{"id":389755,"date":"2026-01-05T15:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T15:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/389755\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T15:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T15:16:08","slug":"tyler-loops-missed-44-yard-field-goal-costs-ravens-afc-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/389755\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyler Loop’s missed 44-yard field goal costs Ravens AFC North"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH — As soon as Baltimore Ravens<\/a> kicker Tyler Loop<\/a> kicked the ball, his head sank in despair.<\/p>\n

Loop knew immediately that his potential winning 44-yard field goal went wide right in Sunday night\u2019s 26-24 loss, which gave the AFC North title to the rival Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> and abruptly ended Baltimore\u2019s season. The Ravens (8-9) missed the playoffs for the first time since 2021 and recorded just their third losing season in John Harbaugh\u2019s 18 years as coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor it to end like that sucks, and I want to do better,\u201d Loop said. \u201cUnfortunately, the nature of the job is you have makes, and those are awesome, and unfortunately, you have misses, and for that to happen tonight sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was the first game-winning attempt for Loop, a sixth-round rookie who replaced Justin Tucker<\/a>. Loop had been outstanding this season, making 90% of his field goal tries (30-of-33) before lining up for the kick with the game on the line.<\/p>\n

According to Next Gen Stats, Loop had a 79% chance of making the 44-yarder. Loop said there were no issues with the snap or hold. He just mis-hit the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second it made contact with my foot, I felt it lower,\u201d Loop said. \u201cWe talk about hitting on the fourth lace of the shoe. It felt a little lower down the foot and hit it thin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what was going through his mind when watching the kick, Loop replied, \u201cI couldn\u2019t even remember. It just sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a back-and-forth fourth quarter that featured four lead changes, it looked like the Ravens were in position to capture their third straight division title. On fourth-and-7, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson<\/a> connected with tight end Isaiah Likely<\/a> for a 26-yard pass, which put Baltimore on Pittsburgh\u2019s 24-yard line with 14 seconds left.<\/p>\n

Jackson then took a knee on the next play to move the ball from the left hash to the center of the field. Harbaugh was asked if the Ravens should have attempted to move the ball closer for Loop.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a close kick. You want to center the ball,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cWe wanted to make sure we got the kick. We didn\u2019t want something bad to happen on the run. I don\u2019t think that was a bad decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the Ravens walked off the field and into the locker room, Harbaugh had his left arm around Loop.<\/p>\n

Loop said Harbaugh\u2019s message to him was \u201cJust [get] back in the saddle. \u2018Hey, you\u2019re going to have more [kicks]. You have to get ready. It sucks, and we have your back, but we have to go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ravens became the first preseason Super Bowl favorite to miss the playoffs since the New England Patriots<\/a> in 2008, when Tom Brady got hurt in the season opener. Jackson did his best to keep Baltimore\u2019s playoff hopes alive by throwing touchdown passes of 50 and 64 yards to wide receiver Zay Flowers<\/a> in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did all that to come up short,\u201d Jackson said. \u201c[It\u2019s] devastating. [I am] furious. [I am feeling] all types of [emotions]. I don\u2019t know, I\u2019m everywhere with it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loop\u2019s miss was reminiscent of Billy Cundiff hooking a 32-yard field goal attempt left in the final seconds of a 23-20 loss to the Patriots in the 2011 AFC Championship Game. The Ravens have also had their share of late-game misery recently, from Flowers\u2019 fumble near the goal line against Kansas City in the 2023 AFC Championship Game to Mark Andrews<\/a>\u2019 dropped 2-point conversion attempt against Buffalo in the AFC divisional round last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it only gets harder,\u201d Ravens offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley<\/a> said. \u201cComing up short with the type of team that we have, it doesn\u2019t feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH — As soon as Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop kicked the ball, his head sank in despair.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[165397,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-389755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-baltimore-ravens-sports-football-team-team-statscom-366","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}