FULL BOX SCORE
Nick Shook’s takeaways:
- Titans run game thrives. In perhaps the most shocking development of Week 14, Tennessee — owners of the league’s 31st-ranked rushing offense — racked up an eye-popping 184 yards on the ground on a snowy day in Cleveland. The Titans did so while facing the 10th-ranked rushing defense and creating wildly explosive runs, watching Tony Pollard knife through the Browns’ defense for touchdown runs of 65 and 32 yards. On a day in which Cam Ward completed just 50% of his passes for 117 yards (plus two touchdowns), Pollard’s contributions (161 yards, two touchdowns on 25 carries) were vital to Tennessee’s chances of victory. It also likely felt vindicating for Pollard, a big-name free-agent addition in 2024 who had only occasionally produced at a rate deserving of the $7.25 million he’s earning per season, and hadn’t cracked 100 yards in 2025 until Sunday.
- Sanders experiences highs, lows of December in Cleveland. No Browns quarterback has truly experienced a season in Cleveland without playing a December game along the shore of Lake Erie, a setting that can produce some strange, chaotic outcomes. Sanders learned firsthand Sunday, operating an offense that relied heavily on his arm and doing a commendable job, completing 23 of 42 passes for a season-high 364 yards and three touchdowns. There were obvious positives: Sanders lobbed a sharp touchdown pass to David Njoku while under duress, fixed his miscommunication issues with Jerry Jeudy by hitting the receiver in stride for a pretty 60-yard touchdown reception, ran for a touchdown, expertly executed a screen pass to Quinshon Judkins to set up a score, and led a chaotic touchdown drive in the game’s final two minutes. But Sunday’s tale can’t be told without including the negatives, including the awful decision on Sanders’ part to throw an under-pressure prayer of a pass into traffic for an interception, his continued tendency to hang on to the ball too long (3.57 seconds average time to throw Sunday) and his occasional reliance on patting the ball before throwing, which gave Titans defenders time to commit to breaking up passes. Sanders didn’t provide the Browns with indisputable evidence that he can be their long-term answer, but he continued to make small steps forward while enduring a few self-inflicted mistakes.
- Tennessee is still battling for interim coach Mike McCoy. An early December, snowy game would be an easy excuse for a disinterested, one-win team to fold on the road. Not these Titans. Tennessee played with clear purpose, embarking on an eight-play touchdown drive on the Titans’ opening possession and remained in the fight for four quarters, eventually winning the war of attrition against a similarly poor Browns team with as much grit as proper execution. A 17-14 deficit was nothing but a challenge for these Titans, who rode Pollard to regain the lead, capitalized on a short field with a touchdown pass and managed to hold off the Browns amid a desperate comeback attempt. Sure, they tried to make things easier for Cleveland, committing crucial penalties to award free yards for a low-potential Browns offense, but by the time the clock expired, the Titans trotted off the field at Huntington Bank Field victorious for just the second time this season. That type of four-quarter effort shines a positive light on McCoy, the interim coach who has watched his team lose in nearly every fashion in this trying campaign. Finally, they can fly home happy.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Titans-Browns (via NFL Pro): Shedeur Sanders recorded a career-long average time to throw of 3.57 seconds, the second-longest by any QB this season. Sanders’ long time to throw allowed him to be pressured on 63% of his dropbacks, the highest pressure rate by a defense this season. Sanders was 11 of 26 for 184 yards, a TD and an INT when under pressure, compared to 12 for 16 for 180 yards and 2 TD when kept clean.
NFL Research: Shedeur Sanders became the second rookie QB in NFL history with 350-plus passing yards, three-plus passing touchdowns and one or more rushing scores in a single game, joining Joe Burrow (Week 7, 2020 vs. CLE).
