{"id":333817,"date":"2025-12-08T00:15:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T00:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/333817\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T00:15:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T00:15:11","slug":"browns-coach-takes-blame-for-failed-2-point-try-minus-sanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/333817\/","title":{"rendered":"Browns coach takes blame for failed 2-point try minus Sanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Daniel OyefusiDec 8, 2025, 11:04 AM<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>Daniel Oyefusi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN. Prior to ESPN, he covered the Miami Dolphins for the Miami Herald, as well as the Baltimore Ravens for The Baltimore Sun.<\/p>\n

CLEVELAND — Browns<\/a> coach Kevin Stefanski declined to explain what went wrong but accepted blame for a failed 2-point conversion attempt in his team’s 31-29 loss to the Tennessee Titans<\/a> on Sunday that saw rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders<\/a> watching from the sideline on the decisive play.<\/p>\n

Cleveland trailed Tennessee 31-17 with six minutes remaining, but Sanders rallied the Browns late with a pair of touchdown drives. Sanders first scored on a 7-yard run but fumbled the center exchange when Cleveland went for 2 after the touchdown.<\/p>\n

Later, Sanders connected with rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr<\/a>. on a 7-yard touchdown with 1:03 left, but the Browns left Sanders off the field as the offense went to its Wildcat package for another 2-point attempt.<\/p>\n

Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins<\/a> took a direct snap and ran to his right but mishandled the ball as rookie wide receiver Gage Larvadain<\/a> ran in the opposite direction for a possible reverse. Judkins ran backwards and launched a pass across the field to Larvadain in a last-ditch effort, but the pass fell incomplete.<\/p>\n

Running back Quinshon Judkins threw an incomplete pass on a broken play on the decisive 2-point attempt with Shedeur Sanders on the sideline in the Browns’ loss Sunday.\u00a0Nick Cammett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

“Not going to get into all the specifics but obviously it did not go as we thought it would,” Stefanski said after the game.<\/p>\n

Stefanski handed playcalling duties to offensive coordinator Tommy Rees after Cleveland’s Week 9 bye — he also said Rees had final say on what plays went into the game plan — but the sixth-year head coach took accountability for the failed conversion. Stefanski said he already decided on the Wildcat play as the offense was moving down the field for the potential game-tying drive.<\/p>\n

“I make every call. … I’m responsible for all of it,” Stefanski said.<\/p>\n

Throughout the season, the Browns have turned to the Wildcat formation in short-yardage situations. Judkins has scored four touchdowns out of the Wildcat, but he was stuffed earlier in the game near the goal line. Two plays later, Sanders threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Njoku<\/a> early in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/a><\/p>\n

“If I’m out there any play, I wish I would always have the ball in my hand,” Sanders said, “but that’s not what football is. … In any situation, of course you want to, but I know we practiced something and we executed it in practice, and we just didn’t seem to this day. So, I would never go against kind of what the call was or anything.<\/p>\n

“We practice for situations, we do everything, and if they knew it would pan out like that, I don’t think they would’ve did it,” Sanders later said. “I don’t think in any situation, if we feel like something’s not going to be as successful and intentionally call it and just be surprised if it don’t work. I think that’s the whole league, any play you go into a game with, you expect success. And if that don’t happen, that don’t happen.”<\/p>\n

Sanders, the 144th overall pick in this year’s draft, had his best statistical game in his third start. He completed 23-of-42 passes for 364 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Sanders also ran for 29 yards and a touchdown on three carries. He became the first Browns player with three passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in a game since Derek Anderson in Week 6 of the 2007 season.<\/p>\n

The loss, though, dropped the Browns to 3-10 and officially eliminated them from playoff contention. Cleveland’s chances of getting the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft also rose from 6.6% to 14% after the defeat, according to ESPN Analytics.<\/p>\n

“He fought throughout the game, which we knew he would,” Stefanski said of Sanders. “Obviously with any young player, there’s gonna be ups and downs, and I thought there were some really, really, really good moments. He’ll keep learning from some of the plays that he wants back, but some really good moments.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daniel OyefusiDec 8, 2025, 11:04 AM CloseDaniel Oyefusi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN. Prior to ESPN, he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-333817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}