There's plenty of blame to go around after the Atlanta Falcons blew a late fourth quarter lead in their 2025 regular-season opener. However, much of the frustration ostensibly lies with Younghoe Koo, who had overtime on his foot at the end of regulation. So much so that the team will reportedly bring in kickers to challenge him.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris didn't mince words during his media availability on Monday following the club's gut-wrenching Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He began by crediting Atlanta's defense and second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. before flat-out saying they "didn't play well enough on special teams." That was a direct message to Koo, who's apparently battling for stick around.
Falcons HC Raheem Morris all but puts Younghoe Koo on the hot seat after Week 1 loss
Morris admitted Koo's blunder was "really uncharacteristic" before mentioning the razor-thin margin for error that comes with the latter's position, among others. With that in mind, the Atlanta sideline general feels it's necessary to maintain a "competitive edge," even if that means exploring external options.
"We've got to go out there and look," Morris voiced. "We've got to bring in people to compete. We'll do that accordingly like we always do."
Koo shanked what would've been a game-tying 44-yard field goal in the final seconds of Atlanta's 23-20 home defeat at the hands of the Bucs. It was a costly miss beyond the Falcons dropping to 0-1; they also gave the four-time defending NFC South champions an early head-to-head advantage. This could have significant bearing on the division race, which Morris clearly isn't taking lightly.
As of Sep. 8, Koo is the Falcons' bootsman, though Morris stopped short of promising anything beyond that. The latter mentioned that Atlanta will work out "some veterans" and "a couple of young guys." They're doing their due dilligence and seemingly leaving no stone unturned in the wake of the former's mistake.
If the Falcons choose to go in a different direction, last year may ultimately be rememered as the beginning of the end for Koo. The one-time Pro Bowler posted an 89.9 field goal percentage across his first five seasons 2019 to 2023, good for seventh in the NFL. That number dropped all the way to 73.5 in 2024, which was well below the league average rate (84.0) and a concerning development for Atlanta.