Isaiah Likely went from hero to zero in record time during his team’s Thanksgiving Day game.
Likely and the Baltimore Ravens faced off on Thursday against the Cincinnati Bengals. During the second quarter at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., the Ravens tight end Likely found daylight down the middle for a long completion from teammate Lamar Jackson.
After busting a move on the Cincinnati secondary, Likely broke free and made a run all the way for the end zone. Unfortunately for him though, Likely made an ill-advised attempt to reach out for the goal line and ended up losing control of the ball before crossing the plane.
As a result, a would-be 44-yard touchdown grab by Likely instead became a touchback to the Bengals. Here is the video of the brutal play.
Isaiah Likely fumbles and it'll be a touchback. pic.twitter.com/0FcpM5ZgNC
— Grant Speaks (@GrantSpeaks1) November 28, 2025
Take a look at another couple of angles.
Isaiah Likely fumbles the ball before crossing the line, touchback pic.twitter.com/LRRWy38sNa
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) November 28, 2025
Without the stretch, it seemed likely (no pun intended) that the tight end’s momentum would have carried him into the end zone anyway. But as a result of Likely’s blunder, the Ravens came up empty on that drive and went into halftime trailing the Bengals 12-7.
On the bright side for the 25-year-old Likely, at least he tried to make a legitimate football play there. We have already seen multiple instances this season of players turning touchdowns into touchbacks by showboating on the way to the end zone instead.
