Shedeur Sanders’ starting debut overshadows a bigger Browns story

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The young quarterback had a good game, but teammate Myles Garrett is on a path to the NFL record books.

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Whether you like it or not, Shedeur Sanders is one of the most appealing stories in the NFL right now. Unsurprisingly, his starting debut for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday drew considerable interest.

The rookie, who’s surprising fall to the fifth round of the NFL Draft has been well-documented, had a solid first full game. He went 11-of-20 for 209 yards with a touchdown and interception each, all while leading the Browns to a 24-10 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Whether that means he will remain the team’s QB1 heading into Week 13, or indeed into a more distant future, will be seen. Based on his play so far, it would not be a surprise to see Cleveland very much remain in the quarterback market heading into the 2026 offseason.

However, his status or long-term outlook are not the biggest story coming out of Cleveland after Week 12. One of Sanders’ teammates, after all, is on a potentially historic tear.

Myles Garrett — the answer to the question, “What would it look like if you turned a Greek god into an NFL pass rusher?” — added three more quarterback takedowns to his tally on Sunday. On a day that saw the Browns pass rush do whatever it wanted with an overwhelmed Las Vegas offensive line, finishing with 10 sacks, he once again managed to steal the show.

As a result, Garrett is now closing in on the NFL’s single-season sack record. With six games left on Cleveland’s schedule, he needs just five games to go from currently 18 to surpassing the 22.5-sack mark jointly held by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt.

Given his performance so far this season, and throughout his Hall of Fame career, it is entirely within his capabilities to get there. He has notched at least one sack in seven of his 11 games so far, and more than one in five of them.

If the record comes, Garrett has just one wish.

“I hope it comes in a win,” he said.

So far, wins have been hard to come by for the 3-8 team. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the Browns’ quarterback situation.

Obviously, the team’s success will always be closely tied to the position — such is the nature of the NFL — and its issues at the position have been well-documented through the years. The interest in Sanders’ debut and development is therefore understandable, particularly given his last name and the polarizing nature of his persona.

However, while the Browns’ QB carousel keeps spinning, every new round seems to be blurring what is happening outside of it: Myles Garrett putting on a pass rushing season possibly unlike any other we have ever seen.

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