Sunday night’s showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers was a nailbiter, going down to the wire. The Steelers pulled ahead on Aaron Rodgers’ clutch 26-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin III, but Chris Boswell shockingly missed the extra point, leaving Pittsburgh’s defense to hold a narrow 26-24 lead with nearly a full minute and three Ravens timeouts remaining.
Lamar Jackson did his job, getting Baltimore into field goal range with a huge fourth-down conversion to Isaiah Likely. Rather than keep pushing for more yards, however, the Ravens knelt down to center the ball before calling a timeout with two seconds left, setting up rookie kicker Tyler Loop for the game-winning 44-yard field goal.
Loop hadn’t missed a field goal under 50 yards all season. However, this one was different. Pittsburgh is one of the toughest places in the NFL to kick, especially in January with a playoff berth on the line.
As Loop prepared for his fateful kick, Steelers backup quarterback Mason Rudolph turned to a dejected Aaron Rodgers on the bench and said, “He’s gonna miss it.”
Sure enough, Loop pushed his kick wide right, saving Pittsburgh from what would have been a devastating one-point loss.
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Loop had the chance to be the hero, but became the goat instead. Considering that he’d already made a 40-yard attempt and all three of his extra points earlier in the game, the pressure seemed to get to him. He also booted a kickoff out of bounds earlier in the fourth quarter, setting up a touchdown drive for the Steelers.
Football games are won and lost on the margins, and both teams’ entire seasons came down to one play. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, its opponent failed to execute.
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