CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns fans likely held their breath for all three of Andre Szmyt’s kicks on Sunday.
But in Cleveland’s Week 2, 41-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the first-year kicker turned out to be the least of Cleveland’s special teams problems.
Szmyt made all three of his attemptss on Sunday — a 38-yard field goal in the second quarter and two PATs in the second half. It was a rebound from a Week 1 performance that included Szmyt missing a 36-yard field goal and an extra-point attempt in a 17-16 loss to the Bengals.
While Szmyt drew little attention in this week’s game, the same can’t be said for the rest of Cleveland’s special teams.
The most critical error came in the first half, with Corey Bojorquez, one of the best punters in the league, punting with the ball at the Browns’ own 45 on fourth-and-8.
In what can only be explained as a breakdown, Ravens linebacker Jake Hummel flew through the line, right past safety Ronnie Hickman who served as the last line of defense for Bojorquez in the upback position.
Hummel easily blocked the punt, the first blocked punt for Baltimore since 2016, and the Ravens took over at the Cleveland 24.
“We know why it got blocked,” said Browns linebacker Devin Bush, who was in with the punt unit. “It’s just all on us to play better and be better and just execute better.”
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Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens, September 14, 2025
Of course, the error became compounded considering it put the Ravens in prime scoring position.
All Ravens QB Lamar Jackson needed was two snaps to find receiver Tylan Wallace in the end zone for a 15-yard score, taking a 10-0 lead.
“Obviously we can’t allow that to happen,” said Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski on his Monday Zoom call. “Not going to get in the specifics of the play, but we just needed to be, need to be, better in protection. That’s a big part of this game, going back to playing complementary football is you talk about field position. We need to do our job really in all areas, but we should never allow that.”
To make matters worse, Bojorquez left the field limping after the play. He was able to return and finish the game, allowing the Browns to avoid adding injury to insult.
Not only did the Browns allow a blocked punt on special teams, their return game has once again done them no favors. It’s unfortunately something that has become a pattern over recent years, both under current coordinator Bubba Ventrone and even Mike Priefer before him.
DeAndre Carter, Cleveland’s primary returner, is now in the concussion protocol and had to exit the game after returning the opening kickoff on Sunday.
In his absence for most of Sunday, Jerome Ford had 81 yards on four kick returns (the longest being 25 yards), but rookie receiver Isaiah Bond looked noticeably uncomfortable in the punt return game.
Bond had one fair catch — but maybe the most noticeable point of the rookie’s inexperience came at the 6:43 mark in the second quarter, when he seemingly thought about catching the ball, but backed off at the last second. The decision allowed a favorable bounce for the Ravens as they downed the ball and Cleveland started its next drive at its own 28. On the punt, the Ravens had the ball at their own 15-yard line.
“As a backup returner, you get a lot of reps in practice to get ready,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, we lost some yardage there on some balls that we’d like to field. There were some balls that would’ve been very difficult to get to and then had some good bounces for them. So again, those are hidden yardage plays that we need to get the ball back with the maximum amount of yards helped towards our offense.”
The Browns offense of course did itself no favors as Joe Flacco threw a bad pick and also lost a fumble that the Ravens scooped and scored. Numerous Cleveland pass catchers including Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, Bond and Ford had drops in the game too.
The giveaways, the special teams errors that led to poor field position, and the loss of Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward to cramping in an already depleted secondary, all helped play a role in gassing the Cleveland defense in the second half of the game.
It all helped nullify the strong start for the Cleveland defense, as the Browns held Ravens running back Derrick Henry to 5 first-half yards and the Ravens offense to just 81 yards over the first two quarters.
At 0-2, things won’t be getting easier any time soon for the Browns, who will welcome the 2-0 Packers into town this week on 10 days rest before heading on the road to play Detroit, to London to play the Vikings, and then on the road to play Pittsburgh after the Steelers’ bye.
If the Browns can’t figure out how to play some semblance of complementary football with their offense and special teams, things have the potential to get much worse during this stretch.
“I think it goes back to what we were talking about earlier in the form of playing complementary ball,” Stefanski said. “Making an offense drive the football versus our defense as opposed to giving them good field position, whether via a special teams play or a turnover, those types of things. So that’s where we need to as a team, understand how important it’s to complement each other.”
If Cleveland doesn’t start playing together soon, the season could unravel before it ever truly begins.
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