The Cleveland Browns shook up the AFC North with their 13-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
The Steelers had the chance to clinch the AFC North by beating the Browns, but will now host the Ravens this week in a winner-takes-all game for the division title.
It was also another game in which Shedeur Sanders impressed as he completed 17 of 23 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown.
However, head coach Kevin Stefanski was keen to remind reporters that the fifth-round draft pick still has a lot to prove, as he mentioned Sanders’ two interceptions in the game when asked about his performance.
“Proud of him. There’s always things he can clean up,” Stefanski said.
“We got a little unlucky on that first interception. We can certainly learn from the second one, and he will. But yeah, he continued to battle.”
To be fair to Stefanski, Shedeur’s second interception proved costly as it changed the momentum of the game.
It came in the fourth quarter, facing second-and-five at the Browns’ 49-yard line, Sanders was pressured by linebacker Malik Harrison.
The rookie then lofted a pass towards reciever Jerry Jeudy, but Steelers’ safety Kyle Dugger jumped the route and intercepted the pass.
The Browns were under pressure from that point, but they held on to see out the win and snap their four-game losing streak.
“He got a win, so that’s great for the young man. He gets to beat Pittsburgh, a division rival. Wins in this division are never easy. Proud of him for that,” Stefanski added of Sanders.
However, fans took issues with Stefanski’s response, noting his apparent reluctance to called Shedeur by his name.
“Why is it so hard for this man to give him his flowers?” said one fan.
“Gee, the ‘enthusiasm’ for Shedeur Sanders just rolls off the tongue,” wrote another.
“Dude just hates talking about Sanders man. He really giving everyone the ammo,” a third added.
“This ‘coach’ would rather choke on his words than give an ounce of credit to Shedeur for playing well. We saw you play Shedeur, and we can read between the lines. Chin up, we believe,” a fourth commented.
“The ‘young man’. His name is Shedeur,” a fifth replied.
The 4-12 Cleveland have now eclipsed their win total from last season.
“It feels great. They’re our rival, we always want to beat them, doesn’t matter the circumstances,” Myles Garrett, who will have to wait another week to break the single-season sack record, said.
“So glad to have the opportunity to do it and get the job done.”
Meanwhile, the Steelers now face a must-win season finale against the Ravens to claim their first AFC North title since 2020.
“I have full confidence we’ll go home and win next week,” said Aaron Rodgers, who was 21 of 39 passing for 168 yards, and was also full of praise for Sanders ahead of the game.
Sanders jokes about accepting gifts
After the game, Sanders appeared to be in a good mood as he joked about accepting gifts after his home was robbed.
“I don’t get much for Christmas. If anybody out there wants to send me gifts: clothes, jewellery,” he told reporters.
“All my bags got stolen when my house got robbed”
Approximately $200k was in property that was stolen from Sanders during a break-in that occurred in November.
It happened while Sanders was making his long-awaited NFL debut against the Ravens.
In the last 18 months, several high-profile athletes have been robbed, such asLos Angeles Lakers starLuka Doncic, when he was with the Dallas Mavericks, Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow, and the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
