CLEVELAND — Shedeur Sanders had a chance to make a big case for himself as the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback beyond the rest of this season. Instead, the questions will persist as much as ever.
With a pair of opportunities to lead game-winning drives over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Sanders took two costly sacks and committed an intentional grounding penalty at the edge of his own end zone, and the Browns lost 23-20 to drop to 3-12 on the season.
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Josh Allen’s arm and legs sealed the deal for the 11-4 Bills after the Browns punted with 1:49 left, but Bills running back James Cook carried the day, averaging 11.1 yards per carry in the first half while hitting the century mark on nine carries, two of which resulted in scores.
Cook, now the league’s leading rusher, made a pair of defenders miss and weaved to dodge a few more during a 44-yard touchdown scamper in the first quarter.
The Browns lost running back Quinshon Judkins to a broken leg after he was tackled in the open field right after making a reception. Sanders briefly left the game with a bloody pinkie finger on his throwing hand, but returned for the next series.
Sanders completed his first eight passes for 84 yards and a score to tight end Harold Fannin Jr. His ninth, though, was behind Judkins. It hit the rookie’s shoulder pad and bounced into the air for Bills safety Jordan Poyer to intercept.
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Sanders showed several more flashes, even as a scrambler on a second-quarter drive that ended in a 24-yard Browns field goal, except his turnovers were costly. His second interception came early in the third quarter and deep in Cleveland territory.
That’s where his pass was batted up by defensive end Joey Bosa and picked off by defensive tackle DaQuan Jones. The Bills cashed in for three points after that to take a 23-10 lead.
The Bills had an injury scare at quarterback, too. Late in the first half, after Allen furiously retreated from pressure and tumbled near the goal line for a loss of 22 yards, he came up limping with a right foot injury. Myles Garrett was pinwheeling in his pursuit of Allen, trying to reach the reigning NFL MVP to tie Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt for the most sacks in single-season league history. He was credited with only half a sack, leaving him another half shy of joining that elite company.
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Allen headed to the locker room just before halftime, but his X-rays were negative. He was back for the second half and finished 12-of-19 with 130 passing yards.
The Browns made it a one-score game late in the third quarter, thanks to a 14-play, 67-yard drive that took 8:01. Cleveland ran it 11 times against a Bills defense that entered ranked 30th in the NFL with 143.1 rushing yards per game allowed. The Browns clocked out with 160 yards on the ground after averaging a fourth-worst 92.4 rushing yards per game over the previous 14 games.
Andre Szmyt kicked a 41-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter, cutting the Bills’ lead to 23-20.
Sanders had two chances to orchestrate a go-ahead drive midway through the final frame. A blind-side sack he took on fourth-and-2 in his own half derailed the first of those opportunities.
Sanders got another shot after Allen’s fourth-and-1 pass was dropped in the end zone by tight end Dawson Knox. But then Sanders took another ill-timed sack and committed intentional grounding just outside the end zone while trying to avoid one more.
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That was effectively the nail in the coffin for the Browns, who had chances after quieting a Bills offense that has been dynamite in the second half of games this season.
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