FLOWERY BRANCH – Kicker Younghoe Koo is the Falcons’ secret weapon.
Koo’s 58-yard field goal lifted the Falcons to a 26-24 win on Sunday and was his eighth game-winning field goal (kicked with 10 seconds or less to play) since 2021, the most in the league over that period.
“We’ve been in this situation a lot,” Koo said. “That’s how it is in this league. The majority of the games come down to one possession. Our unit takes a lot of pride in that.”
Koo, the native of Seoul, South Korea, who played football in New Jersey before starring at Georgia Southern, also etched his name in the Falcons record books next to Hall of Famer Morten Andersen and Matt Bryant. Bryant and Andersen hold the team record. Bryant made a 59-yard field goal against Kansas City on Dec. 4, 2016 and Andersen made a 59-yarder against San Francisco on Dec. 24, 1995.
Koo’s 58-yarder is tied with Michael Koenen’s 58-yarder he made against New England on Oct. 9, 2005, as the second-longest in franchise history.
The victory was also the first time since beating the Cardinals on Sept. 26, 2004 that the Falcons won a game without scoring an offensive touchdown.
Here are the five things we learned from the game:
1. Where’s the pass rush? The Falcons’ defense, which was getting gashed on first downs, played 74 snaps for the second consecutive game.
The Saints had three drives of 10 plays or more and score a touchdown, field goal and had a turnover on downs on those drives.
The plays are starting to mount for the defense which has now been on the field for 15 drives that have been 10 plays are longer. Over those 15 drives, the opposition has scored 11 times (six field goals and five touchdowns). The Falcons have three stops on downs and one stop via an interception.
The problem against the Saints was that Falcons gave up too much ground on first down. The Saints ran 30 first-down plays and picked up 173 yards (5.7 per play) to create favorable down and distances.
The Saints made four first downs on first down as they had three plays that went for 15 yards or more. They had a 28-yard gain on first down nullified by penalty.
The Falcons held the Saints under three yards on first down, just seven times.
With the good drive starts, the Saints were converted 7 of 13 third downs (53.8%).
Nickel back Dee Alford, on a slot corner blitz, had the teams only sack. He also had a quarterback hit.
“We can grow from this performance and try to build something special,” Alford said.
The Falcons had just three quarterback hits total, with linebacker Kaden Ellis and outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie having a hit each.
Saints quarterback Derek Carr had a clean pocket for most the game.
Outside linebacker Matthew Judon had a tackle and a big pass breakup that led to inside linebacker Troy Andersen’s interception and 47-yard touchdown run.
Defensive tackle Zach Harrison made a career-high five tackles.
2. Andersen update: Andersen had 16 tackles to go with his touchdown.
“I think it was kind of our scheme today and then everybody eating up blocks letting me be able to roam a little bit,” Andersen said. “Then everybody is running to the ball and hunting. It was fun.”
Andersen left the game with a knee injury suffered on a punt play with 3:57 left to play in the fourth quarter.
Rookie JD Bertrand came on to finish the game.
The Falcons were already thin at inside linebacker with Nate Landman being on injured reserve. Landman, who probably could help with the first-down issue, is eligible to return after the Falcons play the Bucs on Thursday.
Also, Falcons have inside linebackers Josh Woods and Monty Rice on the practice squad.
“I felt ready,” said Bertrand, a local standout who played at Blessed Trinity High and Notre Dame. “I think going through the week, every single week, I’m going to make sure I’m prepared to be able to be that backup. To be the guy that’s going to be able to come in.”
3. Power football: The Falcons had their chances to wrap the game up long before Koo came on to seal the deal.
With the Falcons clinging to their 23-17 lead, the defense forced a turnover of downs with 3:57 to play.
The offense had the ball at their 7-yard line and needed to string together a couple of first downs, run some clock and close-out the win.
After running back Tyler Allgeier was stopped for no gain, the Saints used their first timeout.
On second down, the Falcons tossed a pass to tight end Kyle Pitts that was incomplete and that stopped the clock for the Saints.
On third down, Cousins tossed a pass to Allgeier for a 7-yard gain, but he was pushed out of bounds to stop the clock.
The Falcons used up just 19 seconds and only forced the Saints to use one timeout before they had to punt. It was a major fail by the offense, which chose to pass on second down. Also, Allgeier needed to fight to stay inbounds on third down and perhaps get the Saints to use their second timeout.
Returner Rashid Shaheed had a 17-yard return to set up the TD drive that allowed the Saints to take the lead with a minute to play.
4. Clean up the penalties: The Falcons were called for nine penalties and 76 yards. They have 28 penalties for 194 yards on the season and are on pace for a whopping 119 penalties. Last season, the Jets led the league with 124 penalties.
Left guard Matt Bergeron had two penalties. His first, a face-mask, killed the opening drive which had reached the Saints’ 31-yard line. It took them out of field goal range and forced a punt.
Also, left tackle Jake Matthews was called for holding to nullify an 19-yard touchdown by Bijan Robinson on a screen play.
Former Falcons coach Mike Smith used to have the player who committed penalty come up in front of the team and explain their behavior. Smith’s 2010 and 2012 Falcons had the fewest penalties int he NFL with 58 and 55.
So, in that spirit, here’s the full list of penalty violators:
--Bergeron, facemask
--Defensive tackle Kentavious Street, defensive holding
--Wide receiver Drake London, offensive pass interference
--Center Ryan Neuzil, false start
--Bergeron, offensive holding
--Outside linebacker Matthew Judon, unnecessary roughness
--Matthews, offensive holding
--Defensive tackle Ta’Quon Graham, defensive offside (12 men on the field declined)
--Neuzil, false start
Smith will be at the game on Thursday to see Matt Ryan go into the Ring of Honor.
5. Revamped offensive line held up: Neuzil started for Drew Dalman at center and Storm Norton started for Kaleb McGary at right tackle.
Other than Neuzil’s two false start penalties, things went well for the unit.
The Falcons only gave up one sack and four quarterback hits.
The Falcons ran the ball 15 times for 88 yards, for a respectable 5.9 yards per carry.
“We had the next man up mentality,” Norton said. “We are just trying to not skip a beat, whoever is in there.”
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