The Cleveland Browns (3-9) couldn't get out of their own way in a 26-8 home loss against the San Francisco 49ers (9-4) in quarterback Shedeur Sanders' second career start.
San Francisco struggled to sustain drives, but a 66-yard punt return by the 49ers' Skyy Moore down to the Browns' 16-yard line was enough to help get the team into the end zone in the first quarter. Christian McCaffrey, the league's scrimmage yards leader this season, accounted for all 16 yards on his squad's lone first-half touchdown drive (12 receiving and 4 rushing), including his one-yard touchdown plunge on third-and-goal. They took a 10-8 lead into the halftime locker room.
In the second half, fumbles by rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. and rookie punt returner Gage Larvadain allowed the 49ers to start drives at the Browns' 32 and 18 respectively. Both of those San Francisco drives ended in touchdowns: a two-yard, read-option rushing touchdown by quarterback Brock Purdy, for his first rushing touchdown of the season, and a seven-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to wide receiver Jauan Jennings on a third-and-goal play in the fourth quarter. Those three scores ballooned the 49ers' lead from 10-8 to 26-8 in the second half. A failed 49ers' two-point conversion after the Jennings touchdown is why the score was 26-8 instead of 27-8.
Purdy finished the game with 168 yards passing and a passing touchdown on 16 of 29 passing. McCaffrey chipped in 74 yards from scrimmage in the victory -- 53 yards rushing and a touchdown on 20 carries and 21 yards receiving on 4 catches. The 49ers' longest touchdown drive of the day traversed just 32 yards.
Sanders had the misfortune of playing most of the second half in must-pass situations thanks to the aforementioned ball security issues of his teammates. That allowed San Francisco to pin their ears back and sack him three times. Two came from former top-five pick edge Clelin Ferrell with the third by former second-round pick edge rusher Keion White.
Cleveland held a brief lead in the game late in the first half. With 46 seconds left in the opening half, Sanders stepped up in the pocket and threw a high-arching spiral to third-round rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. after he sprang himself wide open on a wheel route. After a 12-men-on-the-field penalty on the ensuing extra point, Cleveland attempted a two-point conversion from the 1-yard line. The Browns lined up running back Quinshon Judkins as the wildcat quarterback, and he took a direct snap out of the shotgun to piledrive his way across the line and into the end zone. That gave the Browns a brief 8-7, but the 49ers ended the half with a 25-yard field goal to go up 10-8 as time expired in the second quarter.
Sanders completed 16 of his 25 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown while taking three sacks Sunday afternoon. Edge rusher Myles Garrett added to his league-leading sacks total with one, to go up to 19.0 on the year. He now has the most sacks in a team's first 12 games of season since sacks became an officially tracked individual statistic in 1982, breaking the record of 18.5 set in 1984 by New York Jets edge rusher Mark Gastineau.
Both of the fumbles by the Browns were by rookies in Fannin Jr. and Larvadain, and both of those plays led to 14 points for the 49ers. Sanders and Cleveland at large could have played in a much more competitive game from start to finish, but fumbles in key spots -- a fourth down in their own end by Fannin Jr. and on a punt return in their own end by Larvadain — derailed all hope for a Browns history.
Cleveland's Myles Garrett-led defense entered Week 13 ranking as a top five unit in nearly every defense metric like total defense, pass defense, sacks, third down defense and yards per play. However, Purdy did a strong job evading Cleveland's ferocious pass rush and turnover-generating unit, only getting sacked one time total by Garrett and playing turnover-free football. There aren't many quarterbacks in the NFL who have walked away from a game against the Browns who can say that this season. There have been clear concerns about Purdy and his mobility given the turf toe issue, but between the read option touchdown and only being sacked one time, it's clear he's good to go for the stretch run of the regular season.
Yes, Garrett chose to sign a four-year, $160 million contract extension with $88.8 million fully guaranteed this past offseason. It's hard to fault any person playing the violent game that is NFL football for a living for doing so, but it's depressing to see an all-time prime like Garrett's going by the wayside in another year that will end with Cleveland picking in the top 10 of the 2026 NFL Draft. His pressure kept the 49ers on their heels much of the day when the Browns' offense or special teams wasn't gifting San Francisco primo field position. It's too bad his impact won't be felt anywhere near the postseason.
Myles Garrett and Cleveland's top five defense can only do so much with the 49ers' consistently strong starting field position. San Francisco leads 26-8 with 4:09 left to play.
Cleveland had to go for it at the 49ers 48, but the Browns just couldn't overcome their self-inflicted wounds.
Cleveland subs third-round rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel into the game.
Purdy hit Jennings on an in-breaking route in the middle of the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown on third-and-goal. Jennings made a great contested catch, and San Francisco now has some breathing room, up 23-8 with 11:05 left to play.
After Myles Garrett sacked Brock Purdy for the first time on third-and-4, Cleveland gives the football right back to San Francisco. Rookie punt returner Gage Larvadain muffed the punt, and the 49ers recovered to start their next drive at the Cleveland 18. San Francisco leads 17-8 with 13:35 left to play.
After two runs by Christian McCaffrey couldn't penetrate the Browns defense near the goal line, quarterback Brock Purdy took things into his own hands. He pulled the football on read option run out of the shotgun, which allowed him to scamper into the end zone untouched for a two-yard touchdown. Purdy's first rushing touchdown of the season gives the 49ers a nine-point lead, 17-8, with 1:29 left in the third quarter. The scoring drive was aided by a fumble by tight end Harold Fannin Jr. on a direct snap run on fourth-and-1 on the Browns' own 32.
Both the 49ers and the Browns continue to battle the elements of the opposing defense and the wind early in the second half.
A second down run by Quinshon Judkins and a third-down incompletion from Shedeur Sanders to Harold Fannin Jr. results in a Browns punt. San Francisco readies for their first drive of the second half up 10-8 with 12:11 left in the third quarter.
Sanders ripped a perfect pass to third-round rookie tight end Harold Fannin on a wheel route down the left sideline for a 34-yard scoring strike. After a 12-men-on-the-field penalty on the ensuing extra point, Cleveland accepted the penalty to go for two from the one. The Browns lined up running back Quinshon Judkins as the Wildcat QB, and he took a direct snap out of the shotgun and piledrove his way across the line and into the end zone for two. Cleveland leads 8-7 with 39 seconds left in the first half.
The 49ers' drive chart thus far: punt, TD, punt, punt. The Browns' drive chart so far: punt, turnover on downs, punt. Cleveland leads the game in total yards (87 to 76), but San Francisco leads on the scoreboard 7-0 after a 66-yard punt return by Skyy Moore set up a one-yard touchdown run by Christian McCaffrey. Shedeur Sanders and Cleveland take over at their own 10 with 6:21 left in the first half.
The 49ers entered Week 13 with 13 team sacks, the lowest figure in the league. However, former first-round pick edge rusher Clelin Ferrrell blew through the interior of Cleveland's offensive line to drag Shedeur Sanders to the ground on third-and-10 to force a punt. Sanders' slight hesitation going through his reads also contributed to his takedown. San Francisco takes over at their own 20 after a touchback on the Browns' punt. The 49ers lead 7-0 with 12:24 left in the first half.
Cleveland head coach and offensive playcaller Kevin Stefanski opted to bring in extra offensive linemen for a fourth-and-1 at the San Francisco 20. He didn't go with anything creative, running Quinshon Judkins up the middle, and the 49ers were able to stonewall him for a loss of one. San Francisco takes over on downs at their own 21 up 7-0 with 2:59 left to play in the first quarter.
Following the 66-yard punt return by Skyy Moore, the 49ers put the football exclusively in the hands of their bell cow back. McCaffrey totaled 4 yards rushing and 12 yards receiving on the drive, including the one-yard touchdown plunge on third-and-goal. The 49ers lead 7-0 with 8:12 left in the opening quarter in Cleveland.
After both teams punted on their opening drives, San Francisco got into the red zone thanks to their special teams
Shedeur Sanders became the first Browns quarterback to win his first career since 1995, snapping a 17-game streak of Browns quarterbacks losing their first career start -- the longest such streak by any team since at least 1950, per CBS Sports Research. He'll aim to be the first Cleveland rookie to win their first two career starts on Sunday. He threw for 209 yards passing, one touchdowns and one interception on 11 of 20 passing in the victory at the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12.
Garrett leads the NFL with 18.0 sacks, his single-season career-high and the Browns' franchise record. That puts him on pace for 27.5 sacks, five more than the NFL's single-season record of 22.5 held by Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro edge rusher T.J. Watt. Garrett also has 13.0 sacks in the last four games, which is the same amount of sacks that the 49ers have all season.
McCaffrey is the third player all-time with over 750 yards rushing and 750 yards receiving through 12 games, joining Roger Craig (1985) and Marshall Faulk (1998). He has the most games with over 100 yards from scrimmage (10) in the first 12 games of a season in 49ers history in 2025. McCaffrey also leads the NFL in both touches (298) and scrimmage yards (1,581) this season.
Brock Purdy is still seeking to find his rhythm after returning from a turf toe injury. He's thrown eight touchdowns to seven interceptions in four starts this season, including multiple picks in three of his four starts. Throwing deep has been a noticeable struggle for Purdy in 2025 as he has one touchdown to seven interceptions on throws of 15 or more yards downfield this season. However, he has thrown seven touchdowns and no interceptions on all other throws.
The 49ers have an 81.1% chance of making the playoffs according to CBS' Sportsline model entering Week 13. They're currently 8-4 and the No. 7 seed in the NFC. The 2025 season is their fourth 8-4 start or better under head coach Kyle Shanahan along with 2019, 2022 and 2023. San Francisco reached the NFC championship game in the three previous instances.
