For the Cleveland Browns, Week 2 in the NFL started on Sunday morning with reports from both national and local media suggesting that the team was planning to re-evaluate the quarterback situation after the game in Tampa Bay. Week 1 in Jacksonville had been a disaster for Deshaun Watson and the offense, and with Week 3 slated to be at home against the Panthers–and with Watson’s confrontational relationship with the city’s fans–it made sense for the Browns to seek an out and return the offense to Shedeur Sanders.
ESPN’s Ian Rapoport reported, with another report from Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot seconding, “While no firm decision has been made for Week 3, the belief is that the first two games would serve as a natural evaluation point. In other words, the Browns could use the return to Cleveland for their Week 3 home opener and a two-game sample size as the impetus for a quarterback change.
“Shedeur Sanders would be the next man up.”
Browns Get Top Game From Deshaun Watson
We know now what happened. If Watson was playing for his job in Week 2, he succeeded in keeping it, going 24-for-30 for 238 yards and two touchdowns in an upset win over ex-Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. It was among his best performances in his five snakebitten seasons in Cleveland, and his first win as a starter in a little more than two years.
Watson is in the final year of his five-year, $230 million contract, one of the great albatross deals in the league. He’s come back after missing almost two years with two Achilles tendon tears, and the fact that the Browns chose him over Sanders as this year’s QB1 was not a popular move.
But now, Watson has complicated things.
Don’t Bet on Shedeur Sanders Just Yet
He’s also left many with egg on their faces. After Rapoport’s report–and before it, even–the red-hot predictions rolled in suggesting Sanders was ready to take over in Week 3.
At CBS Sports, Tyler Sullivan wrote, “It wouldn’t shock me if Deshaun Watson is benched in-game vs. Bucs. … It’s the perfect storm for Todd Monken to make an in-game switch and have Shedeur Sanders come in as Watson watches from the bench.”
At ESPN, Seth Walder wrote before Week 2, “Browns backup QB Shedeur Sanders will throw a touchdown pass in this game. The Browns will finally come to their senses before the end of this game and will bench Watson. At that point it will be too late for Cleveland to win, but Sanders will at least manage a garbage-time score.”
And ESPN legend Linda Cohn said on her podcast, “Shedeur Sanders will start in Game 3 at home. You can bet on that. I give you permission.”
With apologies to those Browns fans who were eager to see Sanders sooner than later, that permission has been denied, or at least delayed.
Browns’ Shedeur Sanders Predictions Fizzle After Week 2 Win