With the NFL world setting its sights on the Buffalo Bills’ matchup with the Cleveland Browns, a weather delay is not what anyone expected. The good news is that the game is back underway, and with the Brown QB competition being such an interesting storyline going into the regular season, today is a big day for each player involved.
The starter for this game, Shedeur Sanders, has a golden opportunity to prove to the staff that he can be the starter moving forward.
Shedeur Sanders Throws Interception for Second Straight Game
After having an okay season last year, Sanders has a chance to become the starter in Cleveland moving forward. Also, with a new coaching staff that seems more supportive of the young QB, Sanders is in a perfect position to succeed in this league.
To start their Week 2 preseason game, Sanders was excellent, going 4 for 4 on his first drive and getting a touchdown. Although Sanders had this excellent start to the game, the second-year QB threw his first interception, with Damar Hamlin being the one to secure the turnover.
Following this play, the NFL fans on social media had their reactions:
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One account could not believe that this moment even happened and wrote, “Demar Hamlin just picked off Shedeur Sanders. Real sentence and a real thing that just happened.”
Another fan joked that Hamlin intercepting Sanders is the definition of preseason football: “Damar Hamlin picking off Shedeur Sanders is about to be a peak preseason headline lol.”
Damar Hamlin picking off Shedeur Sanders is about to be a peak preseason headline lol
— Clay Dennison (@545Clay) August 22, 2026
One Las Vegas Raiders fan pointed out that Hamlin’s interception was fairly easy because it was popped into the air: “Damar Hamlin just got gifted a pick.”
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A Denver Broncos fan humorously brought up the ever-present conspiracy theory that the NFL has scriptwriters, and how this interception was the perfect moment for preseason. The fan wrote, “NFL script writers cooking up Shedeur Sanders to Damar Hamlin interception in preseason to get the people talking.”
NFL script writers cooking up the Sheduer Sanders to Damar Hamlin interception in preseason to get the people talking pic.twitter.com/f18PPRJAop
— Gino Fornaro (@ginoliciousboss) August 22, 2026
One account posted the interception and claimed that it was not Sanders’ fault:
Damar Hamlin picks off Shedeur Sanders off a tipped pass.
Another one not his fault. pic.twitter.com/GBy66yq11P
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) August 22, 2026
One account, who is most definitely not a fan of Sanders, defended the young QB after the interception to Hamlin, “Damar Hamlin was in the right place at the right time for that pick. I talk a lot of (expletive) about (expletive) Sanders but that pick definitely wasn’t his fault…..”
Bills podcaster Alex Brasky brought up a point that this interception for Hamlin was important because the DB was at fault for a big gain earlier in the game, “Damar Hamlin responds with an interception. Huge play Big-time bounce back”.
Damar Hamlin responds with an interception. Huge play
Big-time bounce back pic.twitter.com/hSUNiZ5Qay https://t.co/W4CfFvCtvm
— alex brasky (@alexbrasky) August 22, 2026
Sanders did not have the best start to his career, and interceptions were an issue. Of course, in any QB’s season, some of those interceptions are going to be unlucky ones, but it’s still worrying when you look at the stats.
According to PFN’s QB Impact Metric, Sanders posted an impact score of 63.0 last season, ranking second-worst at his position. He also threw 10 interceptions in his rookie season, which is a big issue heading into year 2, and if Sanders wants to keep the job, he must fix that. But for today’s game, the one Sanders threw may have been unlucky.
