Walk-off finishes wild Maracanã thriller
Tyler Loop sent the crowd into a frenzy Sunday at the Maracanã Stadium, sinking a walk-off field goal as time expired to lift the Baltimore Ravens to a 34-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
With the game tied at 31 and seven seconds remaining, Lamar Jackson connected with Zay Flowers for a 27-yard gain and quickly called timeout with one second left; Loop’s kick then sailed through the uprights as the clock hit zero to give the Ravens the win.
The play capped a back-and-forth affair in Brazil and kept Baltimore from opening coach Jesse Minter’s debut season 1-2. Jackson finished 15-of-20 for 186 yards and two touchdowns; Derrick Henry ran for 89 yards and scored twice, and Flowers—making his return from a Week 1 hamstring injury—finished with five receptions for 84 yards.
Celebration, carry-off and a Ronaldo routine
The moment immediately became one of the night’s lasting images. Loop sprinted downfield as teammates chased him; Jackson eventually tracked him down, slapped hands and embraced him in a bear hug. Later, Loop was hoisted on teammates’ shoulders and carried off the field in jubilation.
The victory celebration included a playful nod to soccer royalty: Loop, a North Texas native who played at Lovejoy High School in Lucas, mimicked Cristiano Ronaldo after the kick.
Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton captured the emotional arc of the moment in frank terms after the game, saying, “It is funny how this league and how life work.” Hamilton added that Loop faced heavy criticism at the end of last season but responded by keeping his head down and working hard. “The amount of flak that Loop faced at the end of last year — he just put his head down, never complained, and worked his butt off this whole season,” Hamilton said.
What the kick means in context
The field goal in Rio was not just a game-winner; it was a dramatic punctuation to a contest that swung repeatedly between the teams. The sequence that set it up — Jackson’s pressure-minute connection with Flowers and the subsequent timeout — showcased the Ravens’ poise in the closing seconds and set the stage for Loop’s decisive strike.
Teammates and fans celebrated a finish that will be replayed for days: a long-range kick through the uprights in one of soccer’s most storied stadiums, a sprint and embrace on the turf, and a player carried away on the shoulders of a relieved locker-room.
