Football is a game of inches. It has also always been a sport that brings about the highest of highs and, sometimes, the lowest of lows.
Week 18 of the 2025-26 NFL season saw actions, game results, and final scores that carried serious consequences.
Since the conclusion of Sunday’s season-deciding games, six different head coaches across the league have been fired, bringing the total to eight coaches since the start of the season—one quarter of the league’s 32 clubs now hold coaching vacancies.
One such situation came down to the final play between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens—a meeting between the NFL’s two longest-tenured coaches, Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh.
Steelers’ kicker Chris Boswell missed an extra point, setting up Baltimore’s kicker, Tyler Loop, for a go-ahead field goal from 44 yards out on the final play of the game.
Loop, however, did not hit his target, missing the uprights wide to the right, handing Pittsburgh the AFC North Division title and a Wild Card play-in matchup with CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans the following week.
An image circulating social media summed up the situation quite well:
And it wasn’t just the Steelers’ postseason chances that were affected by the outcome of his kick.
With their kicker missing the goal posts, the Ravens were eliminated from the playoffs, effectively ending Baltimore’s 18-year run with Harbaugh at the helm. He was let go from his position three days later after 12 trips to the postseason and a rather lopsided 180-113 overall record.
Loop, the rookie kicker who faltered in the game’s dying seconds, knew the implications of his miss and showed significant emotion on the field. He covered his face with his hands and needed help from Harbaugh, his opponent Boswell, and various teammates to make it back to the team’s locker room post-game.
Loop then spoke with media after the game about his emotional display, the weight of the situation, and his disappointment in missing the postseason.
“Unfortunately, the nature of the job is you have makes and those are awesome, and unfortunately, you have misses. And for that to happen tonight sucks,” he said.
A devout Christian, the 24-year-old also spoke on his faith, his reliance on God through difficulties, and his mentality moving forward.
“Faith is a big part of my life,” Loop said. “Right now, I’m reading the book of Romans, and in Romans 8 it says, ‘And God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.’
“It’s a verse that just reminds me, ultimately, that I’m here to love on the guys around me, and I’m here to try and have their back and be a good teammate and be a good representative of the organization and steward the gifts I’ve been given because it’s… such a fortunate thing to be here. Even going back, like just being placed in Baltimore with this team has been the biggest blessing of my life. I’m super grateful for it. It’s been incredible, so I’m just… reminding myself that ‘Hey, God has got my back even when stuff sucks.’”
Despite the botched kick, Loop had himself a strong rookie campaign for the Ravens. After being selected in the sixth round of last year’s NFL Draft, he won the starting kicker position out of training camp and made 30 of his 34 field goals on the season. Other than the 44-yard kick to end the season, he had been perfect on all kicks between 40 and 49 yards during the year.
Despite some serious online hate, messages from enraged fans, death threats, and comments urging him to call off his upcoming wedding, Loop fully intends to marry his fiancée, Julia, this offseason, enjoy his honeymoon, and then return to work for the 2026 season.
“I’ve got to move on, and I’ve got to get ready for the next kick. And that’s next year. And tomorrow starts training for that.”
His teammate, Derrick Henry—one of the NFL’s premier running backs—spoke at length about the character of his kicker following the game. He also told media that he reminded Loop to stay grounded in his faith amid the trying time.
“I feel for Tyler,” Henry told reporters. “I talked to him. I told him just keep his spirits up. Deal with it tonight, and tomorrow the sun rises again. I just told him that the story after this is going to be great for him, because God put him in this position to use him as an example to something that is adversity. And then I can’t wait to see him overcome it on the other side.
“I just told him to trust God’s plan. (God) wouldn’t put him in this position if he wasn’t strong enough to handle it. I know it’s tough right now, but I think when it’s all said and done, he’ll look back on it and appreciate the moment.”
Baltimore will begin its new head coaching search immediately, before Loop takes to the field with the opening kick-off of the 2026 season in early September.
About
