The Cleveland Browns' 23-16 loss to the rival Baltimore Ravens felt worse than most Week 11 defeats. Not only did Sanders fail to score any points, but he went 4-16 passing for just 47 yards (most of which came on a pass to a comedically wide-open Harold Fannin Jr.) while throwing an interception and getting sacked twice.
While this isn't the death knell for Sanders' career as a player by any means, it is disappointing for fans who were hoping he could immediately change their fortunes when compared to Dillon Gabriel. To give Sanders credit, he spared no expense in holding himself accountable.
Sanders took the blame for this poor performance, which is exactly what one wants to see from a leader at the quarterback position. However, Sanders did make the coaching staff know that he would have liked to get a bit more familiar with some of his top pass-catching targets at practice.
Sanders did say that he threw his "first ball" to some of the Browns' more prominent skill position players. With an underprepared quarterback going behind a poor offensive line and missing the chances he was given with inaccurate throws, it's safe to say that Sanders' Cleveland debut could have gone better.
Shedeur Sanders gets honest after struggles in Browns debut
Both sides of the Shedeur debate got more ammunition here. Those who claim that he is the second coming of quarterback play (often in the face of logic) will point to the Browns' terrible offensive line, suspect offensive coaching staff, and inability to get Sanders reps with the starters as the main reasons he was as bad as he was.
On the other hand. those who never thought Sanders was going to be a particularly good quarterback can look at a player who was inaccurate on shorter passes, held the ball far too long on multiple occasions, and failed to lead the team to any points as the main reason Cleveland lost.
The truth lies somewhere in the middle, in all likelihood. Sanders may not have been as sharp as he should have been, and he is getting crushed behind the league's worst offensive line, but completing one out of every four passes with a turnover and zero scoring drives is bad, irrespective of the surrounding circumstances.
Sanders may get a chance to right his wrongs with a full week of prep against the Las Vegas Raiders if Gabriel is unable to pass concussion protocol, but he certainly had a debut to forget.