The Cleveland Browns had every chance to turn Shedeur Sanders’ first home start into a statement win. Instead, turnovers, busted special teams and a second-half offensive stall gift-wrapped a 26-8 victory to Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers.

For a while, it looked promising. Sanders settled in quickly, completing eight of his first 11 passes and guiding the Browns to an 8-7 lead late in the second quarter. He dropped a 34-yard strike to rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. down the left sideline, then Quinshon Judkins powered in the two-point conversion to send Cleveland into a frenzy.

But that was the last time the Browns truly had control.

San Francisco’s comeback wasn’t built on explosive offense as much as Cleveland’s self-destruction. All three 49ers touchdowns came on short fields — a 66-yard punt return, a fumble on a gadget sneak and a muffed punt — the exact recipe head coach Kevin Stefanski warned against afterward.

“There’s going to be things that we can clean up, but you can’t play that way,” Stefanski said. “Putting a good team on a short field that many times.”

The Niners opened the scoring after Skyy Moore ripped off that 66-yard return to the Browns’ 16, setting up Christian McCaffrey’s 2-yard score. Cleveland’s response came late in the half with the Fannin touchdown and Judkins conversion, but San Francisco immediately marched back. Brock Purdy hit George Kittle for 33 yards to set up a Matt Gay 25-yard field goal that doinked off the left upright and in as time expired, flipping momentum and the scoreboard to 10-8 at the break.

From there, it unraveled.

The turning point came in the third quarter on a fourth-and-1 sneak attempt where Fannin lined up under center. He never secured the snap, coughed it up, and Luke Gifford fell on it at the Browns’ 32. A few plays later, Purdy bootlegged around the edge for a 2-yard touchdown, then broke out the Dougie in front of the Dawg Pound.

“Once I got to the end zone I was there by myself for a little bit and I was like ‘alright, Dougie,’” said Purdy, who finished 16 of 29 for 168 yards.

Cleveland never recovered offensively. The Browns managed just 76 yards after halftime as San Francisco’s defense squeezed the life out of the passing game. Sanders ended 16 of 25 for 149 yards and a touchdown while being sacked three times.

“We ran the ball very well. And when we got in certain passing situations and field position, everything like that, it wasn’t the best,” Sanders said. “It’s just about being better in those moments.”

Judkins remained the lone consistent weapon, grinding out 91 yards on 23 carries and adding three catches for 18 yards. But with the Browns repeatedly backing themselves up, efficiency wasn’t enough.

The lone bright spot on defense remained Myles Garrett, who added another sack to push his NFL-leading total to 19 and extend his streak to six straight games with at least one. He’s now closing in on the single-season mark of 22.5.

Still, Garrett’s dominance couldn’t erase the damage done by special-teams miscues, offensive turnovers and red-zone failures.

Instead of celebrating a second straight win with their rookie quarterback, the Browns walk away with a reminder: against a team like San Francisco, you don’t just have to beat them — you have to stop beating yourself.

Cleveland (3-9) will try to clean it up next week when they host Tennessee at home.

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