Ravens kicker Justin Tucker's league-leading streak of 35 straight field goals was snapped without a misfire.
Tucker's 34-yard attempt in the first quarter of Monday night's game against the New England Patriots was blocked when linebacker Shea McClellin leapt over long snapper Morgan Cox.
"The guy just made a heck of a play," Tucker said. "Looks like they had something schemed up and it worked."
A block officially counts as a miss, according to the record keepers. Tucker didn't care much about his streak ending, however.
"What's more frustrating is we came into a place where we felt like we could not just compete, but win, and we're getting on the bus with a loss," Tucker said. "We'd rather drive out of here with a win; we know what that feels like and it's a great feeling. This feeling sucks."
Tucker's last actual miss was over a year ago on Dec. 6 in Miami. He had made all 28 of his field-goal attempts to start the 2016 season. He has yet to miss an extra point this year.
The play is legal as long as McClellin doesn't touch any Ravens player as he clears the line, which he didn't. McClellin timed up the snap perfectly and was helped by a teammate who held Cox down after the snap. The play killed Baltimore's momentum.
Had Tucker connected on the kick, it would have given the Ravens an early 3-2 lead. Instead, the Patriots went on a 10-play touchdown drive after the block to take a 9-0 lead.
Tucker later connected on a 50-yard field goal at the end of the first half to cut the Patriots' lead to 16-3. He is now 9-for-9 on attempts of 50 yards or longer this year. He also hit field goals from 38 and 37 yards out in the fourth quarter, showing the block didn't affect him.
The last time Tucker was blocked was on a 64-yard attempt at the end of the half on Oct. 12, 2014 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The block wasn't the only special teams gaffe for the Ravens in the first quarter.
After Baltimore's defense held New England's offense to a second straight three-and-out to start the game, punt returner Devin Hester made the mistake of not catching a punt deep into Ravens' territory. The Patriots downed the ball at the 1-yard line.
Running back Kenneth Dixon was stuffed in the end zone for a safety on the first play, giving the Patriots two points. Right guard Vladimir Ducasse was beaten on the play by Malcolm Brown, who hit Dixon before he had a chance to get back to the line of scrimmage.
