Jets End Three-Game Losing Streak Against the Browns

By Daniel Feuerstein | East Rutherford, NJ | October 11th, 2026

After suffering three straight losses to three of the four NFC North Teams after winning Week 1, the New York Jets came back to MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands to prepare for a big game against the surprising Cleveland Browns, who are at the top of the AFC North with a 3-1 record. The conditions of the game were sloppy, and rain was coming down, soaking the field; the Jets were in a big battle with an improved DeShaun Watson behind center. While the offense was sputtering, it was the defense that came out to play and did a solid job, but when the Jets got a gift and scored the final touchdown of the day, and with a big defensive effort to cement the win, they kept their season alive with the final score of 17-12.

The Opening drive

After putting the Browns into a three-and-out, the Jets got the ball back and started to make some plays on offense. This was the Braelon Allen and Garrett Wilson show, as both men excelled with big plays and moving the chains with ease. Allen got several runs in, especially a ten-yard run to get it towards the red zone, but Wilson once again shows he is dynamic and a big-time wide receiver, making big plays and continuing to give the Jets solid moments with a 17-yard grab and a 21-yard grab. The Jets hit pay dirt when Geno Smith found Wilson wide open along the near side and a huge run with a spin move to avoid the defender to enter the end zone with a 32-yard catch-and-run, to take the lead

Jets bend but don’t break defense

All game long, the defense was doing its job. Keeping the Browns out of the end zone and just allowing two field goals to keep the lead. There were several huge hits, including one from Minkah Fitzpatrick that knocked out KC Concepcion Jr., who was removed from the game. It was going to be a long afternoon of hard hits, big tackles, and having those moments where the ball will be taken away. While the Browns did have some solid plays on defense themselves, the Jets found ways to make the plays happen and came out on top.

Sack fest in the swamp

The Jets had a field day putting the quarterback down as DeShaun Watson suffered eight sacks. Three of the five came from David Bailey as he matched a Jets rookie record with three sacks in a game that was last done by Hugh Douglas in 1995. The rest were from Dane Belton, Jowon Briggs, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Darren Jackson Jr., and the last sack of the game ended the Browns’ hopes as Will McDonald delivered a strip sack and a fumble recovery to get the Jets into victory formation. The edge rushers and the rest of the front seven had an amazing job putting Watson on his back this entire game.

Cleveland takes the lead

After Jason Sanders converted a 54-yard field goal for a 10-6 Jets lead, the Browns were looking for a big play and got it when they moved down the field and on third and 10, Watson sent a big 29-yard throw all the way down the field and found Denzel Boston, who made the catch and just waltzed into the end zone for the Browns to take their first lead of the game. But when the kicker Andre Szmyt hit the right upright, he missed the extra point, so what was supposed to be a three-point lead remained a two-point lead and a big chance for the Jets to retake the lead.

Miracle bad snap and the game-winning run

Both sides were going back and forth with the ball, but no one was able to get closer to the end zone or the red zone. The Browns, with 4:01 left in the fourth quarter, were stopped for a three-and-out. They were on the Jets’ 44-yard line, and when the ball was snapped, it went over the head and through the hands of their punter, Corey Bojorquez, and the ball was heading down the field and landed on the Browns’ 25-yard line, giving them a chance to win the game. After getting a total of three yards on first and second down, the Jets were looking to attempt a field goal if they couldn’t get to the Browns’ 15-yard line. Then on third down, a big block by Tim Patrick allowed Braelon Allen to find a seam and run it down the far side line to enter the end zone for the game-winning score.

Jets offense needs help badly

While it’s still difficult not to have Breece Hall, Adonai Mitchell, and Omar Cooper Jr. on the field for the Jets, there are a lot of issues going on right now. After an excellent first drive, everything fell apart. The worst of it all is seeing what many people believed to be a brick wall of an offensive line starting to rot right in front of us. While I understand they’re not going to have a perfect game every single time, seeing the opposition’s front seven getting through and sacking Geno Smith with ease is annoying and nauseating. There were several tackles that were made behind the line of scrimmage that prevented Allen from making chunk yardage plays or at least making something happen.

While there is no doubt that Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou are the bookend tackles for the Jets, and losing David Parnam to injury is a huge negative, the communication on the offensive line and/or not creating holes for your running backs is a major red flag, and the Jets need to find a way to fix this and bring them back to where they were in the first two weeks of the season. It’s very concerning, and with an AFC East matchup next week on the road to New England, this has to get cleaned up right away, or else the season will be in trouble once again.

Two players made the century mark

Two Jets on offense made 100 yards in their respective categories. Braelon Allen in his third season finally earned his 100 yards rushing as he made 116 total yards with 24 carries. For Garrett Wilson, he earned his 100 receiving yards in this game with seven receptions for 104 yards. Both men scored a touchdown, as Wilson got his at the start of the game and Allen got his at the end of the game. Both men did an amazing job in this game and were dangerous when their number was called.

Officiating went against the Jets

We all want to see officials do their jobs the right way and be impartial, but that’s not what happened in this game. This officiating crew was atrocious and either gave phantom penalties or kept their flags in their pockets. Not only did they fail to call roughing the passer when Geno Smith took a high hit, they kept their flags in their pockets. Another no-call for a flag to be thrown was Iasiah Williams, who called for a fair catch and stood in his place holding the ball. After a full five to six seconds, former Jet Malachi Corley, still running at Williams, dives and makes an attempt to take him out at the knees. Williams never went down, but there was no flag for Catching Interference.

When the Jets had a moment on special teams to stop the return, they were called for catching interference, and Aaron Glenn exploded on the sidelines and let the referees have a piece of his mind. Then later in the game, Brandon Stephens on third down found a way to knock the ball away, and the Jets were ready to receive a punt when the officials threw the flag for Pass Interference, but on the replay, Stephens barely grazed his man when he made the play. We all know NFL Officiating is brutal, but in this game, it felt like the officials were favoring the visitors and not being impartial.

“There’s a lot that we have to clean up, man. It’s always good to get a win. And when you get a win in a situation where you can visibly see the things that you got to clean up, this would be a good week for it, but our guys fought, and we finished, and that was the last thing that we pointed out as far as our prep for the week. Just make sure we have a finished mentality, and it was good to see our guys go out there and finish the game. Again, the penalties are something that we’ve got to clean up. It’s hard to go through a season with penalties like that. In the first couple of games, we were doing really well. In the last two, it seemed like we’ve had this penalty deal that we’ve got to clean up.

And, listen, we don’t sit here and cry and moan about the refs. We have to create that ourselves. So that’s something that we have to look at. We’ll continue to look at it. But other than that, it was a good team win. Every part had some bright moments that we could look at that helped us get this win. But every part has some moments that we have to look at that cost us too. So we’ll make sure we go in there and try to fix those things,” said Aaron Glenn