QB controversy surges after Shedeur Sanders leads Browns to rare win in 1st start

Dillon Gabriel may be out of a job.

With Gabriel sitting out under the concussion protocol backup Shedeur Sanders got his first NFL start Sunday against the last-place Raiders, completing 11-20 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown as Cleveland won in Las Vegas, 24-10.

In the first quarter Sanders scrambled right under pressure and hit rookie wide receiver Isaiah Bond with a 52-yard pass down to the 2. It was the first completion of over 50 yards by a Cleveland quarterback in 15 games.

Sanders became the first Browns quarterback to win his first start in 30 years. He told the CBS sideline reporter before the game, "I am who they are looking for."

In the fourth quarter Sanders dumped off a pass to running back Dylan Sampson, who took it 66 yards for the quarterback's first NFL touchdown. The win got the Browns to 3-8 while dropping the Raiders to 2-9.

Cleveland's three wins this year have come over the Packers, Dolphins and Raiders. This was their first on the road. They'd lost five of six with Gabriel taking snaps. The defense supported his replacement with ten sacks, three by All-Pro Myles Garrett.

"A lot of people want to see me fail," Sanders said in the post-game press conference, "and it ain't going to happen." A week ago coming off the bench he completed 4-16 for 47 yards with an interception and two sacks.

Sanders provides an infusion of hope for downtrodden franchise

"I was a 5th-round pick," he said. "I got skipped by everybody at least five times. It just comes with the game. I'm just thankful for where I am now. I still go an opportunity to play, so why could I be mad? We're playing for the love of the game."

At the Dawg Pound podcast the hosts said, "Shedeur Sanders showed us more in one game and a few drives than Dillon Gabriel did in five games. There's no chance you bench him."

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski declined to name a starter for next week's matchup at home against the 49ers. "I'm not going to get in to all that," he said. The team drafted Gabriel in the third round and Sanders in the fifth last April.