Shedeur Sanders Hits Rookie Wall in Browns' Blowout Loss to Bears
It was a tough afternoon in Chicago for Shedeur Sanders and the Cleveland Browns. The rookie quarterback endured a brutal outing in a 31-3 loss to the Bears, a game that underscored just how steep the NFL learning curve can be-even for a player with Sanders' pedigree and poise.
Sanders finished the day completing 18 of 35 passes for 177 yards, but the stat line that jumps off the page is the three interceptions and a passer rating of just 30.3. He was also sacked five times, and while not all of those were on him, the overall offensive execution left a lot to be desired.
Former NFL linebacker and current analyst Emmanuel Acho didn’t hold back in his assessment of Sanders’ performance. And frankly, it’s hard to argue with the tape.
“Shedeur Sanders was bad, bad, bad-rookie bad,” Acho said during a segment of Speakeasy. “The hard part when watching it is there were so many mistakes that Shedeur wouldn't have made at the collegiate level.”
That’s the heart of it. Sanders didn’t just look like a rookie-he looked like a rookie pressing, trying to make big plays instead of taking what the defense gave him. The NFL isn’t forgiving when it comes to decision-making, especially against a defense like Chicago’s, which has been opportunistic all season.
Acho pointed to one specific interception-thrown into a cover-three look and picked off by Chauncey Gardner-Johnson-as emblematic of the larger issue. “That’s first cover three.
It’s high-low,” he explained. “It was a very, very, very forgettable game.”
It’s a reminder that even high-IQ quarterbacks like Sanders, who thrived in college under pressure, need time to adjust to the speed, disguises, and complexity of NFL defenses. The throws that worked at Colorado don’t always translate on Sundays.
The loss drops Cleveland to 3-11 on the year and marks their third straight defeat. For Sanders, it’s another chapter in what’s been a rocky introduction to the league. There have been flashes-moments where you see the arm talent, the composure, and the leadership-but consistency has been elusive.
Acho made a broader point about the discourse surrounding Sanders, noting that the quarterback often gets either too much praise or too much criticism. “We unnecessarily praise Shedeur and we unnecessarily criticize Shedeur,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, it was awful. No other way to talk about it.”
That’s a fair take. Sanders is still developing, and games like this are part of the process.
The key is how he responds. Rookie quarterbacks are going to have rough outings-what separates the good ones is how they bounce back.
Next up for Sanders and the Browns? A home matchup against the Buffalo Bills. That’s no easy task, but it’s another opportunity for Sanders to show growth, tighten up the decision-making, and get back to playing within the structure of the offense.
The tools are there. The question now is how quickly he can learn from days like this and start stacking better performances. Because in the NFL, potential only gets you so far-eventually, it’s about production.