The Josh Innes Show - Baltimore Kicker: Bless His Heart

Episode Date: January 5, 2026

I understand the kicker has one job. I understand the kicker didn't do his job. That said, the first thing I thought when Tyler Loop missed the kick last night was "Bless His Heart". I truly felt dreadful for the guy. How do you ever recover from that? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello everybody. It's the all-up in this podcast show. Glad you guys listen. Glad you guys tell your friends about it. Please continue to do so because you guys are awesome and I love you and it would be great if you would continue to be awesome and give me reasons to love you and I'll do my best to give you reasons to love me. I don't believe that our love is unconditional. It can be lost. We can lose love for people, right? Someone could do something that causes us to lose the love that we have for them and I don't want to lose your love tonight. And I don't want to lose your love tonight. And I don't want to you know, you'd lose your love for me. Good? Okay, I'm glad we're on the same page. Now, let's start here. And we got a lot of stuff to get into, obviously. The Texans playoff stuff, the Eagles, people are ripping on the Eagles for sitting the starters and all that. And I'm sure there's some WIP-related thing that we can look at for that,

because I'm sure half the people on the station think that it was dumb to rest of the starters. And the other people said, yes, that's right, because they have all their takes mapped out hours in advance so they can just fight with each other. But let's do this. We will start here with last night's game, the last game of the season, which turned out to be an epic game, a game that had no business being an epic game, but turned out to be an epic game, a game that I should have won a lot of money on, but because the dipshit kicker missed the winning kick, I didn't win a lot of money on it.

So shit happens. What do you want from me? Let's play some commercials, and let's hear from Tyler Loop. Tyler Loop is the goat today, and not the greatest of all time, but just, you know, the goat, the way that we used to. refer to the goat before the acronym goat. We'll do that after these words. All right.

So let's see here. This is Tyler Loop. Now, just setting up the whole situation with this game is wild, though, right? Because that game had no interest at all. It wasn't interesting. Derek Henry was running wild. The Steelers were doing nothing

offensively for the most part. Just a lot of dump-offs and throws to running backs and everything. and it was just whatever. It was trending towards being a very boring, predictable type of Steelers Ravens game with the season on the line. And then it all got nuts in the fourth quarter. And it was looking like we were going to have a chance for the Ravens to have a walk-off kick. Then it was fourth down.

They converted the fourth down. This, of course, after, I mean, the back and forth between Lamar and Aaron for the last like five, six, seven minutes of that game was nuts. Because, you know, you got a big throw that. made by Lamar on a scramble. You're like, holy shit. Then Aaron comes back and makes big throws. Then there's a missed extra point. So it's only a two-point game. So the Ravens have a chance to go win it. Lamar has to make a big fourth down throw to save the season. Isaiah likely makes the play. They're in field goal range. They line up. They set the ball up right down

central, which I'm usually, I got a hot take. I don't like when they put that level of thought into kicking the football. And by that, I mean, like, well, we want to put him on the hash mark he wants to be on, or we want to set him up in the middle. I think when you start doing that, that's when it can get into people's heads. I think that's when it's bound to fail. Like, I like a situation where you're in a rush and you have to just get up there and spike it and you're going to kick it from wherever you're going to kick it from.

Once you start laying out all of the, well, let's take a knee, but let's work to the right a little bit so it's right down the middle. To me, being right in the middle, and I could be wrong. here because I know nothing about kicking field goals whatsoever. But it almost feels like that puts more pressure on you to be right down the middle. I would want to be in a situation where I'm on the right hash mark. I'm a right-footed kicker. And I just drill the kick. It can kind of twist into the goal post there. But either way, I think that adds the extra pressure, all that. But still got to make the kick. So this guy, Tyler Loop, has to feel like the biggest piece of shit on the

planet. It was to the point that since I'm not rooting for either team other than the fact that I wanted the Ravens to win and I lost my bet because the Ravens didn't win and that sucks. But I don't have any rooting interest outside of that. I don't like the Steelers or the Ravens. I'm not a fan of either one of those teams. So it didn't really impact my life in a major way. So I can sit back and look at it from afar and say, bless that dude's heart. Because you're not going to find a situation that hurts more than that. Then it's all on the line. Even if you're a quarterback and you have one throw to win the game, there's a lot of variables that go into one throw where you can look at it and go, okay, maybe, you know, I threw

it. It was an incomplete pass and it sucks that we lost. But whatever, right? Now, if you miss a wide open guy in the end zone or something, that's one thing. Or if you're Jackie Smith with the Cowboys and you drop a pass in the end zone, where you're wide open, like, yeah, you can be a goat. If you're Buckner, you can be a goat in that situation. But for the most, you're a part, you're not going to find a scenario in sports that lends itself to being the hero or the goat more than being the place kicker with the game on the line. And it's one thing if it's a 55-yarder, right? Like, if you have to drill a tough kick, although 55-yard isn't even tough for these dudes now, but like a 55-60-yarder for the win is one thing. This is a chip shot, relatively

speaking, in 2026. A 44-yarder is nothing. And your boy gets up there and he, I mean, when he close. It wasn't even remotely close. It was a disaster. And that is a position where there isn't a greater position for hero or goat status than the kicker in any sport. I mean, you can say, hey, LeBron takes the game winning shot. Yeah, you do, but there's 10 dudes out there there and there's a guy guarding you when you do it. And I mean, you're shooting a ball from 30 feet. You don't know if it's going to go in or not. I mean, there's a lot of factors in that. But the kicker, who is also someone who gets disrespected a lot because people don't consider kickers to be athletes. They don't consider kickers to be football players. They don't go out there and get

hit in practice. They're often their own little world kicking. They're called upon to be heroes and there can be games or they don't kick the ball at all, but they come off the bench. They need one kick. And if they make that kick, he's the hero. If he misses it, he's the failure, he's the goat. That is a unique spot to be in. Right? It is unique. There is no other position like maybe unless you're you know you've got a a penalty kick in soccer would be similar but outside of that like even a guy at the plate you know one versus one in baseball it's not like that like it it is a unique spot so when I watch this dude miss this kick like my first thought was I actually hurt for the dude how could you not you know especially with no rooting interest

Like, if you're a Ravens fan, and, like, you know, you probably punch the TV and say, fuck this guy. And if you're in Baltimore today, you probably want this guy to get hit by a bus. So, like, I get that. But as someone who just had rooting interest from a betting standpoint, yeah, I lost the bet. But as someone just watching that game from an entertainment standpoint, all the way up through the very end of the game with a field goal to win it, and watch this guy miss it and not even miss it close, to completely push it off to the right and be a mile away from making the kids. kick. With the game on the line, they set you up for it and you failed, I can't fathom there's a worse feeling in all of sport. Like, could you strike out? Let's say you're Carlos Beltron.

Carlos Beltron with the Mets, you're facing Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals. It's game seven of the NLCS. You're down, I think the, what was the score, three to one at the time, and the bases are loaded. Okay? I think three to one was the score in that game. And the bases are loaded with two outs, and you strike out on three pitches. Like, that sucks, but there's someone going up against you that is trying to beat you. There is a person who is throwing it 100 miles an hour or throwing a curveball that falls off the face of the earth. So you're going up against somebody in that spot. So they just beat you.

You know, it's got to be like golf. I guess the only thing that would be comparable would be golf. You know, you got a putt, like a guy, or like you watch Jean Vandeveld, like just melt down in a mental taste. or lefty, like, hitting the ball into a garbage can and then just melting down. Like, that is the only sport that is like that. Or, like, Rick and Keel having the yips, you know? But, like, it doesn't – I guess the pitcher could have a meltdown like that because the pitcher could end up in the playoffs like Rick and Keel and have the yips

and throw eight wild pitches. But there is no sport. There is no moment that is even comparable, really. I mean, I guess golf. You know, you have a put. a chip shot, but even then you're trying to put a ball in a tiny hole. It is naughty. I mean, all that to say, this poor bastard, right?

Let's hear from this poor bastard. Here you go. I just want to say I'm super grateful to Baltimore and organization, the city, just how they've embraced me this year has been incredible. And just for a time like that sucks. And, you know, I want to do better. And unfortunately, the nature of the job is. You know, you have makes, and those are awesome, and unfortunately it misses.

And for that, you know, for that to happen, and it sucks. Well, it does suck. And here's the other problem. And none of your teammates will tell you this. But they blame you for the loss because they went out there and got their brains beaten in for the entire game. Their skulls were getting crushed for 60 minutes. They're going to have CTE when this thing's all said. These guys may end up being tomatoes by the end of their lives, like eating from a, like eating, like eating, can't eat solid foods, right?

They're out there getting their brains mangled in on every play. So you could go out there and be the hero and you push the kick so far right that it wasn't even close. There's no doubt those guys hate him. And he knows that. Like they can sit there and tell him all the right things. And after he misses the kick, the holder can go pat him on the helmet and say it's okay. It's not. Those guys don't like you.

they view you as this guy that that doesn't have to deal with any of the real stuff. You don't have to get hit in practice. You don't have to get hit on the field. All you do is come off there after kicking a ball and do a net a couple times, and you get to be a legend if you make the kick. Now, the converse of that is that you can go out there and miss the kick like he didn't be a total pud and be the end of the world. But they hate him. They can say all the things they want to him.

They could all walk up to him in the locker room and pat him on the helmet. and pat him on the shoulders, and the coach can get up at the podium and say, look, man, I mean, look, it's a tough one, and he missed it. But, you know, we lost this game because of ten different things. Like, well, maybe. But all those ten things that went against you, you still had a chance to make a chip-shot field goal. 44 yards in the NFL in 2026 is a chip-shot field goal.

And you had a chance to make a chip-shot field goal to win the game, despite all of your flaws, all of your issues, despite the fact Lamar was terrible for most of the game, despite the fact that Aaron Rogers was making huge throw after huge throw. It was pretty remarkable what was happening with Aaron Rogers, defying age. It was nuts. And despite all that, you still had a chance to win it with one kick. And you missed it.

And there is nobody in that locker room. They might tell him all the right things. But when they're sitting at home with their wives, their girlfriends, their mistresses, their dog, all of those guys to a man are blaming him for that game. And they hate him. And they will not forgive him for that. That is your season on the line, 17 games, brain getting mangled, every play. You play 60 minutes and it comes down to a little dweeby kicker that misses the kick.

They do not forgive him. Not a chance. You know, we've been through a lot of diversity this year as a team early on and we fought and we fought and we fought and we fought and we worked really hard together. And, you know, those guys have had my back and they won't anymore. You know, I want to try my best to have theirs. you say I'm going to try my best to have theirs look they went out there and got their brains beaten in like I don't think you're going to walk up to those guys and be like there might have been a guy that had a huge drop at some point in that game or lamar might have played like shit for three quarters but it's not like the kicker's going to walk up to Lamar and be like boy sucks that we lost man but like I feel for you for overthrowing those six passes that's not how that works

and yeah it's just it's disappointing and it sucks but also the nature of job is we got to you know I got to move on and I got to get ready for the next kick and that's you know that's next year and you know tomorrow starts training for that and the other thing that sucks if you're this guy is you can never make up for this you can make all the walk off kicks in the regular season unless you win a playoff game or go to the playoffs on a kick you'll never make up for like buckner probably had a billion putouts in his career but i'd like to know how many three unassisted's bill buckner had in his life you never make up for that because you never won the thing. So, I mean, look, again, I would go Southern with you here. When I saw that, again, the first thought I had was bless his heart because that is

brutal. You know, we can talk about our own lives and the shit we messed up in Little League or the shit we messed up in high school. And you think that's going to last forever and eat at you forever. And then you grow up, become an adult, get married. And you're like, okay, it sucked. But like, I'll get over it. That's nowhere near the best thing or worst thing that's ever going to happen to me, right? Like, that's how that works. But this dude, as far as professional athlete, that's what he's paid to do, the only way to make that better is to make a kick that wins something. So, and win something significant, not just win something from this, you know, like a regular season game against the Browns. So, like I genuinely like, I feel

terrible for this dude. But on the other hand, you have one job and you failed the job. You know, spend the off season and the rest of time getting ready for that. But here's the thing. You can spend all the off season you want. I don't know how kicking works, but like you can't replicate getting up there, 44-yard field goals, season on the line,

on the road, you have to drill it to go to the playoffs. You can kick all the balls you want and they'll show up at the practice facility and he's ready to kick all the balls he can and maybe that'll help him mentally. You can't replicate that. You can't replicate that environment. You know, I love this team and I love these guys, and I wish it to end a different. I'm just super blessed to be here.

You got to say this, though. Give the guy credit for talking, because there are some guys that do play the big positions, the skill positions, the guys that are the legit stars of the team. There are guys like that that duck out. Like, there have been days Travis Kelsey won't talk to the media. There are days the quarterbacks won't talk to the media. There are days they just like, I can't deal with this. right now. This dude knew he had to get up there and he had to eat it and he's eating it. So give him credit. But that's a brutal spot to be in, man.

All right, anyway, more to come.