Browns lose to Titans despite 364 yards passing by Shedeur Sanders

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.

Instant takeaways from Browns’ 31-29 loss to Tennessee Titans … 

1. Lowest of the lows?: How did the Browns lose at home to the worst team in the NFL? They committed two turnovers on offense, had a punt blocked, yielded over 150 yards and two touchdowns to running back Tony Pollard, and then botched a potential game-tying 2-point play. In other words, a total team effort. The miscues resulted in 17 Tennessee points in the second half as the Titans tightened the race to the top of the draft order with a 31-29 victory over the Browns in cold, empty Huntington Bank Field. The Browns fell to 3-10. The Titans, who entered the day atop the draft order, are 2-11. The loss spoiled the most productive game of Shedeur Sanders’ three starts. The rookie QB almost completed a heroic comeback from a 14-point deficit with 6:11 left. Sanders scored a TD on a 7-yard run and then connected with Harold Fannin for a 7-yard TD with 1:03 to play. But the Browns’ 2-point try failed when Quinshon Judkins took the snap out of the Wildcat formation and apparently failed to lateral to Gage Larvadain coming from right to left. Judkins ended up tossing up the ball wildly. Sanders threw for 364 yards and two TD on 23 of 42 passing in outplaying Cam Ward (14 of 28, 117 yards, 1 TD). Myles Garrett recorded one sack of Ward to reach 20 on the season, 2.5 behind the official NFL single-season record.

2. Those turnovers: The Browns’ second turnover of the game was a killer. Dylan Sampson was running with a short pass from Sanders when he lost the ball on a big hit by cornerback Marcus Harris at the Browns’ 27. Linebacker Cedric Gray picked it up and rumbled 19 yards to the Browns’ 8. Three plays later, Ward connected from five yards with Chimere Dike, who beat cornerback Myles Harden to the end zone. Harden was filling in for Denzel Ward, who left earlier with a calf injury. The PAT made it 28-17, Titans with 9:29 to go.

3. On the cart: Center Ethan Pocic had to be carted off the field after suffering an injury to his left Achilles tendon on the first play of the fourth quarter. Luke Wypler replaced him. Pocic can be a free agent in March.

4. Oh, rats: For 13 ½ minutes, the third quarter was uneventful as both teams punted three times. The Browns were doing a good job of containing NFL-leading punt returner Chimere Dike with punts either out of bounds or close to it. But with 1:41 left in the quarter, Sanders made his first mistake. He moved out of the pocket to avoid pressure and then, instead of throwing away the ball, he heaved it off his back foot deep in the middle for Gage Larvadain. Two defenders were there and the ball was intercepted by safety Xavier Woods, who returned it 35 yards to the Browns’ 38. Tony Pollard ran for six yards, and then for 32 and the touchdown to put the Titans ahead, 21-17. At that point, Pollard had 152 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

5. Oh, Jerry: The long-awaited Sanders-to-Jerry Jeudy connection finally happened late in the second quarter. Sanders had to time for Jeudy complete his route crossing from left to the middle of the field. The ball was on the money 19 yards downfield and Jeudy took it from there, finishing off a 60-yard catch-and-run for the TD. Jeudy added a somersault over the goal line, which could have been costly if he’d lost control of the ball – but he didn’t. Jeudy and Sanders had a long embrace after the play. The TD completed Sanders’ best half of football. The Browns overacame a 14-3 deficit to take a 17-14 lead at halftime. After an opening three-and-out series ending in a sack, Sanders was 9 of 14 for 180 yards and two TDs for a 147.3 passer rating. Ward was 9 of 15 for 70 yards and took one sack by Myles Garrett.

6. Back-to-back explosives: Late in the first quarter with Tennessee up, 7-3, Titans running back Tony Pollard took a simple handoff on first down, scooted around the right edge, turned inside, played off a Van Jefferson block on Denzel Ward, then evaded Ward again, and took it to the house for a 65-yard TD run. The Browns’ response? On first down from their 40 following a touchback, Sanders waited for a screen pass to develop, just got it off to Quinshon Judkins, and Judkins took it 58 yards down the right sideline before getting caught from behind by safety Kevin Winston at the Titans' 2.

7. The longest yards: Then the adventure began. On first down from the 2, Judkins was stopped for a 2-yard loss. On second down from the 4, Malachi Corley made three yards on a jet sweep, but was pummeled and knocked out of the game with a concussion. On third down from the 1, Sanders delivered the ball to tightly covered David Njoku in the left corner for the TD. Njoku landed awkwardly on his left knee with cornerback Darrell Baker falling on him, however, and needed assistance leaving the field. Njoku returned to the sideline later in the second quarter.

8. Unspecial start: The Browns kicked off after deferring the coin toss win and it resulted in a 41-yard kickoff return by Chimere Dike to the Tennessee 47. That prime field position led to Tennessee’s first touchdown. The Browns responded with a three-and-out series and poor Corey Bojorquez punt to the Browns 46. More excellent field position for the Titans could have been costly, except …

9. Bush’s big plays: With the Titans at the Browns’ 24, linebacker Devin Bush broke up a pass intended for Elic Ayomanor. Then on third down, Ward went back to Ayomanor and Bush stepped in front to intercept the ball at the Browns’ 18. Bush returned it 45 yards to the Titans’ 39. And that resulted in a 38-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt. So Bush’s plays resulted in a six- or 10-point swing.

10. Oops: Punt returner Gage Larvadain, who muffed three punts and lost one on a fumble against the 49ers, muffed the first Tennessee punt and fell on it at the Browns’ 9 in the second quarter. Larvadain fielded Tennessee’s second punt and returned it nine yards.

11. Prime Time: Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime, was on the sideline in pre-game warm-ups. It was Prime’s second appearance at a Browns game in three starts made by son Shedeur. Prime attended Shedeur’s winning debut in Las Vegas three weeks ago.

12. Pre-game notes: With Teven Jenkins at right guard and KT Leveston at right tackle, the Browns fielded their eighth different starting offensive line in 13 games. There were no surprises on their inactive list: running back Rocket Sanders, guard Wyatt Teller, offensive tackle Jack Conklin, receiver Jamari Thrash, tight end Brenden Bates and defensive tackle Adin Huntington. Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was the surprise guest guitar smasher before the game. JOK is taking the year off after suffering a severe neck injury in 2024.