Shedeur Sanders has taken his lumps so far. He’s completed only 52 percent of his passes, and the Bears got him for 3 interceptions on Sunday.
But Sanders at least has been able to connect on some long balls. He hooked up with Isaiah Bond on 42- and 47-yard haymakers in Chicago, and they connected on a 52-yard bomb earlier.
Harold Fannin and Dylan Sampson both have 2 catches over 30 yards with Sanders, but none in the team’s other games. Jerry Jeudy has 2 catches over 35 yards with Sanders, but none in the other 10 games.
Sanders in his four starts has connected on 10 passes for 30-plus yards. The Browns in their other 10 games had only 2 such plays (both with Joe Flacco at quarterback).
Cleveland started its other rookie, Dillon Gabriel, six times. He didn’t have any completions over 26 yards. With him at quarterback, the tendency was for the ball to come out a lot quicker – lots of short passes. He’s completed almost 60 percent of his passes, but without many chunk plays.
I’m not this will help much in the next game. Buffalo ranks No. 1 against the pass, and weather could be iffy. But the playing styles are definitely different.
| CLEVELAND PASS PLAYS OF 30-PLUS YARDS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Quarterback | Pass catcher | Yds |
| at Raiders | Shedeur Sanders | Dylan Sampson | 66 |
| Titans | Shedeur Sanders | Jerry Jeudy | 60 |
| Titans | Shedeur Sanders | Quinshon Judkins | 58 |
| at Raiders | Shedeur Sanders | Isaiah Bond | 52 |
| at Bears | Shedeur Sanders | Isaiah Bond | 47 |
| at Bears | Shedeur Sanders | Isaiah Bond | 42 |
| at Raiders | Shedeur Sanders | Jerry Jeudy | 39 |
| at Lions | Joe Flacco | Isaiah Bond | 35 |
| Titans | Shedeur Sanders | Harold Fannin | 35 |
| 49ers | Shedeur Sanders | Harold Fannin | 34 |
| at Lions | Joe Flacco | Jerry Jeudy | 33 |
| Titans | Shedeur Sanders | Dylan Sampson | 31 |
—Ian Allan