ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons are facing renewed questions about their kicking game after a missed 44-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo in the closing moments of Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The miss, which would have sent the game into overtime, highlighted ongoing concerns about consistency at the position.
Head coach Raheem Morris addressed the situation following the game. When asked earlier in August about the competition between Koo and Lenny Krieg, Morris said, “Koo’s got some emotional bank accounts with me. And I’ll just leave it at that.” However, recent performances have led to doubts about whether those reserves remain strong.
Koo was placed on injured reserve in Week 16 of last season due to a hip injury and did not return for the remainder of the year. Before his placement on IR, Koo had converted only 25 of his 34 attempts during the 2024 season—a success rate of 73.5%, marking his lowest as a Falcon. One particularly notable performance came during a Week 10 loss to the New Orleans Saints when he missed three kicks, including one that was blocked.
Sunday’s defeat brought further scrutiny as Koo also made a shorter field goal attempt that bounced off an upright before going through. While other issues contributed to Atlanta’s struggles—including difficulties running and stopping the ball—the missed kick stood out given recent history.
Falcons player Divine Deablo commented postgame: “Personally, I feel like being a kicker is an underrated job,” Deablo said. “I feel like you only get one chance. It’s a hard job, and I’m going to stand behind him every time. It’s not his fault. It’s everybody’s fault. It’s the whole team’s fault, because we have to play better.”
Including Sunday’s result, Koo has now made 11-of-16 (68.5%) career field goals that would tie or take the lead in a game’s final minute. Prior to this week, he had converted seven straight such attempts.
Despite recent struggles, Koo remains third on Atlanta’s all-time scoring list with 700 points—trailing only Matt Bryant and Morten Andersen.
“He’s a guy who’s made huge plays for this organization,” Jake Matthews said.
However, statistics show that many of Koo’s misses have come over the past two seasons; since 2023 he has accounted for more than half of his total career misses as a Falcon.
Coach Morris summed up Sunday’s key moment: “He missed it,” Morris said. “I am not going to sit here and pretend that I can tell you about the technique, or what happened with that miss. But we gotta make those kicks. That was a very make-able kick. And it’s something that we have to lock in, make those kicks and get it done.”
When asked if Lenny Krieg might be given another opportunity at kicker moving forward, Morris replied: “We gave him a shot to compete through the whole offseason.”
The Falcons now face uncertainty regarding their kicking situation heading into future games—a concern magnified by how often NFL outcomes hinge on single-score margins.
