was far from perfect on Sunday — he completed just 11 of 20 passes — but he protected the ball for the most part and didn’t take any drive-killing sacks.
Sunday in Las Vegas represented one of the few games this season when the Browns defense actually had some room for error, and they enjoyed every second of having a chance to put up some stats.
“It’s fun,” safety Grant Delpit said. “I didn’t even notice we played 80 plays until I looked at the iPad after the game. But it’s fun when you’re making plays, to say the least. I just look at it as extra opportunity to go out there and get some splash plays and rack them up.”
Of course, the caveat for everything that happened on Sunday is that it was the Raiders, but beggars can’t be choosers and the ability to strike quickly on offense is something that has eluded the Browns all season.
“You saw the shot play potential, and anytime the offense is kind of struggling, 40-, 50-yard plays are going to help the offense out,” Bitonio said. “I definitely think that was something we’ve been missing.”
The Browns’ formula to win games this season became apparent early but they have rarely been able to put it together. Play great defense, win the field position battle and do just enough on offense to escape with a win.
Having a defense like the Browns have allows them to mitigate risk on offense.
“I think sometimes it’s OK to punt,” Bitonio said. “If you’re playing the field position battle and it’s like, do we need to take a huge risk on 3rd-and-15 here or is it we try a draw or screen and we’re not turning the ball over.”
The thing you need if you’re going to rely so heavily on the defense, though, is the types of plays the Browns hit on Sunday.
It’s hard to blame Garrett and Browns defenders for getting so excited over one throw because all season they’ve been getting the ball back for the offense just to end up on the field again in a similar situation.
They finally got to have some fun on Sunday, sacking Raiders quarterback Geno Smith 10 times and hitting him 20 times.
The offense has never been tasked with doing too much. All they needed to do was add a little support. The ability to hit on big chunks, including on special teams, drastically changed things last Sunday.
There are no style points in the NFL, just wins. If the Browns offense could have simply been respectable much of this season — if they could have just capitalized on a few big plays every week — it’s fair to wonder if they would be sitting squarely in the playoff hunt today.
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