FLOWERY BRANCH – Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo has never had a day like this one in the NFL.
He was 1 of 4 of his field goal attempts in the Falcons 20-17 loss to the Saints on Sunday in New Orleans.
He’d never missed three kicks in a regular-season game. He did miss three in an exhibition game in Baltimore this year.
Koo had misses of 53 yards (wide left), 35 (blocked) and 46 (right upright).
“That’s not the standard that I have for myself,” Koo said. “This game is fully on me, I’ll take that. Yeah, I think we were playing well enough to win the football game. I let the team down and I don’t take this lightly. One of the lowest points as a kicker. I’m going to bury myself in it for the next couple of days and make the most out of it.”
Koo said the players in the locker room were very supportive.
“I can’t ask for anything more than that,” Koo said. “I definitely appreciate that, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to do better and I will do better.”
Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell is still big backer of Koo.
“Oh yeah, we love Younghoe,” Terrell said. “It’s a tough job that he has. Any time points are missed or when we give up points, it’s always critical and crucial.”
The Falcons believe Koo, who has missed more kicks already this season (seven) than he did last season (five), will bounce back.
“We know who Koo is,” Terrell said. “We know he’s the leading specialist on the team and we all love and appreciate everything he (does) week-in and week-out.”
Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett had a simple message for Koo.
“Go back to work. …go back to work,” Jarrett said. “We’ll learn from the shortcomings. At the end of the day, there are many, many plays where things went wrong in that game. It’s more than just on him.”
After Koo’s 46-yarder, that would have tied the game up, hit the right uprights, he grabbed his helmet with both hands.
“I made a couple of adjustments after the first miss,” Koo said. “I felt pretty good about it, when it first came off my foot. That was kind of the reaction because coming off the foot, it felt good. Sometimes, it just doesn’t go that way.”
Koo made a 58-yard field goal at the buzzer to beat the Saints 26-24 on Sept. 29 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Yeah, but try not to ride that because it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done in the past,” Koo said. “The next best kick has to be the next one. I’ve got to move on.”
Koo’s first miss, the 53-yarder, was from the left hash.
“It felt OK,” Koo said. “I didn’t hit it good enough. I’ve got to play the line better, stick to my process and hit a better ball.”
On the 35-yarder right before the half, it was blocked by Saints backup defensive tackle John Ridgeway.
“I think they did – I’ve got to watch the film – but they did a pull and shoot,” Koo said. “I’ve got to hit the ball better. If I hit a better ball, I don’t think there would have been an issue. I have to go back, look and see exactly what happened. But I have got to hit a better ball as well.”
The last miss was the 46-yarder.
“Overall, I know the foundation of my kicking, I know what I have to get back, too,” Koo said. “I thought I did that and I felt pretty confident. So, that’s what the reaction is what it was. I thought it was good and it just kept leaking on me. Just have got to learn from it.”
Koo was scrambling after the 53-yarder didn’t move inside toward the goal posts.
“Sometimes when I make a kick, it doesn’t mean that I hit a good ball,” Koo said. “Sometimes, your misses go in. That’s kind of the name of the game. I’m always going back to the process whether if I make the kick or miss the kick…I try to not rely on feel or whatever. Make or miss, I always go back and see what I can work on.”
The Falcons had a chance to get back into field goal range for a second chance to tie the game, but a sack-strip stalled that drive and time expired.
“At the time, I felt good,” Koo said. “Believe it or not, performance might not say it. But if we’d got another chance, I had all of the confidence in the world that I was going to make that kick. I was getting ready for that kick. That’s all I could do. My job was to go out there and make the next one.”
Koo made 32 of 37 (86.4%) field goal attempts last season. Now, he’s 17 of 24 (70.8%) this season.
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