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01/06 12:35 CST Season of the kicker unravels with missed field goal sending
Ravens home and Steelers to playoffs
Season of the kicker unravels with missed field goal sending Ravens home and
Steelers to playoffs
By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Pro Football Writer
Wouldn't you know it? The season of the kicker came down to two missed kicks.
Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell shanked the extra point after Aaron
Rodgers threw a 26-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds left Sunday night
against the Baltimore Ravens in a win-or-go-home final regular-season game.
That left the Steelers clinging to a 26-24 lead and when Lamar Jackson
connected with Isaiah Likely for a 26-yard gain on fourth-and-7 from the
50-yard line, it looked like Rodgers would be missing the playoffs for the
fourth consecutive season.
He sat on the Steelers bench looking forlorn as Jackson took the next snap and
shuffled toward the right hashmark to set up rookie kicker Tyler Loop for the
44-yard game-winner
Ravens coach John Harbaugh called timeout with 2 seconds left and Loop trotted
out to send the Ravens into the playoffs and end the Steelers' season.
He hadn't missed inside of 50 yards all season.
The snap was good, the hold was good but Loop didn't kick the ball cleanly. He
said he knew as soon as it came off his foot funny that he'd pushed it to the
right.
Maybe Harbaugh should have tried to get Loop a little closer, but 44 yards is a
gimme for kickers nowadays.
"It was a close kick," said Harbaugh, who put his arm around Loop as they
walked off the field and into the tunnel afterward. "We wanted to center the
ball. We wanted to make sure we got the (chance to) kick. We didn't want
something bad to happen on the run. I don't think that was a bad decision."
Field goals of 40- to 50-yards are now considered short kicks. Fifty-plus is
medium.
Sixty-plus tries used to be unheard of. Not anymore.
Kickers have enjoyed unprecedented success with long-distance field goals of 60
or more yards the last two seasons thanks to rule changes favoring the
specialists, such as the new K-ball, and more trust from coaches, leading to
game strategy shifts and historic accuracy.
Jacksonville kicker Cam Little kicked the two longest field goals in NFL
history this season, nailing a 68-yarder at Las Vegas in Week 9 and splitting
the uprights with a 67-yarder Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
Sixty-yard field goals are no longer a big risk but a realistic expectation for
today's kickers. Dallas' Brandon Aubrey made three field goals from beyond 60
yards this season, and overall kickers were 12 for 22 on field goals of 60-plus
yards in 2025.
Denver Broncos kicker Wil Lutz said the tweaks in the kickoff rules in 2025
allowed kickers to save their legs by not having to blast every kickoff out of
the back of the end zone like they used to. That, in turn, has allowed them to
have more oomph on field goal attempts in the fourth quarter or overtime.
"Anytime your body feels better it helps," said Lutz, whose five game-winning
field goals helped the Broncos (14-3) earn the top seed in the AFC playoffs and
the first-round bye that goes with it. "Yeah, you feel fresher, you feel good,
feel strong. I would say most kicker injuries probably came from full-speed
kickoffs and you're not seeing that."
Loop had plenty of length Sunday night, it's just that he didn't kick the ball
like he had on all the other 29 field goal attempts he'd made from inside 50
yards this season.
"The operation was great," Loop said in the sullen locker room afterward. "It
was a great situation, exactly what we wanted. And unfortunately, I just
mis-hit the ball. We call it ?hitting it thin,' it spins fast and goes off to
the right.
"I love this team and I love these guys. I wish it would have ended different."
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Behind the Call analyzes the biggest decisions in the NFL during the season.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
