Shedeur Sanders was unable to lead the Cleveland Browns to a win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, despite the offense having a chance to put together a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter. Cleveland got the ball on its 12-yard line, down three, with 2:53 left in the game. Sanders made an impressive 11-yard pass to start the drive, then disaster quickly unfolded.
On the very next play, the rookie quarterback was sacked for a loss of eight yards. A play after that, Sanders retreated to the 1-yard line, and threw the ball away as he was being wrestled to the ground. He was penalized for intentional grounding, essentially ending the drive, as he threw a third-down incompletion on the next play.
Following the game, the rookie quarterback gave a very in-depth breakdown of the intentional grounding play, that showed how much he is getting the picture, despite the ugly outcome. Speaking about his willingness to utilize his checkdown option on Sunday, Sanders explained that he didn’t check the ball down on the intentional grounding play, because the Browns had the coverage they wanted on that play.
The rookie quarterback was preparing to throw a dagger route against the Bills’ Tampa 2 coverage, but he said the inside linebacker peeled off the vertical route at the very last second to jump the dagger. Taking that option away from Sanders, the rookie said he ran out of time, as the pressure kept him from getting to his check down.
"It's really just building off last week. It's building off getting to the checkdowns, when you see it, pull it, take it, playing in rhythm. All of those different things." #Browns QB Shedeur Sanders on needing to play more consistent and explaining what he's seeing in defenses pic.twitter.com/zjYfpyn6NV
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) December 21, 2025
Shedeur Sanders breaks down what went wrong on intentional grounding play
While the play was ultimately a costly moment that essentially ended Cleveland’s chances of winning the game, Sanders’ breakdown of the moment shows how much he’s seeing the game, and how much he’s quickly growing.
“I respect their defense. I respect their coaching," Sander said of the Bills. "In those situations, it’s like, you’ve gotta tip your cap to them. That’s the whole ‘why?’ Because that was the ideal coverage you would want a dagger (route) in. Anything else, and we would have gotten to the check-down; we would’ve gotten there quicker. But that’s the ‘why’ of, you didn’t just take that quick completion, because it was there... but that’s just good coaching.”
An argument can be made that the rookie still could have gotten to his check down, even with the pressure in his face, and Sanders even said he’ll be able to move through things quicker as he continues to develop.
Ultimately, the quarterback played another game that showed exactly what he is: a talented rookie who’s developing. Sanders completed 20-of-29 passes for 157 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions that came off deflections. The quarterback also led the Browns in rushing for a third straight game, picking up 49 yards on four carries.
Sanders now has two more games to continue his development for his rookie season, before the franchise has to make a decision on his future with the team.