Jori EpsteinSenior reporterMon, December 1, 2025 at 3:40 AM UTC·8 min readThe metaphor wasn’t wholly new.
Dating back to the offseason, the 2025 Cleveland Browns knew their team was a work in progress, first and foremost because of the major question mark at their quarterback position.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSo 2025 third-round rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel preached the process.
“It’s a results-based business, so let’s not get that wrong,” Gabriel said during the Browns’ mandatory minicamp in June. “And I think whether it’s a microwave mentality or that Amazon lifestyle or wanting it right away, sometimes it’s just not the case. So to be able to have a process, stick to it… that’s what I want to do.”
Fast forward five and a half months, and no quarterback on the Browns’ roster has proven he has a process and result sufficient to secure the long-term starting job. But after veteran Joe Flacco started four games at quarterback and Gabriel started six, fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders received his second starting opportunity Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.
The record book result was similar to that of his predecessors this season: a loss.
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Sanders echoed what his fellow draft classmate had said in June.
“This team is not going to be a microwave thing,” he said. “We’re going to have sparks here and there but it’s going to take time to be able to develop that chemistry with everybody.”
Sanders’ words were accurate and, in many ways, fair. But Browns fans have reason to wonder: Will this team ever be a fully baked cake? Will a club with a playoff-caliber defense ever figure out the most important piece to its puzzle?
The Browns’ ninth loss in 12 games guaranteed this season will be a losing one. But fans willing to opt for a slow cooker over microwave may remind club leadership: The slow cook hasn’t worked lately either. The Browns have now clinched their fourth losing season in the last five years and their 16th in the last 18.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn a micro level, Sanders faced a tougher opponent than in his debut start against the Las Vegas Raiders and wasn’t able to overcome strong winds, special teams gaffes and line of scrimmage injuries.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski nonetheless confirmed that Sanders, who went 16 of 25 for 149 yards and one touchdown, earned a third start, next week against the Tennessee Titans. That was more than Stefanski guaranteed after Sanders quarterbacked the Browns’ 24-10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
In the immediate short term, Sanders has done enough to earn another start. Beyond that, Stefanski declined to confirm whether Sanders would start the rest of the 2025 season.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Yeah, I’m not going to get into all that,” Stefanski said, “other than to say we all have to just play better.”
Shedeur Sanders battled wind and 49ers’ shifting scheme
In the final minute of the second quarter, the Browns were driving, down 7-0. Sanders fielded a snap and dropped back. He saw a defensive look the Browns had been hoping to face for multiple weeks. So Sanders climbed up in the pocket and unleashed, unconcerned by a hit from San Francisco edge rusher Keion White that would clearly follow.
Sanders hit tight end Harold Fannin 25 yards down the left side of the field in a soft spot between defenders. Fannin muscled his way the remaining 9 yards for a game-tying touchdown.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I thought that was really well executed,” Stefanski said. “Felt really strongly about that call, that play [and] had the right time for it.”
Sanders hit two other passes of 10-plus air yards on the day, an 18-yard completion to Isaiah Bond up the middle in the final minute of the first quarter despite his arm getting hit and an 11-yarder to Jerry Jeudy in the final minute of the game.
But on a day when the Browns were fairly balanced between the run (31 attempts) and pass (26), Sanders’ completions were more often dumpoffs or screen passes than downfield balls. Nine of his 16 completions traveled fewer than 5 air yards, with six of those delivered behind the line of scrimmage. The wind may have influenced those numbers as it influenced an overthrown third-and-3 pass to Jeudy in the first quarter, as well as a wobbly deep attempt to Bond on third-and-16 in the fourth.
Shedeur Sanders had a rough go at times against the 49ers' defense and playing in the windy conditions. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Sander said he was trying to calculate the right adjustments.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“All quarterbacks know you got to cut through the wind whenever you throw,” Sanders said. “So then at the same time, you gauging the speed and time to distance and travel everything. And I just calculated off.”
Sanders’ 93.6 passer rating edged the 83.9 mark of the Niners’ Brock Purdy, who was playing on the same field. But the Browns failed to give themselves sufficient opportunity as they converted just 27% of third-down attempts (3 of 11) to the Niners’ 65% (11 of 17), including only one third-down conversion in the second half. Four times the Browns went for it on fourth down and failed to convert.
The Browns wouldn’t score after halftime as the 49ers began to stack the box and shut down the run, right guard Wyatt Teller joking the 49ers had “17 guys up on the line.”
“Different formation, different defense,” rookie running back Quinshon Judkins said of an offense that ran 94 yards in the first half then just 44 in the second. “Originally they had like 4-2 box, so not that many guys in the box. And then in the second half, they would have a lot of people in the box, like eight or nine.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Browns’ defense also sputtered some against a quick-throw Kyle Shanahan offense that neutralized its pass rush. Even when All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett killed a drive with a sack, the Browns responded by muffing a punt on special teams. Opportunity, lost.
“Whatever happens,” Garrett said, “we got to put the fire out.”
Survey says … it’s too early to determine Sanders’ outlook with Browns
Since the 2025 NFL Draft, the Browns have kept their quarterback thought processes close to their vest. They didn’t reveal whether they’d keep four quarterbacks on their in-season roster before ultimately trading veteran Kenny Pickett; and they didn’t show their cards before trading Flacco within the division just four games into the season.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSo perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that Stefanski didn’t offer much when asked Sunday whether Sanders’ second start built upon his first, after a better statistical performance resulted in a loss.
“Yeah, I’d have to look at it,” Stefanski said. “Obviously he’s battling like all our guys are battling. I know there’s plays he wants back. But we’ll look at it. We’ll correct it.”
If the Browns look at Sanders’ first two starts against the quarterbacks who preceded him this season, they may have trouble distinguishing who best maximized this cast. Differences emerge in play style and career stage; one quarterback was most accurate, another took fewest risks and a third flashed a unique brand of big-play potential. But statistically, Sanders’ first two starts were not drastically better or worse than those of Flacco and Gabriel.
Flacco completed 62.2% of passes, throwing for two touchdowns and three interceptions while averaging 244.5 passing yards per game. The Browns averaged 16.5 points and 324.5 total yards per contest in those two games, both losses.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGabriel completed 56.5% of passes while throwing two touchdowns and no interceptions in two games, averaging 205.5 passing yards per game. The Browns averaged 13 points and 285 yards per game; like with Flacco, they lost both of Gabriel’s initial two starts.
And Sanders? He completed 50.8% of passes for two touchdowns and two interceptions, averaging 213 passing yards per game. The Browns averaged 16 points per game, traveling 261.5 yards a pop in a win over the Raiders then the loss to the 49ers.
Sanders’ results hold their own, with arguably the highest ceiling and lowest floor of the trio. He’ll get the chance to start next week against a 1-11 Titans team that could be just the fix Cleveland needs.
Sanders thinks time, also, will help. Many NFL decision-makers don’t practice patience as a virtue, but the reality of three quarterbacks struggling in Cleveland this year — and Flacco’s immediate improvement upon trade to Cincinnati — suggest the offensive problems do not stop at the quarterback room door.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFor at least one more week, Sanders will continue arguing his case that he can solve the Browns’ quarterback fix if they trust him rather than rely on their 2026 draft capital. He’ll make the case that the Browns should follow the recipe for oven baking rather than microwave attempts. He believes each game under his belt will help his chance at the argument.
“As players and as teammates, we have to be able to jell with each other and be comfortable with each other in every situation,” Sanders said. “That takes time. That takes a lot of things.
“We have to spend time on task with all those guys, and be able to trust and be able to see things [through] the same lens.
“We just got to be comfortable and just make everything consistent.”
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