Injuries hit fast and hard this past Sunday, shaking up depth charts across the league faster than any trade deadline could. We had four new signal-callers step up in Week 9, all familiar faces in the league but new to starting this 2026 season. We can spend all week prepping for fantasy storylines, but sometimes the biggest news just drops on you. Let’s dig into what Sunday actually told us about a couple of these guys.
Sanders’ Box Score Illusion
Shedeur Sanders stepped into the Cleveland lineup, and yeah, his box score looked decent. The Bengals took the win, which is great, but Sanders kept the Browns’ passing game ticking. Credit where it’s due, the sophomore QB was slinging it everywhere. Those final two drives? Exactly what you want from a guy coming off the bench.
But before anyone starts shouting “QB controversy,” we need to look closer. The raw numbers paint a different picture. His EPA per Dropback for Week 9 was -0.05, a slight bump from his -0.21 in 2025, but still behind Watson’s -0.03. Passing Success Rate? A rough 33.3% for Sanders compared to Watson’s 44.0%. And his Pressure-to-Sack Rate jumped to 31.3% from 17.5% in 2025, while Watson was at 25.4%. Not exactly inspiring, is it?
Here’s the real kicker: Sanders put up a brutal -6.7% CPOE for the day. And don’t even try to blame the O-line, his three-second average time to throw is the third longest of any Cleveland QB this season. Two of his five sacks killed drives on third down. What we are seeing is Cleveland’s incredible pass-catchers, Denzel Boston (6 receptions, 98 yards), KC Concepcion (4 receptions, 85 yards, 1 TD), and Harold Fannin Jr. (2 receptions, 42 yards, 1 TD), doing ALL the heavy lifting. Sanders is sitting at 9.3 YAC per completion, ninth-most among starting QBs this season, which screams “receivers making plays.” The truth is, unless he’s playing the Saints every single week, this offense isn’t going to look any different with Sanders than it does with Watson.
Milton’s Struggles Behind a Rebuilt Line
Down in Philly, Joe Milton’s first start for the Eagles’ QB1 role told a similar tale. There were some flashes of that old Eagles offense we love to see, mostly from Milton himself. He had nine touches and 64 yards on the ground, the most of any Philly QB all season. But honestly? It was mostly the same frustrating offense we’ve seen all year. Sure, playing behind a reconstructed offensive line without your WR1 is a tough break, and five of his seven sacks came on pressures under 2.5 seconds. But then you look at his decision-making: he threw short of the sticks on a third of his third-down attempts, and only completed six of his throws that went for double-digit air yards. He showed off that cannon arm on a few plays, but when you don’t have the talent around you, opposing defenses…
So, there you have it. The numbers don’t lie, even when the box scores try to. What we saw Sunday for Shedeur Sanders and Joe Milton was a harsh reality check. Are these guys just placeholders, or can they actually elevate their game beyond what the stats are telling us? We’re gonna keep an eye on them next week, because you know we will be watching every single snap.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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