Shedeur Sanders made his first start of the year for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday and performed admirably. It was all for naught, though, as 69 minutes of battle against the New Orleans Saints added a loss to their ledger. It may have been smarter to settle for the tie.
After Sanders found a rumbling—and equal parts stumbling—Harold Fannin Jr. for stiff-arm-heavy 42-yard touchdown pass with 1:00 left in overtime, the Saints held a 23-22 lead. Browns coach Todd Monken opted to put everything on a two-point conversion attempt instead of knotting up the score and, likely, playing the Saints to a tie.
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Sanders’ pass to Denzel Boston fell incomplete and would have been negated by a holding penalty to give New Orleans the victory.
Browns’ two-point decision
It makes all the sense in the world that an NFL coach would not be thrilled to sign up for a tie. And to be perfectly honest, it feels like sometimes it’s good to have tie on record at the end of the year and sometimes it’s not. In this specific case, it might have been a necessary compromise.
The good news for Cleveland is that they remain competitive and Sanders is showing real signs of being a viable, long-term option at quarterback. More immediately, they are 5-4 and now in eighth position in the AFC. This leaves them one spot away from the final playoff berth.
Nov 1, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) seen on the sideline during an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)
There’s a tremendous amount of football to play between now and the end of Week 18. It seems fair to say that the Browns may not be quite as good as their 5-3 record entering today’s game suggests. It also seems fair to say that they have a very real chance of playing their way into the postseason.
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Current AFC playoff picture
Both Pittsburgh and Cincinnati sit atop the AFC North at 6-2. It may not the realistic for the Browns to overtake both of them, meaning the path to the playoffs goes through the wild card. Currently the New England Patriots are in the No. 7 spot and are trailing Green Bay by two touchdowns. Las Vegas, at 4-4, is also down by 14 points to the 49ers. If those scores hold, Cleveland would have been in full possession of a playoff spot by taking the tie.
Again, this is not an indictment of the decision. If successful, the Browns are 6-3 and in great position. So the risk does seem worth the reward. But make no doubt, this tie is going to cause some headaches for people trying to figure out the stake of play when Cleveland is in the mix for a playoff berth. There’s a non-zero chance playing for the win instead of tie will keep them out entirely.
Having said all that, did Monken really have a choice? Of course he let Sanders go for the win. Sending a different message than “we trust you” feels like a non-starter. So perhaps it was a no-win situation—even for someone who could have not gone for the win.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
