CLEVELAND — Browns coach Kevin Stefanski declined to explain what went wrong but accepted blame for a botched two-point conversion attempt during his team’s 31-29 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, which saw rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders watching from the sideline on the deciding play.
Cleveland trailed Tennessee 31-17 with six minutes remaining, but Sanders rallied the Browns late with two touchdowns. Sanders scored first on a 7-yard run, but missed the middle exchange when Cleveland scored two after the touchdown.
Later, Sanders connected with rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. on a 7-yard touchdown run with 1:03 left, but the Browns left Sanders off the field as the offense went to his Wildcat package for another 2-point attempt.
Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins took a direct snap and ran to his right, but mishandled the ball as rookie receiver Gage Larvadain ran in the opposite direction for a possible reverse. Judkins ran back and threw a pass across the field to Larvadain in a last-ditch effort, but it fell incomplete.
“I’m not going to go into all the details, but obviously it didn’t go the way we thought it would,” Stefanski said after the game.
Stefanski handed playmaking duties to offensive coordinator Tommy Rees after Cleveland’s Week 9 bye — he also said Rees had final say on plays going into the game plan — but the sixth-year head coach took responsibility for the failed conversion. Stefanski said he had already decided the Wildcat game as the offense moved down the field for a possible tie game.
“I make every call. … I’m responsible for all of this,” Stefanski said.
Throughout the season, the Browns have turned to the Wildcat formation in short yardage situations. Judkins scored four touchdowns on the Wildcat, but he was placed near the goal line earlier in the game. Two plays later, Sanders threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Njoku early in the second quarter.
“If I’m on the field, I’d still like to have the ball in my hand,” Sanders said, “but that’s not what football is. … In any situation, of course, you want that, but I know we practiced something and we executed it in practice, and we just haven’t done it until now. So I would never go against what the call was or anything.
“We train for situations, we do everything, and if they knew it was going to happen like this, I don’t think they would have done it,” Sanders said later. “I don’t think in any situation, if we feel like something isn’t going to be as successful, we intentionally call it and are just surprised if it doesn’t work. I think it’s the whole league, whatever play you go into a game with, you expect success. And if it doesn’t happen, it won’t happen.”
Sanders, the 144th 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 one interception. Sanders also ran for 29 yards and a touchdown on three carries. He became the first Browns player with three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in a game since Derek Anderson in Week 6 of the 2007 season.
The loss, however, dropped the Browns to 3-10 and officially eliminated them from playoff contention. Cleveland’s odds of landing the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft increased from 6.6% to 14% after the loss, according to ESPN Analytics.
“He fought all game long, and we knew he would,” Stefanski said of Sanders. “Obviously with any young player there’s going to be ups and downs, and I thought there were some really, really, really good moments. He’ll continue to learn from some of the plays that he wants to come back to, but some really good moments.”
