How many more season-ending heartbreakers can the Baltimore Ravens have? For the 4th time in a row, this has happened to the Ravens. In 2022, Tyler Huntley fumbled against the Bengals in the wild-card game. In 2023, Zay Flowers fumbles at the goal line in the AFC championship game. In 2024, Mark Andrews drops a 2-point conversion in the AFC divisional round. And, now in Week 18 of this year, Tyler Loop missed a game-winning 44-yard field goal against the Pittsburgh Steelers, losing 26-24. 

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens knew it was going to be a battle with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And this lived up to the hype, with everything it promised. The three-headed monster of Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers, and Derrick Henry each had a great game on offense. Derrick Henry had 20 carries for 126 yards, and most of it came in the 1st half. Where Henry ran for 112 yards in the 1st half on 14 carries, and only 6 carries for 14 yards in the 2nd half. Zay Flowers had a big-time game, particularly in the 2nd half. Flowers had 136 receiving yards on four catches, and two of them for touchdowns in the 4th quarter. And, Lamar Jackson did everything right in the 4th quarter to win the game, but the team failed him again. Lamar Jackson hooked up with Zay Flowers on two huge touchdown passes that gave the Ravens the lead twice, but couldn’t hold them as the Steelers took the lead right after the Ravens scored on their last drive. The Ravens offense did what they were supposed to do in the 4th quarter. But overall, they couldn’t complete the job. And now, they have to wait 8 months before getting back on the football field for the 2026 regular season. 

On the other side of the ball, the Ravens D had a tough night against the Pittsburgh Offense. The defense gave up 24 first downs, and also gave up 9 conversions that turned into 1st downs for the Steelers. The run defense was able to hold the Steelers to only 100 yards rushing. Plus, the defense took a bit of a hit in the 2nd half. Both Kyle Hamilton and Alohi Gilman left the game with concussions. Gilman came back in the game, while Kyle Hamilton missed the rest of the game with a concussion, and that hurt the Ravens’ secondary for the rest of the game. The Ravens D also didn’t have the best game in terms of secondary, as Aaron Rodgers was carving up the secondary mostly in the 2nd half. The secondary was making mistakes left and right that resulted in big plays for the Steelers. The defense has some good players, but they need a defensive coordinator who can get after the quarterback and make life in the secondary much better in 2026.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers, in Week 17, needed to beat the Cleveland Browns to avoid having this game moved to Sunday night. And, they almost had this game lost as well as their defense gave up two big plays. When Lamar Jackson threw 2 touchdown passes to Zay Flowers twice on back-to-back drives. Then they proceed with touchdown drives of their own on back-to-back drives. The Pittsburgh defense made some big plays. TJ Watt made a huge play in the 4th quarter by picking off Lamar Jackson on a deflection. The pass rush got to Lamar Jackson three times in the game. On the offense, Aaron Rodgers had a quiet 1st half, and then picked it up in 2nd half. And, threw the winning to Calvin Austin with less than 1 minute to go in the game, but Chris Boswell missed the extra point. Then they had to wait until the last play of the game to see if they had won the AFC North. And thanks to a missed 44-yard field goal by Tyler Loop, the Steelers won the AFC North for the 1st time since, and now will face the Houston Texans next Monday night in the wild card round.

Overall Thoughts

The Baltimore Ravens will now have to wait another year for a chance to win their 3 Lombardi trophy. How much more heartbreak can one team have year after year? Lamar Jackson, to me, is being failed by the coaching staff, his teammates, and the front office. After the latest round of season-ending heartbreaking losses, the Ravens need some new leadership and some fresh new blood if they want to win their 3 Super Bowl title. First thing to do is fire John Harbaugh for starters, because he is the reason why we have only reached one AFC championship since 2012. Then, maybe hire an offensive-minded head coach and a new coaching staff who can help this team and Lamar Jacon get over the hump and win a Super Bowl. And, as long as John Harbaugh is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, I don’t see a Super Bowl in the future.