CLEVELAND, Ohio — Shedeur Sanders made his NFL debut on Sunday vs. the Ravens, but he didn’t get the win as he and the Browns lost, 23-16.
Sanders filled in for Dillon Gabriel, who left the game at halftime with a concussion and did not return. Sanders really struggled, throwing an interception and looking overwhelmed by the aggressive Ravens defense.
Baltimore struggled for most of the afternoon on offense, turning the ball over three times. Lamar Jackson had two interceptions and did not score a touchdown.
But the Ravens took the lead for good when Mark Andrews faked a tush push and ran a bootleg to the right side 35 yards for a touchdown.
On defense, Myles Garrett had four sacks, and Carson Schwesinger had 10 tackles and an interception for the Browns. Devin Bush also returned an interception for a touchdown.
The loss sends the Browns to 2-8 with a trip to Las Vegas coming up in Week 12.
Here’s how social media reacted to the game.
“This just got interesting!!!” former Browns Hall of Fame offensive tackle Joe Thomas posted when Sanders got into the game.
“Myles Garrett is having the best year by a defensive player all time,” former Browns defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo posted.
“I like that Shedeur Sanders at least tries to throw the ball into the end zone,” Cleveland media personality Nick Pedone posted.
“Hey he made it fun. Literally every play was a rollercoaster which is exactly what everyone expected. There definitely weren’t any issues with the playbook or getting guys lined up. But man, he’s gotta get out of that Colorado mode because that has zero shot at this level,” Anthony Lima of 92.3 The Fan posted.
“problems on offense have been bigger than any QB on this roster can fix for a while now. I hope this isn’t a controversial statement anymore,” YouTube personality Quincy Carrier posted.
“The Browns led or were tied for like 90% of that game and there wasn’t a single moment I thought they’d actually win,” Ben Axelrod of Awful Announcing posted.
“The vibe of this Browns two minute drill is so much different with Sanders. Feels like they’ve got a chance,” former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz posted.
“Shedeur Sanders still holds the ball too long and takes sacks he can’t. In case you were wondering why they haven’t just tossed him the keys before now,” Sam Monson of the Check the Mic Podcast posted.
“Having this kid in this game, might be the death now for the entire organization. He’s not ready. And he shouldn’t be out there. And they put him in this position,” Aaron Goldhammer of ESPN Cleveland posted.
“DPOY better be unanimous for Myles Garrett,” Hayden Winks of Underdog Fantasy posted.
“No unit in the NFL deserves to lose a game less than the #Browns defense does today,” ESPN’s Mike Greenberg posted.
“Never take 95 for granted. Generational talent and future first ballot Hall of Famer,” Cory Kinnan of the Daft on Draft podcast posted.
“The Browns supporting cast is really bad so it’s not like you can really properly evaluate Shedeur off the bench anyway. But also he’s had only seven dropbacks and one of them got picked and he’s already taken two sacks,” YouTube analyst Brett Kollmann posted.
“The energy changed as soon as Shedeur entered the game,” former NFL cornerback Asante Samuel posted.
“For the record I want Shedeur starting from now on
Gabriel had his sample, it’s Shedeur’s time.
Get the reps, speed up the clock
I hope he can improve,” BigPlay host Matt Fontana posted.
“Carson Schwesinger is unbelievable. Looks like a future All Pro inside linebacker,” Field Yates of ESPN posted.
“Myles Garrett is the best defensive player in football. #2 isn’t that close, either. The all-time single-season sack record is legitimately in play for 95 this year,” Mike Lucas of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show posted.
“Can we talk for a second about how historic Myles Garrett is?” NFL reporter Mike Freeman posted.
The Los Angeles Chargers made a last minute NFL trade deadline deal with the New Orleans Saints earlier this month. In a risky, but hopeful move, they acquired a former first-round selection from the black and gold to try to help protect Justin Herbert. So far, he’s not helping fix the issue.
The former Saint offensive lineman headed to the AFC at the trade deadline in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick. The Chargers desperately needed offensive line help due to injuries, but that addition of Penning may be doing more harm than good so far. He got his first start with the Chargers in Week 11, at left tackle.
Penning has not played much left tackle since 2023, so this was a bit of a baptism by fire by the Chargers coaching staff. They had seen the struggles of other players at that spot and had to give the newly-acquired former first-round pick a chance. Now, it will be intriguing to see what Penning’s role is going forward. The Saints look a bit smart by simply getting anything in exchange for him at the deadline at this point.
Trading for Fortner wasn’t directly related to the Penning deal, but it did open up the door a bit more. New Orleans acquired Fortner in the Khalen Saunders trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this year. With Erik McCoy now out for the season due to injury, Fortner has stepped in at center and impressed plenty of people so far.
When it comes to pass blocking, Fortner is ranked third at center in the entire NFL by Pro Football Focus (82.7 PFF grade). His 76.7 overall grade ranks 8th in the league. His play has been rather spotless up to this point for Kellen Moore’s team, and that gave them confidence to move on from Penning at the deadline.
Only time will tell if Fortner vies for a starting role past this season, but he has started his Saints tenure by leaving quite the impression. With that, it has made fans a lot more comfortable about the future of the OL for New Orleans.