Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders made his first start of the 2026 season against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, completing 19 of 31 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-22 overtime loss. Sanders became the only quarterback this season to register multiple 60-yard completions and the first Browns quarterback since Jameis Winston in 2024 to throw for 250 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions in a game.
The contest featured 33 total points scored in the fourth quarter and overtime after the game was tied 6-6 entering the final period. Sanders was quiet through three quarters, going 7-of-12 for 100 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, but exploded for 12-of-19, 197 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Rookie receivers Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion starred for Cleveland. Boston caught six passes for a career-high 98 yards, while Concepcion recorded four catches for 85 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown — his first NFL score. The duo became the only rookie pair in the past 35 years to each record a 60-yard reception in the same game.
Trailing 16-13 late in the fourth quarter, Sanders led a 41-yard, seven-play drive to set up a 51-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt that forced overtime. The drive included a gritty 30-yard completion to Jerry Jeudy while Sanders absorbed a hit from Saints pass rusher Chase Young. In overtime, the Saints scored first on a 74-yard drive capped by Tyler Shough's touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson. Sanders answered with a 39-yard touchdown strike to Harold Fannin Jr., but the Browns' subsequent two-point conversion attempt — a pass to Boston — fell incomplete, sealing the loss and dropping Cleveland to 5-4.
CBS Sports analyst and former Steelers coach Bill Cowher advocated for Sanders to remain the starter. "Shedeur Sanders should be the starter for this football team. He's going to be the future, and I think what he showed today — his resilience — he continued to come back, he made great decisions, he extended plays. I love the way he played and I would move forward with Shedeur Sanders," Cowher said.
Head coach Todd Monken praised Sanders' maturity but noted the quarterback situation remains fluid. Deshaun Watson, who started the season 5-3 with five game-winning drives, has thrown for 300 yards in back-to-back games but with zero touchdowns. "I'm really proud of him and how hard he's worked since I've been here," Monken said of Sanders. "He wasn't perfect. I wasn't perfect. But for a guy that really hasn't taken snaps with the ones in 10 weeks ... to come in there and continue to battle. Really, really proud of him. He's really matured."
