After the game, C.J. Gardner-Johnson made waves by saying the Bears ‘put Shedeur Sanders in his place.’ DH
So much for the people who thought Shedeur Sanders was going to outplay Caleb Williams.
While the Bears’ young passer carved the Browns defense up with ease in Week 15, Sanders looked like a man in a torture chamber. The fifth-round rookie, who was just named Cleveland’s starter for the rest of the season, just had the worst game of his NFL career by a long shot. In fact, it was one of the worst the NFL has seen all year.
Sanders’ 30.3 passer rating on Sunday was the sixth-lowest by any quarterback with at least 10 passes in a game this season, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Even if you’re right in saying one of his three interceptions should’ve been a touchdown pass to Jerry Jeudy that ended up an interception for Jaylon Johnson, his other two interceptions were squarely on him.
On top of that, Sanders was sacked five times and pressured on nearly half his dropbacks despite only being blitzed 21.4% of the time. While some of that lies at the feet of an injured offensive line, Sanders likely bears the brunt of it.
Resident instigator C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who swiped one of Sanders’ passes, couldn’t help but gloat a little after the game.
“It’s about time he ran into some problems,” he told reporters. “He’s a great young player. They’re a great young group that’s playing hard, physical. He’s just going against a lot of vets that have something to play for.
“Sometimes you gotta teach a rookie how to stay in a rookie’s place.”
Much has been made of Sanders’ outspoken nature, his father Deion’s unabashed support for him and his draft-day slide over the last few months. When you take the talking points out of it, Sanders has been bad outside of one huge game against the Tennessee Titans.
While the Browns’ coaching staff and overall dysfunction have done him few favors, his play certainly hasn’t helped quiet the noise from the doubters.
Maybe a new coaching staff will help him out. But as we’ve seen in Chicago for a long time, bad organizations ruin quarterbacks of all talent levels. And let’s just say Sanders has a long way to go before he’s guaranteed a place in the NFL.
One thing’s for sure: the Bears didn’t disappoint when it came to making life miserable for Sanders.
