In a truly unbelievable finish, the Pittsburgh Steelers recorded a 26-24 win over Baltimore after Ravens rookie kicker Tyler Loop missed a 44-yard field goal as time expired. 

With the win, Pittsburgh (10-7) has won the AFC North and will host the Houston Texans next Monday night in the AFC wild card round. Baltimore’s season comes to an end after nearly making the playoffs after a 1-5 start. 

After taking a 13-10 lead entering the fourth quarter, the Steelers allowed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Lamar Jackson to Zay Flowers. Both scores, however, were answered with touchdown passes by Rodgers, whose 26-yard strike to Calvin Austin III with 55 seconds left proved to be the game-winning score. 

Baltimore still had a chance to win the game after Chris Boswell missed the point-after attempt. The Ravens got into field goal range after Jackson hit Isaiah Likely for a 26-yard gain on a fourth down play, but Loop pushed the game-winning attempt wide right, giving the Steelers the win. 

Rodgers threw for 294 yards on 31 of 47 passing. Jackson, in a losing effort, threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns on 11 of 18 passing. Derrick Henry ran for 126 yards but had just 14 yards in the second half. 

Loop’s missed kick 

Baltimore, a year after losing in heartbreaking fashion to Buffalo in the divisional round of the playoffs, had its season end in a similar fashion this season after Loop’s kick sailed to the right. A rookie sixth-round pick, Loop made all seven of his field goal attempts from 40-49 yards during the regular season. He made a 40-yard field goal early in the second quarter that gave the Ravens a 10-0 lead. 

Rodgers’ brilliance 

After a slow start, Rodgers and the Steelers’ offense got hot in the second half. Of Rodgers’ 294 passing yards, 209 of those were gained during the second half as the Steelers scored 23 of their 26 points during the game’s final 30 minutes. 

Rodgers’ took full advantage of Kyle Hamilton’s injury after Baltimore’s Pro Bowl safety exited the game for good after sustaining a concussion early in the third quarter. Immediately after Hamilton left the game, Rodgers completed passes of 14 yards to Pat Freiermuth and 28 yards to Adam Thielen that set up Connor Heyward’s game-tying touchdown. 

Down 17-13 late in the fourth, Rodgers’ 30-yard completion to Freiermuth set up Kenny Gainwell’s go-ahead touchdown run. And after the Ravens had re-gained the lead with 2:20 left, Rodgers engineered a game-winning drive that culminated in his touchdown pass to Austin, who stepped up in the absence of DK Metcalf, who will be back for Pittsburgh’s playoff showdown with Houston. 

Pittsburgh also received a valiant performance from several defensive players that included T.J. Watt, whose interception of Jackson helped the Steelers take their first lead late in the third quarter. 

Jackson gritty in defeat 

After missing last week’s game with a back injury, Jackson clearly wasn’t himself on Sunday from a mobility standpoint. Despite that, he made several incredible plays late in the game that included his pair of touchdown passes to Flowers. 

Like two heavyweight boxers, Jackson and Rodgers traded blows throughout the fourth quarter. Following Rodgers’ touchdown pass to Austin, Jackson responded with another jaw-dropping completion to Likely on fourth-down that put the Ravens in position to win the game on a last-second field goal. But it wasn’t meant to be. 

Penalties haunt Ravens 

Baltimore led 10-3 at halftime and had the momentum after stuffing Gainwell a yard away from its own end zone on the final play of the first half. Six penalties, however, prevented the Ravens from enjoying a bigger halftime advantage. 

What’s next for Pittsburgh 

The Steelers will host the Texans in what will be their first playoff game since losing to the Browns in the wild-card round of the 2020 playoffs. Pittsburgh is in pursuit of its first playoff win since defeating the Chiefs in the 2016 divisional round. Boswell and Cameron Heyward are the only Steelers remaining from that team.