Well, it was somewhat of a fun first half for the Cleveland Browns, who were leading the Tennessee Titans 17-14. But then, in the second half, a mix of special teams blunders, turnover on offense, and poor run defense allowed the one-win Titans to pull away against the Browns on their home turf in the fourth quarter. Shedeur Sanders tried to engineer a comeback, and it was entertaining watch him the best game of his young career, but he still came up short as Cleveland failed on multiple two-point tries. On the bright side, with a loss, that’s a plus for the Browns’ draft position. Let’s get to the full game recap.

1st Quarter – Browns vs. Titans

The Titans received the opening kickoff, and sure enough, special teams played an early factor as WR Chimere Dike got the ball out to the Titans’ 47 yard line on the kickoff. Cleveland’s defense smothered the Titans on the first two plays, forcing them into a 3rd-and-11. On third down, the defense somehow didn’t anticipate a screen pass to the RB Tyjae Spears coming, which was wide open for a gain of 24 yards into Cleveland territory.

On the next 3rd-and-6, QB Cam Ward completed a quick pass to his tight end on the left side for another first down, now into the red zone. A few plays later, off of a max protection playaction fake, WR Elic Ayomanor beat CB Denzel Ward on a crossing route and walked into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown, their first opening-drive touchdown of the season and a 7-0 lead.

Then, RB Jerome Ford on the Browns’ opening kickoff tried to go horizontal across the field for some reason, and was taken down at the 15 yard line. On the first offensive play, RB Quinshon Judkins was blown up for a loss of 4 yards, and then he merely got the yards back on second down to set up a quick 3rd-and-11. RT KT Leveston was beat right away around the edge, and QB Shedeur Sanders was blasted for a sack and forcing a quick punt.

Before Cleveland could get the punt off, a false start by the Browns pushed the ball back to the 7 yard line. P Corey Bojorquez got off a shot punt that rolled to the Browns’ 46 yard line, a net of just 39 yards.

The Titans were rolling and looking in shape to score again, until Ward was picked off by LB Devin Bush when trying to throw a slant pass. Bush returned it 44 yards to the Titans’ 39 yard line.

Sanders started the drive with a quick strike to TE Harold Fannin for 17 yards. A few plays later, facing a 3rd-and-8, Sanders tried directing traffic, but eventually threw the ball away. K Andre Szmyt came on for a 38-yard field goal to trim the Titans’ lead to 7-3 with 1:42 remaining in the first quarter.

After a touchback on the next kickoff, Ward handed the ball off to Pollard, who took it 65 yards to the house for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead for the Titans, as multiple Browns defenders were seen just falling to the ground.

Then, on the Browns’ first play, a screen pass to RB Quinshon Judkins went for 58 yards, all the way down to the 2 yard line, in what turned out to be a pretty explosive first quarter.

Still, Cleveland needed to finish the drive, with under a minute to go in the quarter. Cleveland went Wildcat with Judkins, but the play was stuffed for a loss of 1 yard to end the quarter.

2nd Quarter – Browns vs. Titans

On 2nd-and-goal from the 3 yard line, Sanders was back in and gave the end around to WR Malachi Corley. The play had a little lane, but then closed quickly as Corley was blasted after a gain of 2 yards, setting up 3rd-and-goal at the 1 yard line. Sanders ran a playaction fake and delivered a beautiful pass to TE David Njoku in the back left corner of the end zone for a touchdown to pull the Browns to within 14-10.

After the Titans got one first down, they had to punt. It was still an adventure for WR Gage Larvadain, who called for a fair catch at the 9 yard line. He muffed the punt, but fell on top of it to keep possession.

Cleveland started with a playaction fake and Sanders finding WR Jerry Jeudy for a gain of 14 yards. On the next third down, a late swing pass to Ford got the first down. The drive had some momentum, but then it stalled when the Titans sniffed out a screen pass attempt for Fannin, but the officials threw an intentional grounding penalty that set them back to a 2nd-and-20. On third down, Fannin actually rumbled forward for 18 yards on a checkdown, although the Browns still decided to punt. Bojorquez could only get a fair catch at the 15 yard line, though, instead of pinning them further.

The Browns allowed one first down again, but CB Tyson Campbell forced a stop on third down and a punt. This time, Larvadain caught it cleanly out to the 26 yard line. Sanders found daylight ahead of him after a playaction fake and took off for 14 yards and a first down. Sanders stepped up and just missed a connection to Jeudy, but then on the next play, he found Jeudy on a laser downfield for a 60-yard touchdown to give the Browns a 17-14 lead!

As the Titans were on the verge of field goal range, on 3rd-and-5, DE Myles Garrett darted in for his first sack of the game to force a punt. Cleveland ran one play before taking it into the half with the lead.

3rd Quarter – Browns vs. Titans

The Browns received the second half kickoff, beginning at the 22 yard line. Cleveland began with a stretch play to Judkins to the right, and he found a lane for 14 yards. He got the next carry for 7 more yards, and after a couple more carries, he moved the chains again out toward midfield. A couple plays later, Sanders took a shot downfield for WR Isaiah Bond. The ball was underthrown, but he did a nice job trying to come back for it — although they couldn’t connect. On third down, Sanders let another one rip to Fannin, who couldn’t haul it in as it was tightly contested.

Bojorquez’ punt went just 27 yards, out of bounds at the Titans’ 25 yard line. No worries, though, as the defense forced a quick three-and-out as the Browns got the ball back at their own 28 yard line. They also went three-and-out, as Sanders’ third down pass was incomplete as he tried to rip the ball into an area with three Browns receivers nearby. After the punt, the Titans took over at the 24 yard line.

Like clockwork, the Titans then had a quick punt as S Grant Delpit brought the heat multiple times to force some incompletions on blitzes. On the Browns’ end, they were trying to avoid another three-and-out as they faced 3rd-and-6. Sanders tried to climb the pocket and buy as much time as he could, but ultimately he has to throw the ball away again as he reached the sideline. Bojorquez had another short punt, only traveling 39 yards to the Titans 34 yard line.

After Tennessee got one first down, they had to punt again, making this one of the most highlight-less quarters of the season. The Titans’ punt then went to the end zone for a touchback with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter. After one incomplete screen pass, Sanders got the biggest play of the second half when he dropped a beautiful touch pass into Fannin as he was being hit for a gain of 35 yards, down to the Titans 45 yard line.

On the next play, Judkins kicked out to the outside for a first down run, although it came back on a holding penalty on the offensive line, making it 1st-and-20. A couple plays later, Sanders tried to make too much of a Houidini play, buying time by backpedaling, getting set, and then heaving it over the middle. However, it was picked off by S Xavier Woods and returned 35 yards to the Browns’ 38 yard line.

Two plays after that, Pollard had another wide open lane that saw him get a burst for 32 yards and a touchdown to put the Titans back on top 21-17 with 0:51 left in the third quarter. The Browns had a run for 1 yard to close out the quarter.

4th Quarter – Browns vs. Titans

A neutral zone infraction by DT Jeffrey Simmons to start the fourth quarter made it 2nd-and-4, but then Simmons blew by C Ethan Pocic on the next run play, taking Judkins down for a loss of 3 yards. Pocic was also grabbing his ankle area after the play and had to be carted off. On 3rd-and-7, the offensive line collapsed and Sanders was sacked by Simmons, forcing a punt.

On the Titans’ return, they were flagged for an illegal blindside block, which pushed them back to the 26 yard line. After a couple run plays that were held to short gains, Ward finally converted a third down pass over the middle to move the chains. A few plays later, the Titans faced a 3rd-and-15, and they just handed it off to Spears, who broke free along the left sideline for 35 yards — however, an illegal shift penalty thankfully brought it back. Tennessee punted to the end zone for a touchback.

The Browns started with a swing pass to RB Dylan Sampson, and as he tried to make a juke move, a Titans defender laid his shoulder into the ball to force a fumble that was returned to the Browns’ 8 yard line for a goal-to-go situation.

A few plays later, on 3rd-and-goal, Ward threw the quick out to Dike for a 5-yard touchdown to take a 28-17 lead with 9:29 to go in the game.

Bond couldn’t hang on to an intermediate pass to start the Browns’ next drive, and then his next short pass to Judkins was ruled out of bounds. On 3rd-and-10, Sanders found WR Cedric Tillman up the seam for a first down out to midfield. A few plays later, facing 3rd-and-15, he tried to get half the distance, but the defense knocked the ball away. Despite being down two possessions, the Browns had to punt, and a defender ran straight through and blocked it right off the left side, recovered at the Browns’ 29 yard line.

The Browns’ defense held Tennessee to a 41-yard field goal to go up 31-17 with just over six minutes to go. The Browns got into Tennessee territory with a 15-yard completion to Sampson, and then a penalty on the next pass to Tillman as he was hit by Woods while he was defenseless. Sanders kept the pressure going with a series of completions to get him over 300 yards passing on the day, and then on 1st-and-goal at the 7 yard line, he pulled away from pressure and took it himself for a touchdown to make it a 31-23 game! The Browns went for two, but the snap was muffed, and Tennessee almost took it back for their own conversion.

With over four minutes to go, the Browns opted to kick off. The Titans ran it three times to bleed clock before punting it away with under three minutes to go. Sanders began with an inside screen pass to Fannin that went for a first down, and 15 yards were tacked on for roughing the passer to put the ball near midfield. A few plays later, Cleveland faced a 3rd-and-4 at the Titans’ 46 yard line at the two-minute warning, having two timeouts remaining.

Sanders delivered a pass over the middle to Sampson, who broke tackles and had a catch-and-run for X yards to the Titans’ 15 yard line. On the next play, a toss to Ford gained a few yards, but a facemask penalty put the ball at the 7 yard line with a first down. Two plays later, Sanders got another beautiful fade to Fannin in the left corner of the end zone for a touchdown to make it a 31-29 game!

Then came the all-important two-point conversion. It was a disaster, though. Judkins lined up in Wildcat and missed the trick play pitch, killing the play. The Browns then lined up for an onside kick, but it was easily recovered by Tennessee. Cleveland couldn’t take another snap, as Tennessee killed enough time on their run plays to not even have to punt it.

Quick Hitters

• QB Shedeur Sanders: 23-of-42 for 364 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT. 3 rushes, 29 yards, 1 TD.
• TE Harold Fannin: 8 catches, 114 yards, 1 TD.
• DE Myles Garrett: 1 sack.
• Is it the best of both worlds? Cleveland lost, which we honestly don’t care about at this point, while Shedeur Sanders had a pretty electric game and took some more chances, stacking up four touchdowns and some impressive throws.

Next up, the Browns go on the road to face the Chicago Bears.