PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Who played better in their preseason start, \u201cgunslinger\u201d Dillon Gabriel or \u201cLegendary\u201d Shedeur Sanders?<\/p>\n
Kevin Stefanski wanted both of his rookie quarterbacks to start a game, and he got his wish, even though Gabriel was almost a gametime decision because of his injured hamstring. <\/p>\n
Thanks to a pair of turnovers by Gabriel \u2014 even though they weren\u2019t all his fault \u2014 the win must go to Sanders, who threw two beautiful touchdown passes to Kaden Davis and didn\u2019t turn the ball over in last week\u2019s 30-10 victory over the Panthers. Sanders went 14 of 23 for 138 yards with the two TDs and no interceptions for a 106.8 rating. Stefanski stressed after that game just how crucial it was that he didn\u2019t give the ball away, which was one of the Browns\u2019 biggest problems last year. <\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Gabriel, who showed flashes of why the Browns jumped at the chance to draft him in the third round out of Oregon, he turned the ball over twice, once on a 75-yard pick-6 where his two receivers messed up their routes on a levels concept near the left sideline, and once on a botched handoff between him and Pierre Strong Jr. <\/p>\n
Gabriel, who responded to both turnovers with a field goal drive, went 13 of 18 for 143 yards, with no touchdowns and the one INT for a 72.2 rating. In his five possessions, he put 12 points on the board, while Sanders put up 21 in his nine drives. But the turnovers marred an otherwise strong debut for Gabriel, who played with all the moxie he was known for in his six years in college. The moment wasn\u2019t too big for him, and he played fast and aggressively. It was easy to see the Browns\u2019 vision with him zipping around and slinging the ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiveaways really were the difference there in that first half, because I thought we were doing some really good things,\u201d Stefanski said. \u201cThen we had the takeaway negated by an offsides. So we\u2019re just trying to hammer home how important it is to win the turnover margin in these football games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stefanski, who watched his team finish last in turnover differential last season at minus-22 and first in interceptions with 23, just isn\u2019t having it this year with giveaways. As for Gabriel\u2019s pick-6, he pinned a lot of it on the two pass-catchers, tight end Blake Whiteheart and receiver Diontae Johnson, who wound up on top of each other on their out-routes, and rookie safety Drew Mukuba snuck in between them and picked off the pass. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere shouldn\u2019t be (two in the same spot),\u201d Stefanski said. \u201cThey were in the wrong area of their sandbox. We\u2019ll get that cleaned up. Things like that happen in these games, and we have to clean that up. Even if you weren\u2019t on that rep, you\u2019re a tight end or a wide receiver, you can learn from that rep. That should never happen on that play.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the same token, Gabriel, on a bootleg left, tossed the ball even though he knew the duo messed up. <\/p>\n
\u201cObviously that can never happen on that play,\u201d Stefanski said. \u201cThere were mistakes on that play. Not all interceptions are created equal, but we can\u2019t do that as a football team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like all good, mature quarterbacks do, Gabriel assumed blame for the pick and didn\u2019t throw his receivers under the bus. Did Johnson run too shallow? Whiteheart too deep? <\/p>\n
\u201cI look back and definitely want to just throw it away, don\u2019t force anything on a keeper and felt like there\u2019s just miscommunication on my part and something that we\u2019ve got to clean up,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I will and we\u2019ll make sure of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the botched handoff, with Gabriel being charged with the fumble, Stefanski assumed some of the blame. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs coaches, we\u2019ve got to get them on the same page,\u201d Stefanski said. \u201cWe can never do that. Ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once again, Gabriel pointed the finger directly at himself when he didn\u2019t have to. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust a miscommunication as well,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to be better there to help each other out on that, knowing exactly where the launch point is, and that\u2019s something that\u2019ll be corrected and fixed as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The really unfortunate thing about the pick-6 \u2014 on the first play of the second quarter \u2014 is that it came after a superb first-quarter for Gabriel, in which he went 8-for-9 for 73 yards with 100.5 rating, including 4-for-4 on third down. In fact, he converted his first six third downs before getting sacked on the seventh. <\/p>\n
The superb first quarter featured a textbook opening drive on which he led the Browns on a 13-play, 63 march that knocked 8:05 off the clock and ended with a 4 yard TD run by rookie Ahmani Marshall. Along the way, Gabriel converted three third downs and followed a 4 yard sack on the second play with a 10-yard strike over the middle to Blake Whiteheart to convert a third down. <\/p>\n
Going 4-for-4 on the drive for 29 yards, he managed it well, including a 7-yard out to Jamari Thrash to convert another third down. The drive featured a perfectly-executed 16-yard end around by Gage Larvadain, and it all worked mostly like clockwork until the backup longsnapper delivered a low snap to thwart the extra point. <\/p>\n
On his second drive, Gabriel maintained his poise through an opening-play drop by Strong on an easy checkdown, and a penalty on center Luke Wypler. Facing a second and 15, he delivered a beautifully-thrown 11-yard dig to Thrash, and followed that with a 6-yard out to him to convert the third down. Then came an 18-yard play-action pass to Ced Tillman on a corner route, and a 9-yarder to Kaden Davis two plays later. <\/p>\n
He was on a roll with the four straight completions and earning mad praise before the ill-fated pick-6. But fans could easily see what the Browns were thinking when they surprised the football world by drafting him in the third round ahead of Sanders, whom they took in the fifth after passing on him six times.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels good,\u201d Gabriel said of his opening drive. \u201cYou definitely want to set the tone early and we had great openers and being able to think through that, feel really confident about it. But then everyone executed at a high level in the run game and the o-line played really great just getting vertical in their double teams and running backs seeing that as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s a full team effort and you see the receivers getting on the second level and blocking well as well and then trying to make plays in the pass game. So when you see consistency like that, that\u2019s at its best, you want to continue to replicate that. But within a drive it\u2019s answering too. We take a sack early, but we get a third down. We\u2019re in another third and long, but we get ahead of it and try to work our way back. But I think you just see guys competing through that, so I\u2019m proud of the guys for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel weathered the training camp storm of being criticized day-after-day for not always being efficient. But the Browns heaped a lot on his plate in terms of installation to help pare the playbook. He never complained or explained. Then came the hamstring injury on Aug. 2, which has bothered him ever since. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a guy that sees it long-term,\u201d he said. \u201cYou see a day or two, or two weeks, but I think the true growth is within months or years and you see a player grow within that. I think that\u2019s where you see guys definitely flourish and you see that from our vets and they\u2019re great case studies for that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps the best thing about Gabriel is that he handled the adversity of the game beautifully, which is what you want to see in a QB. He met the sacks with conversions and the turnovers with field goal drives. He completed passes of 13, 18, 19 and 29, and converted 6-of-8 third downs in the first half for 75%. <\/p>\n
He threw well on the run and displayed good arm strength and accuracy. He also executed a two-minute drive at the end of the half, completing a 29-yarder to Davis and a 13-yarder to tight end Brendan Bates to set Andre Szmyt up for a 49-yard field goal. Sure, the Eagles scored all 13 of their first-half points off of his turnovers, but he kept the Browns in the game with 12. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe response is everything,\u201d Gabriel said. \u201cThere\u2019s maybe plays that you want back, but for the most part there\u2019s got to be that continuous response and competitive nature. And I\u2019m a gunslinger. I\u2019m going to continue to sling it and be aggressive that way. Like I said, that (pick-6) can\u2019t happen, right? And we\u2019ve got to throw it away in that situation. But I think as a unit, we all know that it\u2019s us coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yes, the self-proclaimed \u201cLegendary\u201d Sanders had a dazzling debut that got Browns fans pumped for the future, but Gabriel had a fine start in his own right. What does it mean? Both rookies will make the 53-man roster, and both will continue to develop. They\u2019re not realistic options for the Week 1 start in part because of their injuries. But they\u2019ll push each other and bring out the best in each other, and the Browns just might find themselves with a good problem to have when all is said and done.<\/p>\n
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