NEW ORLEANS — Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo missed three field goal attempts Sunday in a loss against the Saints. But he is in no danger of losing his job, according to coach Raheem Morris.
“I have all the confidence in the world [in Koo]”Morris said in his postgame press conference. “He’s one of the best kickers in this game. He has done it for a long time. He had a bad day. It happens many times. The shooters shoot. “We went out and tried today and we didn’t make it.”
Koo missed a 46-yard field goal with 6:43 left in the game that would have tied the score. The Falcons ended up falling to the Saints 20-17 at the Caesars Superdome. Koo also missed a field goal attempt in the first quarter that would have tied the score and blocked another with 19 seconds left in the first half and the Falcons trailing 17-7.
“It’s not the standard we have or the standard I have,” Koo said after the game. “This game is totally on me. I will accept it and yes, that is not right. I think we were playing well enough to win the football game, especially this one, and I let the team down and I don’t accept it lightly “It’s one of the lowest points as a kicker.”
Koo, 30, has been one of the NFL’s most reliable kickers over the past decade. He came into the game with the sixth best field goal percentage in league history (87.63%) with a minimum of 100 attempts. In 2022 and 2023 combined, Koo made 32 of 37 field goals.
But he’s just 17 of 24 (70.8%) this season, his worst performance since going 3 of 6 as a rookie in 2017 with the Los Angeles Chargers.
“It doesn’t really matter what you’ve done in the past,” Koo said. “The next… kick has to be the [best] one. And I just have to move on.”
Koo said he made an adjustment after missing the first field goal and that the last one felt good coming off his foot. It ended up crashing into the right upright and Koo put his hands on his head in frustration.
Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said Koo shouldn’t have even had to make those kicks for the Falcons to win because the offense should have gotten into the end zone more.
“I’ve always felt that when you kick field goals, you tend to miss,” Cousins said. “And when you score touchdowns, you tend to win.”
Morris and his teammates provided support to the kicker afterward, Koo said.
“We love Koo,” Falcons cornerback AJ Terrell said. “It’s just a difficult job. Every time points are lost or every time we give up points, it’s always critical and crucial. But we know who Koo is, we know he’s our main specialist on the team, and we all love and appreciate him.” . everything he does week after week.
