The Cleveland Browns couldn’t get the job done on Sunday. Shedeur Sanders looked very much like a rookie in the loss to the Chicago Bears, and the Bears made sure to make a statement.
Ben Johnson’s team kept the rookie quarterback on his toes on almost every dropback. And while the Browns’ decimated offensive line did its best to keep him out of harm’s way, it was ultimately too much to deal with. As pointed out by ESPN insider Daniel Oyefusi, the Bears took it upon themselves to pressure Sanders a lot.
In fact, they went away from everything they’ve done on defense just to stop the Browns’ rookie:
“Sanders has been pressured on 46% of his dropbacks this season, which would be the highest a QB has faced in a season since ESPN began tracking it in 2009 (43% by Deshaun Watson in 2018 is the highest among qualified QB in that time),” Oyefusi posted on X.
Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen isn’t known for putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback. That goes to show that other teams have been watching tape on Sanders.
Of course, he’s a first-year player just making his fourth career start, and the offensive line should be better if he’s back as the starter next season. There will be growing pains and an adjustment period for Sanders, just like what happens with all rookies.
This shouldn’t discourage the fans or make the team change their plans and their vision around their rookie signal caller.
It wasn’t pretty, and he clearly still has plenty of work to do.
That being said, all quarterbacks need these baptisms by fire to get better.
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