Shedeur Sanders throws 3 picks and regresses in 31-3 loss to Bears as Browns fall to 3-11

CHICAGO — Shedeur Sanders took a step back in his bid to prove to the Browns he’s their quarterback of the future, but he’s still got three more chances to prevent them from drafting his replacement with one or both of their first-round picks.

In his fourth start of the season — amid single-digit temperatures at Soldier Field — Sanders threw three second-half interceptions during a 31-3 loss to the Bears as the Browns fell to 3-11. He failed to build on his historic game last week against the Titans, during which he threw for 364 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for another touchdown.

The Browns lost that game 31-29, but walked out believing that Sanders might have a bona fide chance to be their franchise quarterback, and that they might be able to spend those two first round picks on other positions.

Instead of bolstering that narrative, Sanders delivered a clunker of a performance against the now 10-4 Bears, going 18 of 35 for 177 yards, with no touchdowns and three interceptions en route to a 30.3 rating. Granted, one of Sanders’ interceptions was entirely Jerry Jeudy’s fault, but the performance still marked a regression for the Browns’ fifth-round pick, who fell to 1-3 as a starter. The Bears were No. 1 in the NFL with 18 interceptions heading in, and are now 9-0 when taking it away at least two times.

Sanders was also sacked five times behind a makeshift offensive line, and hit a total of 15. That makes 29 hits in the past two weeks, which is way too many for a quarterback, let alone a rookie. He was also strip-sacked once, but the officials ruled his forward progress had been stopped.

“I’d like to have the majority of plays back for sure,” Sanders said. “They did a good job. Shout out to their defensive coordinator, the team. They did a lot of great stuff.”

On his performance in general, Sanders noted that “we got a loss, so I didn’t do good.”

Coach Kevin Stefanski, who will be scrutinized by ownership after the season for a second straight double-digit loss season, described Sanders’ performance as “challenging. I know it’s incomplete until I can look at it obviously. I know there’s things that we can do better. I know there’s things that he can do better. We’ll look at it.”

As for whether or not he added at all to the positive side of the ledger, Stefanski declined to jump ahead.

“I’m obviously thinking about just this game and those type of things,” Stefanski said. “He’s a young player that’s making progress, like we’ve talked about all week. I see it in games. I get to see it in practice. There’s going to be ups and downs to young players, particularly the quarterback position. So we’ll learn from it, and we’ll be better next week.”

He also confirmed that Sanders will start next week at home against the 10-4 Bills, and that he hasn’t wavered from his announcement on Monday that Sanders will play out the string. The final two games are against the 7-6 Steelers and the 4-10 Bengals, who were shut out Sunday by the Ravens.

But Sanders knows that nothing is guaranteed, and that three-pick games can easily land him back on the bench.

“You know what league we’re in?” he said. “You can lose your job at any point in time. So you don’t play with fear. When you live and play in fear, then you’ll never be yourself. So I don’t play or live in fear. Whatever situation I’m in, I’m in. Whatever happens, it happens. But I live each moment and try to live each day in the fullest. I never live and worry or fear.”

Sanders, who played in the snow and cold at Colorado, didn’t use the minus-1 windchill as an excuse, nor the fact that he played behind a patchwork offensive line. Left guard Joel Bitonio was the only original starter heading into the game, and by the second half, guard Teven Jenkins was lost to a shoulder injury, and rookie Garrett Dellinger was pressed into service. The Browns were also without tight end David Njoku (knee), and receiver Cedric Tillman (concussion, rib) played sparingly.

“You can’t focus on that,” Sanders said. “That’s an uncontrollable thing. I’m sure they didn’t want to be hurt. That’s a part of life.”

He also didn’t let himself get frustrated with Jerry Jeudy for letting a would-be touchdown pass get snatched out of his hands for an interception by cornerback Jaylon Johnson with 5:47 left in third quarter and the Browns trailing 21-3. Sanders placed the ball perfectly over Jeudy’s shoulder at the goal-line, and Johnson stole it away. The Bears cashed in with a 17-yard TD run by D’Andre Swift for a 28-3 command.

“It’s going to happen,” Sanders said. “It is what is. I’m not one to ever kick somebody down when he’s down. He understands it’s a big play and I’m sure he’s hard on himself, so it’s no need for me to be extra and do that.”

Besides, Sanders had no room to talk. On the first play of the previous drive, the Bears switched up their coverage, with linebacker D’Marco Jackson reading Sanders’ eyes and picking off a pass intended for Harold Fannin Jr. (7 of 14 targets, 48 yards).

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (17 of 28, 242 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, 112.5 rating) made Sanders pay a play later, drifting to his right and hitting receiver D.J. Moore in the back of the end zone on a Hail Mary pass into traffic for a 22-yard TD. Grant Delpit and Tyson Campbell failed to knock it down, and the Bears took a 21-3 lead with 8:39 left in the third quarter.

“They had a great defensive scheme, and I enjoyed played against them,” Sanders said. “I enjoyed playing in that because it was definitely a little challenge, so I look forward to learning from that and look forward to understanding exactly how things were on film.”

Sanders’ third-interception was an ill-advised pass down the deep right side to Fannin, on which C.J. Gardner-Johnson jumped the route and picked it off. The Bears converted that one into a field goal to produce the final margin. By that time, Sanders was pressing, but he still firmly believes he’s

“I’m the same person regardless,” he said. “I’ve still got the same belief in myself. Like it is every week you’ve got to get out there, learn to play better and that’s it.”

He did connect twice with Isaiah Bond for passes of 42 and 47 yards, but neither led to a score. He also missed him on a deep third-down pass over the middle on the opening drive of the second half.

“With each game, understand the different speeds, understand talking to him about, you’ve got to play the faster right here,” Sanders said.

But he noted, “we’ve just got to use Isaiah more for his skill set, for what he’s great at, and just keep evolving him overall as a player. I’m thankful to have him.”

Myles Garrett also sacked Williams 1.5 times for a total of 21.5 — one shy of the NFL single-season record. If he can take down Josh Allen 1.5 times next week, he’ll get the record at home. Garrett also suffered a left hip injury during the third quarter, but refused to come out.

“I’m going to play through pretty much anything,” he said. “Tweaked my hip or something in that area, so I was feeling that for the rest of the game. But like I said, we’re just going to keep, continuing to push through because we’ve still got something to play for. As long as there’s games on the schedule, I’m going to go out there and try to win.”

The Browns got off to horrible start, and it went downhill from there. The Bears returned the opening kickoff 52 yards to start Chicago at the Browns 47, but the defense forced a three-and-out. The Bears then downed their first punt at the 1, and the play survived a Stefanski challenge.

“I felt like the player was on the line,” Stefanski said. “I wasn’t sure how that didn’t get overturned, and we were backed up inside the 1, which is a tough place to start in a game against a good football team.”

The Browns also drew two penalties on that backed-up drive, a false start and a 12-men on the field, and punted from their 7. The Bears started their second march at the Browns’ 42, and cashed in that time with a Swift TD run for a 7-0 lead. They doubled the lead to 14-0 in the first quarter on the first of two TD passes to Moore, who was singled up with Myles Harden in the end zone on a crossing route.

The Browns were without No. 1 cornerback Denzel Ward (calf), but didn’t get any sympathy from the Bears, who lost No. 1 receiver Rome Odunze shortly before kickoff to a foot injury that he aggravated in pre-game warmups.

It was a sloppy, mistake-filled performance by the Browns, just like most of their 11 losses this season. But Garrett and other team leaders will keep the effort high.

“You’re taking one game at a time,” Garrett said. “You don’t look at the record, look at the man beside you. It could be his last game. It could be his last game in the NFL, last game here. Could be your last game. Don’t go out with a whimper. Don’t go gently into the night. You keep on fighting and you want to be remembered for your very last play, your very last game, and you want to go out on the best note possible because that’s your legacy with your team, with your family, and for you personally.

“When you lay your head down at night, you want to be proud of something. So go make yourself proud, go make your family proud, go make your team proud.”

And if the Browns manage to at least play spoiler over the next few weeks, they’ll take that too.

Next

The Browns host the Bills on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Read the original article on cleveland.com.