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Lamar Jackson Had Classy Message for Ravens’ Rookie Kicker After Missed FG

Andy Nesbitt

Lamar Jackson and the Ravens had their season come to an end with Sunday night's loss to the Steelers.
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens had their season come to an end with Sunday night's loss to the Steelers. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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Lamar Jackson and the Ravens had their season come to an end in crushing fashion Sunday night when rookie kicker Tyler Loop missed a 44-yard field goal attempt as time expired. That miss gave the Steelers a thrilling 26-24 win which clinched the AFC North title and the final spot in the AFC playoffs.

Jackson was brilliant down the stretch for the Ravens and put them in a position to win the game after Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers had grabbed the lead in the final minute.

Loop, however, pushed his kick to the right and he immediately knew that he had missed what was the biggest kick of his young NFL career.

"It was a great situation, exactly what we wanted, and unfortunately, I just mishit the ball," Loop said. "We call it hitting it thin. It spins fast and goes off to the right.

"The second it made contact with my foot, I felt it lower. We talk about hitting on the fourth lace of the shoe. It felt a little lower down the foot and hit it thin."

Jackson had a classy message for Loop during his postgame press conference. Instead of being down or being angry with the rookie, he picked him up by saying:

"He's a rookie," Jackson said. "It's all good. Just leave it in the past."

After a slow start to the game, Jackson was electric in the fourth quarter, throwing two long touchdown passes that gave the Ravens a chance to win the game.

The first was a 50-yard strike to Zay Flowers that came after Jackson was somehow able to get away from two Steelers defenders before throwing a dime to his top receiver.

Then a few minutes later he hit Flowers again for a 64-yard touchdown that gave the Ravens a 24-20 lead with just over two minutes remaining.

Rodgers then led the Steelers down the field in a hurry and gave them the 26-24 lead with a touchdown pass to Calvin Austin III with just 55 seconds remaining.

Jackson and the Ravens quickly got into field goal range but Loop wasn't able to make the kick and their season came to another disappointing end.

The Steelers, meanwhile, will host the Texans next Monday night in the wild-card round.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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