Sportsnaut
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders made his first NFL start in Week 12, eclipsing the 200-yard mark with a touchdown and becoming the team’s first rookie to win their starting debut since 1995. So, what will we see on Sunday versus the San Francisco 49ers?
With Sanders confirmed to be the Browns starting quarteback for Week 13, it’s time for a new set of NFL predictions ahead of his upcoming game. Let’s dive into our four predictions for his first home start.
In his first appearance in a regular-season game, Sanders was sacked twice by the Baltimore Ravens. He looked like the same quarterback in college, holding onto the football too long and taking unnecessary sacks for a significant loss of yardage. This past Sunday, however, he was only sacked once on 21 dropbacks. We think a similar outcome could happen on Sunday in Cleveland.
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The Browns offensive line is abysmal, allowing the second-highest pressure rate (41.6 percent) this season. Sanders didn’t even necessarily get the football out super quickly in Week 12, with an average time to throw of 3.00 seconds (22nd in NFL). Las Vegas just couldn’t mount much of a pass rush (5 pressures). Set to face an injury-depleted 49ers defensive front that has just 4 sacks in the last 5 games, Sanders will only get taken down for one sack on Sunday.
For all of the things that Sanders has done well through his first two games, protecting the football isn’t one of them. He threw interceptions against Baltimore and Las Vegas, both of which were decisions that shouldn’t have been made. Entering Week 13, per PFF, he leads the NFL in Turnover-Worthy Play rate (8.9 percent) over the last two games.
While 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh might not have much of a pass rush to work with, he does have more faith in this secondary. One reason for that is San Francisco’s defense has 4 interceptions in the last two games and a 3 percent interception rate in the last four contests. Sanders will get picked off on Sunday.
The Browns defense truly carried the team to that victory in Las Vegas, with Myles Garrett almost doing it by himself. That’s not as much a knock on Sanders as it is on both rosters that took the field in Week 12. Circumstances will be different in Cleveland on Sunday. San Francisco can attack this defense with Christian McCaffrey – Browns allow 110.4 scrimmage yards per game to running backs – and George Kittle (48 receiving yards per game to tight ends). All the 49ers might need is 20 points against a Browns offense that had the lowest Success Rate in the NFL (26 percent) last week.
