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Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward were seen as two of the best quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft class during their last season in college, which is why it's fitting they're in the 2025 season's first rookie quarterback vs. rookie quarterback showdown.

Ward's Titans improved to 2-11 following their 31-29 victory over Sanders' 3-10 Browns thanks to Ward being bolstered by some help from running back Tony Pollard, who ran for 161 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Ward finished with 117 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 14-of-28 passing for the first multi-touchdown pass outing of his young career. Sanders produced a career-best performance: 364 yards passing, three touchdowns and an interception on 23-of-42 passing in addition to a team-high 29 yards rushing and touchdown on three carries.

Sanders joined the Bengals' Joe Burrow as the only rookie quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) with over 350 yards passing, three passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the same game, per NFL Media. He's also the first Browns QB to pull off those stats.

Numbers don't always tell the entire story when it comes to player production, especially with quarterbacks, so here's a start-to-finish look at the highlights and lowlights from both Sanders' and Ward's outings in Week 14. 

Shedeur Sanders

  • Stats: 364 yards passing, three touchdowns, one interception on 23-of-42 passing, sacked twice; 29 yards rushing, one touchdown on three carries
  • Draft status: Fifth-rounder out of Colorado, pick No. 144

The overall takeaway from Sanders' Sunday performance is that when he had time to throw against the Titans, he found some success -- outside of a boneheaded decision that resulted in an interception. Sanders joined Aaron Rodgers as the only quarterbacks in the 21st century with four completions of 50 or more yards in their first three career starts, according to NFL Media, after his 60-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.

Sanders hit a nice, in-rhythm throw to rookie third-round pick tight end Harold Fannin Jr. on an angle route for 17 yards up the seam to get Cleveland's second drive going and down to the Titans' 22. That play came following Browns linebacker Devin Bush returning Ward's interception to the Tennessee 39. However, the drive stalled out the next third down, third-and-7, after Sanders had to throw the ball away with all his options covered. Cleveland settled for a 38-yard field goal to make the score 7-3 Titans with 1:42 left in the opening quarter. 

Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski took a page out of Tennessee's playbook from the Titans' first third-down attempt and drew up a running back screen, albeit with an added play-action component, to Judkins to get the ball out of Sanders' hands in a hurry. Sanders still got dragged down to the ground on the play, but Judkins got the ball down to the 2 following a 58-yard catch-and-run. 

Sanders capped that drive with a strong touch pass to tight end David Njoku in the back, left corner of the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown on third-and-goal. That was a legit NFL throw on that touchdown.

On a second-and-10 from his own 37 with 9:11 left in the half, Sanders produced a nice, 8-yard scramble. That set up a third-down conversion on a 3-yard run from running back Dylan Sampson. Sanders did take an intentional grounding penalty after the Titans blew up a tight end screen to Fannin that resulted in him throwing it at his offensive linemen's feet, but he and Fannin nearly made up for it with an 18-yard catch-and-run down the right sideline on third-and-20. The Browns ended up punting.  

Sanders and Jeudy were perfectly in sync on a crossing route over the middle that resulted in a 60-yard touchdown with 2:47 left in the first half. As soon as Jeudy shed his man, the football was there on time to hit him in stride. All Jeudy had to do was cutback and then he was off to the race to give Cleveland a 17-14 lead. This was far and away Sanders' best throw of the day. 

He hit Fannin down the right sideline with a touch throw in stride to beat man coverage for a gain of 35 on second-and-10 play from his own 20. Sanders layered the football just right, which put the ball right into Fannin's awaiting arms for the big play. 

However, Sanders put too much dip on his chip two throws later, which resulted in an interception. Simmons and others collapsed his pocket, and instead of throwing the ball away or checking it down, he threw the ball to a target over the middle with two Titans lurking. The result was an overthrow, and Tennessee veteran safety Xavier Woods made the play on the ball for the pick. He returned the ball down to the Browns' 38, and two plays later, Pollard scampered into the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown to put Tennessee back in front, 21-17, with 51 seconds left in the third quarter. 

That's a throw that probably resulted in a crazy, highlight-reel catch for 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter when Sanders was in college, but decision-making like that won't fly in the NFL.

Sanders' 7-yard rushing touchdown looked like he was back at Colorado: he had all day to survey, bobbed and weaved around defensive linemen and then accelerated up field to dive into the end zone. Those are the types of improvisational plays that leave a coach screaming "No, no, YES!" 

He slightly underthrew Fannin on his 7-yard passing touchdown pass with 1:03 left to play, but the tight end made a fantastic contested catch to get Cleveland within two, 31-29. Stefanski left Sanders on the sideline for the two-point try, and running back Quinshon Judkins' foray as the Wildcat quarterback resulted in an incomplete pass.

Cam Ward

  • Stats: 117 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception on 14-of-28 passing, sacked once by Myles Garrett
  • Draft status: First-rounder out of Miami, pick No. 1

Through the first 13 weeks of the 2025 season, Ward averaged the fifth-longest average time to throw in the NFL, 3.12 seconds. On the opening drive, Tennessee was determined to change that, scheming up quick throws for Ward. The first third down he faced, a third-and-10 at the Tennessee 47, Ward hit running back Tyjae Spears on a screen that completely diffused Cleveland's pass rush. Spears ripped off a 24-yard gain on the play.

Even the "deeper" throw on the opening drive involved Ward getting the ball out of his hands relatively quickly. Tennessee ran an under center, play-action pass play in which they max-protected, including Pollard staying in to block. That led to Ward decisively hitting fourth-round rookie wide receiver Elic Ayomanor for a 14-yard touchdown, the Titans' first opening drive TD of the 2025 season. Early on, it's clear the Titans came in with a plan to get the ball out of Ward's hands quickly and give him plenty of help in pass protection. That worked early. 

The Titans marched down to the Browns' 24 with a chance to put Cleveland in a two-score hole early, but the Browns defense ate Ward's lunch. The rookie stared down the slant to Ayomanor, and veteran linebacker Devin Bush sat on the route to intercept the football. 

Ward missed rookie tight end Gunnar Helm on a quick, play-action pass to the flat on an errant throw that could have been made on a second-and-6 at the 50 with 11:57 left in the first half. The ensuing pass on third down was even more regrettable. Cleveland brought the house, but Tennessee blocked up the blitz just long enough for Ward to get a throw off to rookie wide receiver Chimere Dike, who was wide open over the center-right portion of the field. However, Ward was unable to fully set his feet, which caused the ball to sail for an incomplete pass. A completion there could have been a game-changing play, but instead, it went down as a missed opportunity. That's the type of throw Ward should be able to make the more seasoned he gets with his footwork. 

The first time Garrett pressured Ward was with 6:08 left in the half. It was a play-action pass from under center, and Ward calmly connected with tight end David Martin-Robinson for a 6-yard gain despite taking a hit. With 39 seconds left in the half, Garrett finally got home for a third-and-5 sack of Ward to force a Titans punt. 

Ward faced another Browns blitz on a third-and-8 with 7:50 left in the third quarter, and he made the necessary adjustment with his footwork to accurately connect with his intended target. However, wide receiver Van Jefferson couldn't make the catch despite the football hitting him in the hands. 

In a similar spot later on, third-and-7 from his own 29 with 13:01 left to play, Ward delivered. He ripped a low laser over the middle of the field to Dike for a gain of 19 on an in-breaking route. 

Following a fumble by Sampson, Tennessee began a drive 8 yards away from pay dirt with 9:29 left to play. Ward executed to perfection on an eventual third-and-goal from the 5: he hit Dike in the flat for the touchdown the second his intended target broke open following a couple of other routes opening up a throwing lane. 

The tools are there for Ward to develop quite nicely as his supporting cast of pass catchers gets upgraded around him over time.