The Shedeur Sanders experience hit its fifth week in Week 15 after the rookie took over for fellow rookie QB Dillon Gabriel in Week 11 in the second half. While he won his first start, the experience has been quite the rollercoaster with the rookie hitting highs and lows through a 1-3 stretch as a starter.
Here’s a look at how the former Colorado quarterback fared against the Chicago Bears in Week 15.
How Did Cleveland Browns Rookie QB Shedeur Sanders Play in Week 15?
After a nice outing against the Tennessee Titans in Week 14, Sanders struggled to get much going against a stout Bears defense in Week 15. The offense struggled, failing to reach the end zone as they managed to score only three points.
Despite keeping it close in the first half, facing a 14-0 deficit heading into the locker room, the wheels fell off in the second half as the Bears scored 17 points, and they cruised to a 31-3 win. Sanders completed just 18 of 35 passes for 177 yards and three interceptions. He was also knocked around by the Bears’ defense, getting sacked five times.
Shedeur Sanders vs the Bears:
18/35
177 yards
0 TDs
3 INTs
5 sacksHow would you grade his day? pic.twitter.com/i6HECKVL2D
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) December 14, 2025
His second interception was tough to swallow, though. After scoring their only points of the day in the third quarter, the Browns’ defense held the Bears to a three-and-out. With a chance to get back into the game, the Browns took over at their own 17-yard line.
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On the first play, Sanders targeted tight end Harold Fannin Jr., but the pass was deflected and caught by Bears linebacker D’Marco Jackson.
Picked by @DMarcojackson20 ‼️
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/0D4K3ZBHAY
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 14, 2025
Despite struggling for most of the day, there were some bright spots, such as this beautiful arching bomb to fellow streaking rookie WR Isaiah Bond for 47 yards.
Shedeur floats it up there beautifully for Isaiah Bond
CLEvsCHI on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/z6XSuMhAEn
— NFL (@NFL) December 14, 2025
The struggles aren’t surprising as the Browns rank last in PFSN’s Offense Impact metric with a score of 54.1.
Despite a challenging start for both signal callers, Sanders has performed better than fellow Browns rookie Gabriel in PFSN’s QB Impact metric, scoring a 66.6 compared to Gabriel’s 51.4.
However, while Sanders has scored higher, he still sits outside the top 32 quarterbacks, ranking 36th. It’s clear that Cleveland still has a lot of work to do to improve this offense in the upcoming offseason.
