Well, well, well. The battle for the starting quarterback job of the Cleveland Browns was believed to be an afterthought. Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders have been battling for the No. 1 job in training camp and the preseason, and many believed Watson would be taking the reins of the offense in Week 1.
As former College Gameday personality Lee Corso would famously say, “Not so fast, my friend!” Sanders made the start in Saturday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, and he clouded the picture quite a bit for first-year head coach Todd Monken.
Shedeur Sanders Shows Off Tremendous Accuracy
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Many fans of Sanders, or detractors of Watson, felt that the deck was stacked against the former University of Colorado standout. Sanders was making his first start of the preseason, after Watson started and shined in the exhibition opener against the Chicago Bears last weekend. Yes, Sanders was to start, but most of the veterans were held out of the game, leaving him with few top skill position players at his disposal.
It didn’t matter. Sanders completed nine of his 11 pass attempts for 67 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while running once for two yards. The Browns fell behind 7-0 after a lengthy opening drive by the Bills, which included a nearly hour-long lightning delay. Instead of letting the lack of stars, and Mother Nature, work against him, Sanders put on a show.
Sanders led the Browns on an 11-play, 65-yard touchdown drive, taking up 6:36, as Cleveland answered right back. He had a dart on fourth down at the Buffalo 41-yard line, connecting with tight end Blake Whiteheart for a 16-yard gain to move the chains. He also had a nice 11-yard gainer to Ahmani Marshall to get the team into the red zone. The drive culminated with an 8-yard scoring hookup with Luke Floriea.
Sanders finished that opening drive 4-of-4 passing for 43 yards and a TD, while his only rushing attempt also came in the first drive.
While we discussed the good, we also have to mentioned that Sanders had a short pass over the middle picked off by Damar Hamlin to stymie his third drive of the game. However, Sanders did have the Browns marching deep into Bills territory prior to the miscue.
And, while the game is still not over yet, Watson had a bad interception on an overthrow late in the third quarter. So, this race, which was believed to be decided, might not be done just yet.
