OTL: Loop, There It….Goes

The Baltimore Ravens are not a part of the NFL Postseason. They fell by two points to the Pittsburgh Steelers after Tyler Loop missed the game-winning field goal attempt. There never was a more fitting end for a season that included blunder after blunder, which started with a collapse against the Buffalo Bills. How else could a season that started 1-5 in the face of Super Bowl expectations end? How else could a season where the Ravens lost miserably and ineptly in front of their home crowd on Thanksgiving end? This season was a bouquet of wilted flowers with a sliver of sunlight making their way to the purple petals. From the second Derrick Henry fumbled in Week 1, it felt cursed. As long as the Steelers do not make a successful run in these playoffs, Baltimore will find mercy in the season’s completion. That does not mute the shock and awe of thoughts and emotions that lifted with the football after Loop’s foot made contact with that ball.

Nikhil Mehta from Baltimore Beatdown tapped into that shock with his post-game reaction:

For anyone reading this who is shellshocked right now: me, too. You could spend an hour listing potential endings to the Ravens’ season and you wouldn’t get to this one. A ridiculous back-and-forth in the fourth quarter with not one, not two, but three miraculous plays by the Ravens offense put them in position to win. But just like the rest of their season, it didn’t go to plan. Loop, in the biggest moment of his life, went wide right, and the Ravens are going home. It’s time for some tough questions in Baltimore.

That was not your typical Ravens battle in Pittsburgh. While it came down to a one-score game, as many of these games do, that fourth quarter was distinctively memorable. In a way, the Ravens did everything right. They had the game in hand as a 44-yard field goal is not a lot to ask for in the National Football League. Mehta is right, the ending of this game was not predictable.

Zach Canter asked the questions we’re all asking:

Now we head to one of the most pivotal offseasons in franchise history. Will John Harbaugh stay or go? Will Lamar Jackson be extended or traded? Can the Ravens somehow reset the roster despite numerous holes? It’s going to be a long, dramatic offseason with many headliners about nothing until the Jackson situation is resolved. For now we should likely know about Harbaugh in the next 48 hours. Onto 2026.

John Harbaugh has always had an auto-cooling feature to his seat as the Ravens head coach. That being said, talk of his removal has never been this persistent and loud from week to week. Whether or not it is rooted in truth, Lamar Jackson’s standing with Harbaugh and the team has been questioned. Do the Ravens keep the band together? Harbaugh is a respected coach who has always had favor with the man who hired him, Steve Bisciotti. You almost have to wonder what it would take for the Ravens to fire him. Winning only eight games when you were the preseason favorite to win the Super Bowl might just be enough.

Lamar: “I thought we had it in the bag. I don’t know what else we could do.”
Asked about his contract and other offseason activity and whether he wants Harbaugh back, Jackson said he’s too stunned to answer offseason questions.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) January 5, 2026

Lamar Jackson is with everybody else in the state of shock. Jeff Zrebiec reports that Jackson thought the win was secured and he declined to answer offseason questions because he was too stunned. I’ll give Jackson credit, that’s a legitimate diversion of tough questions that will rule this offseason.

Pure AGONY from Derrick Henry on Tyler Loop’s missed kick that eliminated the Ravens from the playoffs pic.twitter.com/eQw5BbXIQj

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) January 5, 2026

Five seconds of video says it all. The Ravens were ready to celebrate their victory and continue their season. The expressions of Derrick Henry and John Harbaugh don’t need to be accompanied by words, the stares of disbelief are unmistakable.

Chris Boswell seeing Tyler Loop cost his team instead pic.twitter.com/lK4Zja5beX

— C (@Chaz18_) January 5, 2026

Every game has its scapegoat and a kicker was going to be on the hook for this one either way you sliced it. Chris Boswell missed an extra point which opened the door for Loop’s potential game winning kick. No kicker is perfect. Boswell’s legacy is pretty much cemented as one of the best in the history of the league. Loop is a rookie. While the Ravens may or may not look elsewhere in the kicking game, he has time put this behind him and move forward as a kicker.

I feel like this is needed to be said:

Tyler Loop just missed the kick, he was 29/32 on field goals coming into the kick, and perfect from inside 50.

I know he is going through a very tough time right now, people on social media will be completely bashing him all offseason… pic.twitter.com/GzJrmoPRLr

— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) January 5, 2026

This tweet offers a fairly effective defense to Loop’s season. Statistically, he was very good. I would argue that his inability to hit field goals consistently from beyond 50 yards (a required skill in today’s NFL) and his repeated penalties on kickoffs should have given the Ravens some pause before the missed kick in Pittsburgh. Loop could turn around and have a phenomenal career. If I was the Ravens, I am bringing in serious competition at the very least.

Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports wrote about the dramatic nature of the fourth quarter fireworks:

Like two heavyweight boxers, Jackson and Rodgers traded blows throughout the fourth quarter. Following Rodgers’ touchdown pass to Austin, Jackson responded with another jaw-dropping completion to Likely on fourth-down that put the Ravens in position to win the game on a last-second field goal. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Lamar Jackson was incredible in the fourth quarter. I think that makes this loss even more frustrating. The Ravens owned the first quarter but then got stifled and dominated for most of the next two quarters. The big explosive plays were nice, but where were they when the Steelers reclaimed complete control of the game? Where were they most of the season? The fourth quarter is painful because it finally felt like Jackson was becoming his MVP self again, reminding us how good he can truly be. DeArdo says it wasn’t meant to be; I say that it was a painful reminder of what could have been, not just in Week 18, but the entire year.

Steelers offense with Kyle Hamilton on the field:

3.9 yards/play
37% success
-0.27 EPA/play
on 38 plays

Steelers offense after Kyle Hamilton was injured (1 minute into the 3rd quarter):

6.9 yards/play
60% success
+0.44 EPA/play
on 35 plays

per @NextGenStats

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 5, 2026

The game changed for the worse when Kyle Hamilton exited the game with a possible concussion. Alohi Gilman also exited the game but unlike Hamilton made a quick return to action. The stats shared by this tweet by Warren Sharp speak volumes. If Hamilton ever gets into a contract dispute with the Ravens, a printout of this post on X should be in his back pocket.

The season is over. The playoffs go on, but without the Ravens.

Happy Monday. Try to find the positive where you can.

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