Falcons Kicking Competition 'Is Heating Up' After Preseason Week 1

In the second half, Krieg attempted a 53-yarder, but that kick went wide left. He also made an extra point.

The 57-yarder bested Krieg's career long from his tenure in the European Football League. While playing for the Stuttgart Surge the past two seasons, Krieg went 19-for-26 with a career long of 52 yards.

Falcons 2025 Preseason Kicker Competition Between Younghoe Koo & Lenny Krieg

Koo joined the Falcons in 2019, which was the last time the team had uncertainty at kicker in training camp. The Falcons turned to Giorgio Tavecchio as their solution that preseason with veteran Matt Bryant turning 44 years old that offseason. But Tavecchio struggled so badly in the preseason, the Falcons brought back Bryant.

In the first half of the season, though, Bryant made only 64.3% of his field goal tries and missed an extra point. During the team's bye week near the midseason point, the Falcons replaced Bryant with Koo.

Over six seasons with the Falcons, Koo has posted an 86.1% field goal percentage. In 2020, he made the Pro Bowl behind a league-leading 37 field goals made.

But last season, Koo posted a career-low 73.5% success rate on field goals. Of his nine missed kicks, three of them were beyond 49 yards.

Koo has made 72.5% of his field goals 50 yards or longer in his NFL career. Krieg appears to have a stronger leg. But Koo could keep his job if he proves his accuracy is back.

Before 2024, Koo owned a 91.6% field goal percentage on kicks inside 50 yards in his career.

It will be interesting to see how the Falcons divide the kicker workload for the final two preseason matchups. The Falcons will next host the Tennessee Titans on Friday, August 15.