Younger Koo accepts responsibility for Falcons’ defeat against Saints: ‘This game is entirely on me’
In Week 4, Younghoe Koo had an outstanding performance for the Atlanta Falcons, helping the team to a 26-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
However, the rematch in Week 10 saw Koo facing one of his toughest days as a professional kicker.
He converted only 1 of his 4 field goal attempts in the Falcons’ 20-17 loss to the Saints, marking the first time in his career that he missed three kicks in a single game.
Despite Koo’s poor performance, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris expressed his confidence in the seasoned kicker after the game.
“I have complete faith in [Koo],” Morris stated at the postgame press conference. “He’s among the top kickers in the league. He’s been doing this for years. Everyone has an off day sometimes. Just like shooters in basketball, we took our shot today and didn’t succeed.”
Koo’s struggles are not isolated to this game. He has only managed to convert 2 out of 7 field goals in the last three games, missing at least one attempt in each of them.
However, Koo was particularly upset about his performance against the Saints, especially after he failed to make a 46-yard kick that could have tied the game with 6:43 left in regulation.
“This is not the level of performance that I or the team expects,” Koo declared postgame, according to ESPN. “This game falls entirely on me. I take full responsibility for it. We played well enough to win, and I let my team down, which I do not take lightly. This is one of the lowest points in my career as a kicker.”
His stats reflect his difficulties: the three missed field goals significantly decreased his season average to 70.8%, which is his lowest since his rookie year in 2017 when he went 3-of-6 (50%) in four games with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Koo was let go after a rough beginning with the Chargers and didn’t kick in the NFL again until 2019. He’s drawing on that past experience as he aims to regain his reputation as a reliable kicker.
“Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what I’ve done before,” Koo commented. “The next kick has to be my best one. I just need to move forward.”
