Ravens Save Biggest Blunder for Last in Season-Ending Loss

The 2025 Baltimore Ravens were never a particularly clean football team. That's not to say that they were untalented; they unflinchingly followed Lamar Jackson into battle week after week, but anytime he was a split-second too late fastening his superhero cape around his neck, his errant teammates collapsed in on themselves like crumbling stars while taking Jackson down with them.

Those institutionally unparalleled mistake-prone tendencies attached many more stakes than otherwise necessary to their regular season finale this past weekend. Despite entering this past fall as inner-circle championship favorites, they'd spent the year losing as many games as they won before matching up with the hosting Pittsburgh Steelers for the right to advance to the playoffs as the lone AFC North representative.

And while Jackson made the correct plays when he needed to, most notably devoting the shootout of a fourth quarter to spoon-feeding Zay Flowers for the wideout's first multi-touchdown day of the season, he just wasn't enough. Every time the Ravens tasted a drop of momentum all game long, there were calling cards of the comedy of errors that had followed them all season long.

Even looking past the final 47 seconds, all Baltimore had to overcome a 26-24 deficit, there had been leakage. A limitless stream of penalties and injuries to key defenders and linemen opened the door just enough for the well-seasoned Aaron Rodgers to tap back into his comfortability against the Ravens, which he demonstrated with a wide-open touchdown pass within regulation's final minute, but he couldn't apply all of the available pressure when the usually-reliable Chris Boswell missed a layup of an extra point kick.

Chris Boswell just missed his second extra point in the last 4 years

At the absolute worst timepic.twitter.com/IxhijFbrdc
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 5, 2026

Jackson made his move to kickstart his drive for the season by hitting Devontez Walker for a quick gain, but there was another flag to push the Ravens back after Ronnie Stanley lined up in an illegal formation. Fourth down snuck up on the Ravens when a miscommunication between quarterback and DeAndre Hopkins resulted in an incompletion, but Isaiah Likely finally held onto a big, drive-extending catch to exact some personal Steelers revenge.

Well within field goal range on Pittsburgh's 24, all that remained was for rookie kicker Tyler Loop, who'd gone 7-7 on kicks between 40-49 feet, to successfully boot a 43-footer.

Ravens fans could have told you what happened next without even watching.

THE RAVENS KICK IS NO GOOD AND THE STEELERS ARE PLAYOFF-BOUND. pic.twitter.com/cIVq2TPKwp
— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2026

Picking Through the Bones

Loop's pushed kick marks the first time that Jackson failed to complete his march to the playoffs in a season that he completed, the natural progression to several consecutive years of brutal finishes and just-missed opportunities. After back-to-back postseason runs shortened by crucial fumbles and drops, they fell completely short of the dance with a losing record in an underwhelming division while granting their biggest rivals a pass at erasing Boswell's own whiff on top of a Wild Card berth.

Baltimore Ravens Place Kicker Tyler Loop — Jan 4, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Baltimore Ravens place kicker Tyler Loop (33) reacts after missing the game winning field goal against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second half at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Jackson didn't throw nearly as much as he could have in deferring to Derrick Henry, who enjoyed 126 carries on his 32nd birthday, but the quarterback still filled his stat sheet with three touchdowns and 238 yards on only 18 passes and 11 completions.

Rodgers, on the other hand, completely unloaded his clip on the porous Baltimore defense, who sorely missed Kyle Hamilton in the game's second half. A Pittsburgh offense that initially resorted to check-downs to running backs looked considerably more empowered without the Ravens' Swiss Army watchman up the middle, and the veteran legend finished his night with three short of 50 throws and his 37th career game-winning drive.

He'll host the Houston Texans in Wild Card Weekend, extending what could be his final season following what will surely go down as one of the more memorable games in recent history. The Ravens, meanwhile, looked like the old worst versions of themselves in the clutch to kick off their new year, and can now expect some sweeping changes to address this all-time disappointment of a campaign.

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