There aren’t many winnable games remaining on the Cleveland Browns’ schedule, but Sunday at Tennessee is definitely one of them.
The Browns head to Nashville hoping to make it two wins in three starts for rookie Shedeur Sanders, who should have a chance to make some plays against a Titans team that ranks 30th in the NFL in EPA per pass attempt, per Sumer Sports.
He’ll also have some extra motivation, going opposite Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick who was taken 143 spots ahead of Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft.
This feels like a good time for Kevin Stefanski and company to open things up offensively, after they took the air out of the football in last week’s loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers. It was a cold and windy afternoon at Huntington Bank Stadium, but Sanders only attempted 18 passes over the Browns’ first eight possessions of the game.
The Titans traded cornerback Roger McCreary before last month’s deadline, and could be even thinner than usual in the secondary for Week 14. Fourth-year pro Jalyn Armour-Davis missed Wednesday’s practice with an Achilles injury. Sixth-round rookie Marcus Harris has been playing full time on defense since Week 11, and that figures to continue Sunday with veterans Samuel Womack III and Darrell Baker Jr. also in the mix.
There should be plays to be had for Sanders, who has touchdown passes of 66 and 34 yards over his first two starts. He needs to be better, though, at getting the ball out quicker and feeling when to leave the pocket.
Shedeur Sanders’ playmaking ability has been a double-edged sword through first two starts for the Browns
When asked about facing Sanders, Titans interim head coach Mike McCoy immediately pointed to the rookie’s ability to extend plays and hit the defense with a crushing blow down the field. That will be a point of emphasis this week for Tennessee, which will have its hands full with sack machine Myles Garrett and Jim Schwartz’s defense.
“A very talented player,” McCoy said of Sainders. “Like a lot of the other young players, there’s gonna be the good and the bad, and I think the one thing I’ve seen him do is, when he gets outside the pocket, the explosive plays that he can make. So that’s a tribute to him, to always knowing where everybody is on the field when he gets out of the pocket making plays. But he’s done a nice job. I think each week, as a young player, you get better the more experience that you get.”
The Browns are clearly working on Sanders’ footwork in the pocket and his propensity to drift backwards. One of his worst reps from the 49ers game was a 13-yard sack on third down that pushed Cleveland out of field goal range.
Shedeur Sanders: “Sometimes, I look for the big play, ya know? And I do that when I feel like I’m pressing, when I feel like we need to get a spark … So that’s something I review within myself and I know in those situations, I can’t do that at certain times.”
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) December 3, 2025
The field vision and ability to extend plays and make things happen is an obvious reason for Browns fans to believe in their young quarterback. The next step is to harness some of that energy, manipulate the pocket, and find a rhythm in the passing game that keeps offensive coordinator Tommy Rees coming back for more.