Shedeur Sanders needed one clean half in Chicago. He got 11 pass attempts, an interception on his final throw, and a quarterback competition that looks worse for him now than it did Friday.
Shedeur Sanders’ Browns Preseason Opener Deepened the Doubts
Sanders finished 6 of 11 for 79 yards with a pick in Cleveland’s 34-10 loss to the Bears on Saturday, his two longest completions covering 35 and 24 yards. Chicago cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr., a roster-bubble player who has bounced between practice squads since starting all 17 games for Pittsburgh in 2024, made the interception. It was the last play of Sanders’ afternoon.
“Shedeur Sanders was struggling against the Chicago Bears backup defense, and we’re expected to believe that he’s the franchise quarterback of the Cleveland Browns,” Jacob Infante said on PFSN’s Football Debate Club. “I’m just not buying it, man.”
The throw itself is what stuck with him. “That interception, he was under pressure, just completely collapsed and threw an absolute stinker of a ball.”
One preseason half wouldn’t matter much on its own, and Sanders had been sharp in the practices leading into it, which makes Saturday sting more rather than less. The problem is that it rhymes with everything else. Sanders went 3-4 as a starter in 2025, throwing for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His last trip to Soldier Field ended 18 of 35 for 177 yards with three picks and five sacks in a 31-3 December beatdown by this same Bears defense.
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“It’s frustrating because there’s potential there,” Infante said. “But at the same time, out of 38 qualified quarterbacks last season, Shedeur was 37th in PFSN QB Impact scoring. He’s the second-worst quarterback in the NFL by that metric.”
That’s PFSN’s number and it can’t be checked against public data, but the publicly available version tells a similar story. Sanders completed 57% of his passes as a rookie and posted an 18.9 QBR.
Deshaun Watson’s 126 Yards Don’t Settle the Browns’ QB Battle
Infante gave the day to the veteran. “Sanders looked thoroughly outperformed by Deshaun Watson in the Browns’ preseason opener in Week 1,” he said, “and Watson did so against players higher up on the Bears’ depth chart, including a handful of starters early on in that first drive.”
He’s likely right about that opening series, since teams often run a few starters out for one drive. Beyond it, the picture blurs. Ben Johnson sat Caleb Williams and most of his front-line players, so Watson spent the bulk of his half facing backups too.
Watson’s line reads well. He went 11 of 15 for 126 yards in his first game action since October 2024. Look closer and it thins out fast. Forty-three of those yards came on a single screen to Dylan Sampson. He didn’t complete a pass more than 10 yards downfield, averaging 4.4 air yards per attempt according to ESPN. He fumbled when a rusher got to his arm in the pocket.
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Then came the part Todd Monken had circled. The Browns coach said all week he wanted to see each quarterback run a two-minute drill. Cleveland got the ball near midfield after rookie corner Michael Coats Jr. picked off Tyson Bagent, and Watson’s offense generated one yard on four plays while Chicago pressured him on every snap.
The Browns scored 10 points and lost by 24 to a team that rested its stars.
