Tyler Loop missed field goal: Ravens suffer heartbreaking ending to playoff chances with kicker's blunder

Daniel Mader

•
Tyler Loop missed field goal: Ravens suffer heartbreaking ending to playoff chances with kicker's blunder image

The Baltimore Ravens' season came down to one 44-yard field goal.

In Pittsburgh, with the AFC North title on the line, Lamar Jackson had worked his magic to get the Ravens in position to win Sunday night's game, the last of the 2025 NFL regular season, and send Baltimore to the playoffs. Then, Tyler Loop went wide-right.

Acrisure Stadium erupted to conclude "Sunday Night Football" in Week 18, as the Steelers managed to squeak by with a 26-24 win thanks to Loop's missed 44-yard attempt, just moments after Pittsburgh's own reliable kicker missed an easy kick as well.

Here's a look at Tyler Loop's missed field goal that send the Steelers to the playoffs and ended the Ravens' season.

MORE: Ranking all 14 teams' chances at winning Super Bowl 60

Tyler Loop missed field goal

The fourth quarter of Sunday's AFC North-deciding matchup was simply an all-timer. Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers, two potential Hall of Famers at differing points in their careers, traded touchdowns in the final few minutes for a few lead changes.

Pittsburgh took a 26-24 lead when Rodgers hit Calvin Austin for a touchdown pass with around a minute remaining, but because Chris Boswell missed the extra point, the door was open for a Ravens division-winning comeback.

Jackson led the Ravens down the field, including a miraculous 4th & 7 downfield play to Isaiah Likely that set up a fairly straightforward 44-yard field goal attempt to make the playoffs. Out came Tyler Loop, with Baltimore's season on the line.

Loop sent the ball wide-left, and "Terrible Towels" began swinging everywhere in Pittsburgh as the Steelers locked in a playoff berth.

Here's another angle of the moment Loop missed.

After the game, John Harbaugh accompanied his kicker to the locker room. He told reporters that he doesn't remember what he said, but he had a "little conversation" with Loop after the miss.

Postgame, long snapper Nick Moore spoke about the missed kick, saying the team needed to execute and the team has "nothing but faith" in Loop.

Per Jeff Zrebiec, Lamar Jackson said that he "felt like the game was going to come down to Loop at the end," and said “I thought we had it in the bag. I don’t know what else we could do.”

Loop also told reporters that he knew it was a miss the second the ball left his foot, per Zrebiec.

MORE: Full highlights, results from Steelers vs. Ravens

How did Steelers beats Ravens?

The Steelers trailed at various points in Sunday's game, including 10-3 at halftime after failing to find the end zone from one-yard out just as the second-quarter clock expired. However, coming into the fourth quarter, the Steelers came back to take a 13-10 lead as the Ravens' offense had gone cold.

What the fourth quarter entailed couldn't have been anticipated, though. Jackson first hit Zay Flowers for a 50-yard touchdown pass that made it 17-13 Ravens with under nine minutes left.

The Steelers responded, setting up a Kenneth Gainwell touchdown with a 31-yard pass from Rodgers to Pat Freiermuth.

Once again, Pittsburgh was on top, needing defensive stops to win its division.

Jackson and the Ravens weren't done, though. Pittsburgh had a defensive breakdown, allowing Flowers to get wide-open once again for a 63-yard score. Baltimore took the lead and seemingly was moments away from clinching the AFC North.

On what could have been the final drive of his career, Aaron Rodgers came through for the Steelers. He initiated yet another lead change, finding Calvin Austin down the sideline with under a minute remaining to give the Steelers the final lead of the game, and eventual game-winning touchdown.

The drama wasn't complete — because of a missed extra point, the Ravens had a chance to win the game with a field goal. Jackson made sure his team got a spectacular opportunity to do exactly that, leading a drive down the field that included a miraculous escape, then downfield throw to Isaiah Likely on fourth down to save Baltimore's season.

That was the play that set up the Ravens for a potential game-winning kick, which went wide-right and left Baltimore stunned.

MORE NFL WEEK 18 NEWS:

Chris Boswell missed kick

If it weren't for Loop's missed field goal, it's certain that another missed kick would have been the story of Sunday night's season-concluding matchup. Right after the Steelers took a 26-24 lead with under a minute remaining, one of the NFL's veteran kickers had a potential all-time blunder.

Chris Boswell missed the extra point, meaning the Ravens could take the lead on a field goal instead of tying. And until Loop missed his own kick, it appeared that Boswell's rare miss would forever haunt the Steelers.

AFC playoff picture 

Here's the final breakdown of the AFC playoff picture. With their win, the Steelers locked in the No. 4 seed and will host the fifth-seeded Houston Texans over Wild Card Weekend.

SeedTeamRecordClinched?
1Broncos13-4AFC West, playoff berth
2Patriots13-4AFC East, playoff berth
3Jaguars13-4AFC South, playoff berth
4Steelers10-7AFC North, playoff berth
5Texans12-5Playoff berth, No. 5 seed
6Bills12-5Playoff berth, No. 6 seed
7Chargers11-6Playoff berth, No. 7 seed

MORE: Full NFL playoff picture, matchups

Content Producer

Contributing Writer