
The Baltimore Ravens saw their season end in heartbreaking fashion when they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a missed field goal Sunday night, and Lamar Jackson had an interesting reaction to his team's loss immediately after the game.
The Steelers beat the Ravens 26-24 and won the AFC North after Baltimore kicker Tyler Loop missed what would have been a game-winning 44-yard field goal in the final seconds. The kick was the first one that Loop had missed from inside 50 yards all season.
Steelers kicker Chris Boswell set Baltimore up for a dramatic win by missing an extra point after Pittsburgh scored the go-ahead touchdown with 55 seconds remaining, but the Ravens could not take advantage. Baltimore returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 47-yard line and kept the game alive when tight end Isaiah Likely hauled in a 26-yard reception on 4th-and-7. Loop then missed the kick as time expired.
CBS analyst and former NFL cornerback Jason McCourty thought the Steelers got away with a penalty on the missed field goal. McCourty wrote on social media that Pittsburgh should have been called for a leverage penalty, which would have given the Ravens an additional 15 yards. A leverage penalty occurs when a defender uses a teammate or opponent's body to launch themselves higher in an attempt to block a kick.
Replays appeared to show that a Steelers player placed a hand on the long-snapper's back while jumping over the line of scrimmage.
THE RAVENS KICK IS NO GOOD AND THE STEELERS ARE PLAYOFF-BOUND. pic.twitter.com/cIVq2TPKwp
— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2026
McCourty shared a screenshot from the play via social media and wrote that it was "close" to being a leverage penalty. Jackson re-posted what McCourty wrote and added "Smfh."
— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) January 5, 2026
There have been some controversial leverage penalties called on field-goal attempts during NFL games this season. One of them came when the Steelers beat the Ravens 27-22 in Week 14. Baltimore was called for a leverage penalty in the second quarter of that game, which helped set up a Pittsburgh touchdown.
Following the Week 14 game, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said the NFL admitted to him that the leverage penalty should not have been called. On Sunday, Baltimore felt they were on the wrong end of another "leverage" debate, only this time it was a no-call that seemed to frustrate Jackson.
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