The Browns just dropped a brutal 17-12 game to the New York Jets, and for the second year running, their special teams are the reason why they’re heading home with a loss. It’s tough to swallow when the defense fights hard, and you get opportunities, only for those critical moments to slip through your fingers because of plays you’d expect to be routine.
The Fumble That Flipped the Game
Special teams, man. They’re usually an afterthought until they completely blow things up. And for the Browns playing the Jets, it’s a recurring nightmare. This time around, the biggest gut punch came with four minutes left in the fourth quarter when punter Corey Bojorquez fumbled a punt snap deep in their own territory. That miscue gave the Jets the ball at the Browns’ 23-yard line. Just three plays later, Braelon Allen ran untouched for a 22-yard touchdown, giving New York the lead for good with 3:01 remaining. Bojorquez tried to explain it: “I mean, you know, tough conditions. Been raining all day, balls get waterlogged, especially late in the fourth quarter. So, I mean, yeah, it makes it a lot harder to get it done, but end of the day, just gotta get it done.” The rain had been steady, remnants of Hurricane Isaias passing through. Bojorquez had punted seven times without an issue, but that eighth snap went high and right through his hands. Long snapper Rex Sunahara took some blame, too, saying, “I gotta watch it. It’s a bad snap and I gotta be better.” This whole sequence happened just 12 seconds after defensive tackle Adin Huntington recovered a fumble from Jets quarterback Geno Smith, thanks to a strip sack by linebacker Carson Schwesinger, which had given the Browns the ball at the New York 43. They netted zero yards on three plays before the punt. Brutal.
A Kicker’s Streak Ends and the Echoes of Last Season
But wait, there’s more special teams drama. Kicker Andre Szmyt, who’d been money all season, even extending his consecutive field goals made streak to 24 dating back to Week 8 of the 2025 season, hit both of his first-half kicks. The problem wasn’t his field goals, it was his point-after streak. Szmyt had made 31 consecutive PATs dating back to the third quarter of the 2025 season opener, but that streak ended with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter. After Deshaun Watson connected with Denzel Boston for a 29-yard touchdown that put the Browns up 12-10, Szmyt’s kick clanged off the right upright. That gave the Jets a chance to take the lead with just a field goal, which they eventually did. Szmyt was just as confused as everyone watching: “Honestly, I need to look back at it. I have no idea what happened. It was one of those like, wait, did that just really happen? I mean obviously like balls are waterlogged but I just feel like I hit it a little thin. Just with like the heavier balls, you just feel like they don’t really maybe fly on their true path. But I don’t know. I have to watch the tape obviously figure it out and move on.”
This loss to the Jets feels like a ghost from the past. The Browns changed both their head coach and special teams coordinator after last season, which included a 27-20 loss to the Jets in the exact same New Jersey stadium. That game was infamous for two Jets’ touchdown returns, a kickoff and a punt, in a dizzying 34-second span in the first quarter. This new season, under new coordinator Byron Storer, the special teams had largely been much improved. Just ten days ago, Szmyt nailed a career-long 56-yard field goal with ten seconds left to win a home game against the Steelers. But when it rains like this, mistakes get magnified, and the Browns are left picking up the pieces from another special teams meltdown against the Jets.
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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