All season long, the Cleveland Browns’ special teams unit has been a frequent talking point and not for good reasons. They have struggled with coverage, missed kicks, allowed kickoff and punt return touchdowns, and made mental errors in critical moments, raising questions about Bubba Ventrone’s job security.

Sunday’s game offered many of the same issues. The unit gave up a 52-yard kickoff return to start the game, immediately putting the Chicago Bears in excellent field position.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski has repeatedly faced questions throughout the season about these ongoing special teams issues. Following the Browns’ 31-3 loss to the Bears, and many of the same issues still showing up, Stefanski was once again asked about the unit’s struggles.

“Obviously, we expect our guys to be able to go out there and perform in some of these situations, and we need to look at it and figure out ways to get guys on the ground. Obviously, when you’re playing in a game like this, you’re playing a field position game, and we didn’t put ourselves in a great spot early,” Stefanski said.

"Obviously, we expect our guys to be able to go out there and perform in some of these situations and we need to look at it and figure out ways to get guys on the ground." #Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski on continued special teams issues pic.twitter.com/MvApXXCpPb

— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) December 14, 2025

Every week, the team fails to fix many of the same issues from the previous week. The most troubling aspect of Stefanski’s tenure as head coach is the apparent lack of accountability, both for players and for his own coaches.

The team continues to commit the same frustrating penalties, yet Stefanski rarely holds his coaches responsible for these shortcomings.

Whether ownership decides to retain Stefanski for the 2026 season or not, something has to change, because it feels like we have been watching the same problems play out in every game for the past two seasons.