The Ravens and Steelers were engaged in a heavyweight bout to close out the NFL’s 2025 regular season and it looked like Baltimore would end up landing the deciding punch. And then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop sent what would have been a game-winning field goal wide to the right as time expired.
Loop’s miss from 44 yards out single-handedly changed the playoff picture; instead of being in, the Ravens were eliminated in favor of the newly-minted AFC North champion Steelers. It’s impact might go beyond the postseason tournament, however.
It might end up a watershed moment for the Ravens.
Even though they were still in contention for a playoff spot, the Ravens entered Week 18 with speculation about their future. Officially, there was no talk about head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta being on the hot seat. The loss to Pittsburgh very much might have changed this.
To his credit, Harbaugh had his team ready for what very much turned into a dogfight. The Ravens answered every Steelers blow until the very end, and even after falling behind 26-24 with just 55 seconds on the clock were in a position to come away victoriously.
They simply couldn’t, possibly in part due to some questionable clock management and field position decisions made by their head coach.
“It’s disappointing,” Harbaugh said after the game. “I thought our guys fought. We were that close to winning the North and we didn’t get a chance to get it done. All that other stuff is history. Had a chance to do it, we didn’t do it. We’re disappointed and we’ll move on.”
What that moving on will look like remains to be seen. Immediately after the game, Harbaugh himself gave a brief answer when asked whether he would want to be back.
“Yeah,” he said. “I love these guys.”
Harbaugh first arrived in Baltimore in 2008 and has been one of the top coaches in the NFL ever since. During his tenure, the Ravens qualified for the playoffs on 12 occasions — including six times as division champions — and won a Super Bowl in 2012.
Recently, however, postseason success has eluded them. While regular participants, who qualified six times over the last eight seasons, they have not returned to the NFL’s biggest stage since that championship 13 years ago. With this latest campaign a string of disappointments capped by a heartbreaking moment, the time for change might have arrived — change few people in the organization might be immune against
The aforementioned Eric DeCosta, who is responsible for roster construction, might be let go as well if Harbaugh leaves. Even quarterback Lamar Jackson, who is just two years removed from his second NFL MVP award, could be on thin ice; a new regime might prefer the value of trade compensation over a soon-to-be 29-year-old who only started a full season once in his eight years in the league.
Ultimately, though, it all comes back to the first and biggest domino: John Harbaugh, a Hall of Fame-caliber coach whose fate might have been determined on Sunday night by a rookie kicker.
