Divine intervention for the Steelers may have been at play in Week 18 with holy water blessing the end zone before kickoff, but it wasn’t the only mysterious force at play when Ravens kicker Tyler Loop’s 44-yard field goal went wide right. Myron Cope and the curve of the Terrible Towel also did some of that work.
Baltimore’s mayor made a grave error before the game via his Instagram page. After a bet with Ryan Clark on the first Steelers-Ravens game in Week 14, he paid up by wearing Steelers gear in a video. Unfortunately for the Ravens, he used it as a chance to mock the Terrible Towel.
“So now my debt is paid,” Brandon M. Scott said with a Steelers necklace around his neck and a Terrible Towel on the desk in front of him. “But forget all that. It’s rivalry week, I’m not doing that. Ryan, we’re going double or nothing because it’s for the playoffs on Sunday. Y’all going home. Give me this towel, man. The only thing you do with this towel is you wipe your butt with it.”
The Mayor of Baltimore Brandon M. Scott acted out wiping his butt with the Terrible Towel in a recent IG video ahead of Ravens-Steelers. Well, we all know how that turned out. They will never learn. #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/yBTbuWJaYq
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) January 6, 2026
He did indeed gesture as if he was wiping his rear end with the towel before slamming it down to the ground. Scott wouldn’t even refer to the Steelers by name throughout the video, calling them “blank” several times as a placeholder.
Queue Myron Cope’s famous line, “The Terrible Towel is poised to strike.”
This video is even funnier in hindsight knowing how the game ultimately played out. The Ravens had every chance to win it, but their kicker, who hadn’t missed a field goal under 50 yards all season, shanked it wide right.
There are countless examples of opposing teams invoking the curse of the Terrible Towel throughout the years. The most infamous examples include 2005 when T.J. Houshmandzadeh wiped his feet with the towel. The Steelers went on to beat the Bengals in the playoffs that year. And in 2008, Ravens WR Derrick Mason stomped on the towel before losing all three games to the Steelers that season, including in the playoffs.
I can’t wait to see what Brandon M. Scott has to do to pay up on his double-or-nothing bet. Clark should force him to wear Steelers gear during his next campaign speech. I bet you that would do wonders for his numbers in the polls.