Dirty Birds Dispatch: Assessing the Younghoe Koo era

You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em

Know when to fold ‘em

Know when to walk away

And know when to run

— “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers

HOLD ‘EM OR FOLD ‘EM?

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC

The Falcons have to figure out if it’s time to walk away from kicker Younghoe Koo.

They brought in six kickers Tuesday to tryout for his job. Parker Romo, who is from Peachtree City and played at McIntosh High, was the survivor. He was signed to the practice squad.

Koo has burned up nearly all of the goodwill he had with the Falcons. He missed the 44-yarder that would have tied the score against the Bucs with two seconds to play in the fourth quarter.

Koo missed five kicks in 2022. He missed five kicks in 2023. Then he missed nine kicks in 2024, though special-teams coordinator Marquice Williams is quick to point out that two of those were blocked.

We think Koo started to slide when he missed three kicks in an exhibition game in Baltimore in 2024.

He’s been shaky ever since.

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CLUTCH KICKS NEEDED

Koo, 31, needs to find the groove he had in 2020, when he led the NFL with 37 made field goals. He had only two misses that season.

In 2021, he only had two misses as he made 27 of 29 of his attempts.

He still has the leg. He made his career long 58-yard yarder to beat the Saints 26-24 on Sept. 29 last season.

🤔 But for some reason the Falcons didn’t send him out to try a 58-yarder after their second offensive possession stalled at Tampa Bay’s 41 on Sunday.

He’s shook. That’s why he didn’t speak to the media after the game.

He did address the miss and explain himself Monday. This was a little weird.

🤔 Said Koo: “Throughout the game with that turf, I was kind of hitting the ground a little bit. So, I tried to make an adjustment, which I have done multiple times. Just made the wrong kind of adjustment at that time. I know what to do, but it’s just frustrating because I know better than that. I just got to do a better job there.”

Credit: Rahul Deshpande

Koo, after starring at Georgia Southern, broke into the NFL in 2017 with the Chargers. He lost his job there and then had to kick his way back into the league.

He has been with the Falcons since 2019. He has made 181 of 211 field-goal attempts (85.8%).

Earlier in the game, Koo’s 36-yard field goal hit an upright but went in.

🤔 Koo believes he can bounce back from the miss and said his mental acuity is on point.

“There’s a lot of football left,” he said. “Mentally, I don’t think I’m in a (bad) position or (there’s) anything I can’t handle. I feel great and confident as ever.”

VIKING SHIP TAKEOVER

The Vikings are coming off a dramatic 27-24 victory over the Bears on Monday. They rallied behind second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory.

Last season, in Kirk Cousins’ return to Minnesota, the Falcons were blown out of U.S. Bank Stadium in the fourth quarter. The score was 21-21 heading into the fourth quarter, with the Vikings on the move.

Then Sam Darnold turned into Joe Montana. He repeatedly found Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison for long-gainers. Jefferson finished with seven catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns, including a 52-yard TD score. Addison had eight catches for 133 yards and three touchdowns, including a 49-yard TD score.

At least defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich doesn’t have to worry about Addison because Addison has been suspended for three games for allegedly violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.

The Vikings’ defense, which added defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen over the offseason, slowed the Bears after giving up a touchdown on their opening drive.

Hargrave, who played at South Carolina State, was relentless. He finished with five tackles, two sacks and two tackles for losses.

WHERE TO WATCH (AND LISTEN)

Credit: Stephen Maturen/TNS

This will be the 33rd regular-season meeting. The Vikings lead the series 21-11. The Vikings — who are 4.5-point favorites over the Falcons, according to BetMGM — have won six of the past seven meetings.

The over/under is 44.5 points.

📺 On TV: Sunday’s game starts at 8:20 p.m. on NBC. Also streaming on Peacock. The crew: Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth and Melissa Stark.

Telemundo Deportes also will air the contest, with Miguel Gurwitz and Rolando Cantù.

📻 On radio: Locally on 92.9 The Game, with play-by-play from Wes Durham and analysis from Dave Archer.

Nationally, tune in to Westwood One, with play-by-play from Ryan Radtke and analysis from Mike Golic.

IN SEARCH OF A RUSHING ATTACK

The Falcons will need to improve on a poor rushing performance to contend with the Vikings. The Falcons were held to 69 yards on 28 carries. They were also stuffed twice in short-yardage situations.

“We all got beat on the fourth-and-1,” said Morris, when asked if Kyle Pitts got blown up on the first fourth-and-1 play Sunday. “We’ve got to do a better job in short yardage, period. Even the one we got, we didn’t block correctly. We’ve got to make sure we do those things right. So, we were not good on short yardage.”

EXTRA ANALYTICS

A deeper dive, courtesy of the Zebra Technologies NFL Next Gen Stats newsletter.

📈 Bijan Robinson (Falcons), James Cook (Bills), and Breece Hall (Jets), were the top three in expected yards after catch (xYAC), marking the first time since the stat was recorded (2021) that the top three were RBs.

📈 Former Georgia Bulldog Brock Bowers hit the highest top speed of any tight end at 20.27 mph on his 38-yard reception in the third quarter of the Raiders’ win against the Patriots.

MAILBAG TIME

Credit: Danny Karnik/AP

Let’s take a quick journey through the inbox.

📬 From reader Ed Womack: “SURELY YOU JEST!

“You give the defensive line a grade of D- (at least they have an appropriate nickname in “D” line), while giving the secondary a grade of B, the same secondary that was torched for 2TDs by a rookie receiver, the second of which was a game winner AFTER the defense allowed the Bucs to drive the field in a two-minute drill?

“Again, surely you jest! The entire defense was awful, as was the coaching staff — but, as Mr. (Mark) Bradley and I used to say, ‘same old same old’ Falcons every year, no matter who coaches or plays.

“Mr. Blank deserves better🏈”

My response: Hello Ed! Thanks for the email. I may have been too easy on the secondary.

Cornerback Mike Hughes was supposed to get help from Jessie Bates, but he was off freestyling trying to get a fumble to stop the drive.

Here’s what coach Morris said when I asked about Hughes: “That last one, the critical one, we should have had a post player. It was Jessie. I don’t want to act like I’m trying to sugarcoat those things. Jessie should’ve stayed in the post, and those things are critical. That eats at Jessie. He’ll be upset at you guys. Don’t ask him about that this week. And Mike can squeeze that thing, make a play better there, too.”

📬 From reader Michael Miller: “D.O.L. The Falcons have Veteran QB (Kirk) Cousins on the sideline. Have him Hooked Up w Offense Coordinator Upstairs and let them Share the Play Calling. Yesterday was a poor excuse …”

My response: Play-calling wasn’t their problem. It was the blocking.

COACH’S CORNER

Here’s what Falcons coach Raheem Morris had to say about three key players:

🗣️ On rookie safety Xavier Watts’ two dropped interceptions: “When you go back and watch the tape, it’s exactly what you thought. It was two really cool missed ops (opportunities). When you make those plays, those make the difference in the game. He knows it. He’s excited about it.”

🗣️ On what he saw from inside linebacker Divine Deablo: “Excellence. His ability to play in the pass game, on the deep defense … but (can make) huge plays in the run game. Made huge plays in the pass game. He’s a factor on the rush. I believe he was the other guy that got the .5 sack.”

🗣️ On the play from right tackle Elijah Wilkinson: “Elijah did some really good things, some really nice things. He did some poor things when it came to the jumping offsides and the false starts. But we can correct and fix those things. We’d like to see Elijah get better just like the rest of our guys.”

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Dirty Bird Dispatch. Questions? Suggestions? Contact us at dledbetter@ajc.com. Follow @DorlandoAJC on X, too.

See you next week.

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