The Falcons won their first preseason contest against the Dolphins as the defense and special teams shined and led the way, a trend we hope continues into the regular season. The team snatched three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, five sacks, one forced fumble, and a punt return touchdown.
Dee Alford, Zach Harrison, Carlos Washington, Timmy Horne, and Tae Davis had great performances. Even though it was against backups, Logan Woodside looked very good as well.
All in all, it was an encouraging performance from the Falcons. This team is well coached, and the attempt to improve the depth of the roster this offseason was apparent. There are still a couple of areas that are thin and it showed, none more evident than the offensive line.
However, I’d be lying if it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. There were certainly some ugly aspects of the game, particularly the Falcons’ Pro Bowl place kicker. Younghoe Koo uncharacteristically missed a pair of extra points.
It was bad, but nobody should panic. After all, Koo has missed six total extra points since joining the team in 2019, getting the ball through the uprights at a near 95% clip over four seasons. Obviously, we can’t have that in the regular season, but I’m not worried about Koo.
He was extended in March 2022 because he’s been the model of consistency. He’s never missed a field goal within 30 yards, only two out of 38 between 30-40 yards, five between 40-50 yards out of 35 kicks, and five from 50+ yards out of 25 tries — about 91% on all field goal attempts.
There would be a lot of teams that would love to have Younghoe Koo if he were available. The Falcons have a star place kicker, regardless of these two missed extra points in a meaningless exhibition game.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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