Browns coach takes blame for failed 2-point try

CLEVELAND — Browns 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 on Sunday that saw rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders watching from the sideline on the decisive play.

Cleveland trailed Tennessee 31-17 with six minutes left, 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 two after the touchdown.

Later, Sanders connected with rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. 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.

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

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

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 had already decided on the Wildcat play as the offense was moving down the field for the potential tying drive.

“I make every call. … I’m responsible for all of it,” Stefanski said.

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 early in the second quarter.

“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.

“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.”

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 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 TD in a game since Derek Anderson in Week 6 of the 2007 season.

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

“He fought throughout the game, which 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 keep learning from some of the plays that he wants back, but some really good moments.”