Genius of Ravens Apparent Offseason Blunder Will Be Clear This Summer

The Ravens’ season ended in inglorious fashion, blowing another fourth-quarter lead and then having to rally wildly to try to beat a middling Steelers team only to lose when their rookie kicker missed a 44-yard field goal as time expired.

It was a brutal way for their season to end and for the first season of Tyler Loop to end and it begged some questions about how the Ravens should proceed. In fact, at one point it seemed like they were being perhaps naïve not signing a proven veteran to compete with Loop. What could it hurt? Right?

In this case, however, the Ravens very likely know best. Loop was incredibly convincing when he met with the media this spring for the first time since that huge miss that ended up being the last time John Harbaugh coached the Ravens and triggered the most upheaval this franchise has experienced in decades. It was a lot for the young man to absorb and face and, potentially, overcome. But that is what I expect he will do in 2026.

Passing The Eye Test

I suspect that this organization putting its collective arms around Loop as it has will be richly rewarded. They could see early in the offseason what the fans of this team got to see for themselves when Loop spoke at minicamp – he is mature beyond his years and capable of the kind of perspective and introspection required to compartmentalize this setback and move on from it.

“It has to be completely flushed away - next kick - on the emotional side of it,” Loop said of his process of moving on. “I play a very factual position - you either made the kick, fact, or missed the kick, fact. You have to be able to look at it objectively – this is why I missed the kick. And you learn from it and move on. You gotta say, ‘I’m still capable of doing this, and my process isn’t broken.”

Ravens kicking coach Randy Brown is a true pioneer and guru, understanding the mechanics and kinesiology and nuance of kicking as few do, as well as the psychology of it. if he feels comfortable enough that empowering Loop by having him be the unquestioned man for the job, then that’s more than good enough for me.

Head coach Jesse Minter left some wiggle room for competition at kicker, but that felt surface-level and unconvincing. They seem far more inclined to let him have this job for 2026.

As we’ve pointed out several times now, Loop’s rookie season was elite by rookie kicker standards since 2015, portending that he will be able to do this job for years to come. He doesn’t have to be Justin Tucker to more than adequately replace Tucker, and we need to be mindful that Tucker was a declining asset on the field and aging fast, before we found out what a disgusting person he was off it and what he would get suspended for.

Loop wont have to blast as many 50 yards field goals in his sophomore year as Tucker did to prove that his season-ending miss is behind him. And despite some second-guessing of which I was originally inclined, that will end up being the case.

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