The Falcons fell to the Saints on Sunday by a score of 20-17. It was a disappointment outcome for a game that Atlanta frankly dominated.
The good guys ran 73 plays to New Orleans’ 52, outgained them with 458 yards to 365, and converted 25 first downs to the Saints’ 14. The story of the afternoon for the Falcons was about missed opportunities, namely on the foot of Younghoe Koo.
Koo missed two field goals and had another one block, marking the first game of his career in which he missed three field goal attempts. The Falcons felt in control of the game the entire time and even felt like they’d eventually pull it off, but Koo’s misses and Kirk Cousins’ interception proved too much to overcome.
I blogged earlier: Do the Falcons have a kicker problem? And if you asked some fans, yes. They’d say it’s time to look elsewhere. If you asked those in Flowery Branch, the answer is an emphatic… NO!
Arthur Blank was seen walking off the field in New Orleans consoling Koo, and Kirk Cousins took the blame on his shoulders, telling media after the game that the offense needs to score touchdowns and not leave it in the hands of the special teams. If you expected anything differently, you haven’t been following this club closely enough. Raheem Morris does what he does best — breathing belief into his guys.
“Like I just said in the locker room today. I got all the confidence in the world in Younghoe. He’s one of the best kickers in this game and he’s been good for us for a long time. He had an off day. It happens. A ton of times, shooters shoot. He went out there and took his shots today and didn’t make them.”
Raheem Morris' full quote on Younghoe Koo missing two FGs today and having another blocked:
"Like I just said in the locker room today. I got all the confidence in the world in Younghoe. He's one of the best kickers in this game and he's been good for us for a long time. He had…
— Tori McElhaney (@tori_mcelhaney) November 10, 2024
Younghoe Koo is amid a slump. There’s no doubt about that. He has only made eight of his last 15 field goal attempts, which is a 53% hit rate and well below Koo’s career average of 88.8% during his time in Atlanta.
Koo has built up far too much cache with the Falcons to be ousted after a few weeks of bad play. Never mind the fact that it’s ridiculous to expect the Falcons to cast aside someone like Koo in the middle of a season and expect to find a suitable replacement.
He’ll be fine, or at the very least, deserves the benefit of the doubt to get things back on track.
—
Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire
You must log in to post a comment.