Younghoe Koo Reignites Kicker Battle and Other Atlanta Falcons Takeaways

ATLANTA, Ga – The Atlanta Falcons fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 by a final score of 23-20. Sunday’s loss marks the franchise’s seventh time starting 0-1 in a season over the last eight years. 

The Falcons had several opportunities to win this game, including a lead with just over a minute to play. They came up short and will instead shift their focus to the Minnesota Vikings next week in a Sunday Night Football showdown. 

See below for some rapid reactions from today’s game. 

Younghoe Koo Falters, Reigniting Kicker Battle

Michael Penix Jr and the Falcons’ offense drove the length of the field in the final 59 seconds of the game and gave their team a chance to tie this game, but Younghoe Koo missed what should have been a standard 44-yard attempt. 

He finished 2-for-3 on the afternoon, but earlier in the game, Koo nearly missed another 36-yard kick. Fortunately, the ball doinked off the upright and through. Additionally, he was flagged early in the game for a kickoff that failed to reach the 'landing zone.'

On his career, Koo is an 86.1% kicker, which is among the best in the NFL. Last season, he struggled with his worst season as a Falcon. He converted just 73.5% of his kicks and the team opted to bring in free agent kicker Lenny Krieg to provide some competition. While the veteran clearly won that battle, there is plenty of reason to believe they could give it another go. 

Head coach Raheem Morris and his teammates all expressed their confidence in Koo, but missing kicks in those moments cost them this game. 

Divine Deablo Shines

Divine Deablo was one of the biggest winners of today’s game. The newly added linebacker signed a $14 million contract in March after posting 106 tackles for the Raiders last season. The front office saw some of the potential that the Falcons players and staff raved about all summer. 

They routinely cited his incredible athletic ability, defensive intelligence, and length. 

“From the jump, when he got here, you could tell he’s a great athlete,” Kaden Elliss said about Deablo during camp. “Coach calls him 'the avatar,' like he has long limbs, he’s fast, and he can cover. He played safety, and he’s a special, special athlete.”

Head coach Raheem Morris agreed with that assessment, jokingly adding that Deablo reminded him of the tube men that you see outside of car dealerships. He measured at 6-foot-3 and ¼” inch coming out of Virginia Tech with 33” arms. By comparison, offensive tackle Jake Matthews had 33 ⅓” arms.

On Sunday, fans got their first look at what he could potentially add to this Jeff Ulbrich defense. He was active in run defense with a tackle for loss, tied for the team-lead in tackles, picked up a half-sack and added another quarterback hit, and was effective in coverage, nearly picking up an interception in this game.  

Falcons Offensive Line a Mixed Bag

The Falcons were dealt a massive blow a few weeks ago with a pair of injuries to Kaleb McGary and Storm Norton. In their place, Elijah Wilkinson stepped in and got his first career start as the Falcons’ right tackle. As a unit, the group struggled. 

Wilkinson had two false starts and gave up a sack to Haason Reddick on a single drive in the 3rd quarter, and Chris Lindstrom was pushed around on the interior. [pressure rate]? 

It appeared that offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was working to take some pressure off his offensive line with their heavy incorporation of screen plays. 

The Buccaneers feature a strong front seven, but the overall play of this offensive line hindered a ground game that struggled to find its footing in this game. They failed on one fourth down and short, nearly did on another, but they were called upon to step up in the biggest moment of the game.

With time winding down late, trailing by four points, the Falcons drove the length of the field. They reached the doorstep of the endzone, but it took everything they had to find paydirt. They ran eight plays inside the Buccaneers’ five-yard line, but it took a pair of heroic Penix scrambles to pick up a first-down and eventually score (both by a finger tip). 

In pass protection, they gave up a few pressures but only allowed a single sack. Tampa finished with seven tackles for loss. 

Offense Starts Fast, Stalls Out, Finishes Strong

The Falcons exploded out of the gate with a three-play touchdown drive, with plays of 10, five, and 50 yards. On their ensuing drive, the offense looked like it was going to continue rolling, but stalled out after eight plays. They still looked promising, picking up 101 yards on their first 11 plays from scrimmage. 

After that punt, it was a different story. Atlanta scored just three points and gained just 69 yards over its next six possessions. 

Failures in the rushing attack were a major contributor to the Falcons' struggles today. They picked up just 26 yards on the ground in the first half (2.0 YPC), finishing with just 46 yards as a team (2.2 YPC). Penix also went through a few prolonged droughts, including one period where he had five incompletions on six attempts.

They were able to finish strong, though, with 184 yards on their final three drives of the game, but one ended in the final missed field goal attempt from Koo. 

Michael Penix Jr is a Star in the Making 

The heroics of the young play-caller were mentioned earlier when addressing the overall performance of the offensive line, but he deserves his own block. With the Falcons’ offense struggling to finish, Penix willed himself forward on a pair of fourth downs. He picked up a first down and then finished the drive with another reaching touchdown. 

He showed incredible toughness on these plays and gave his chance a to win the game. 

After Tampa’s ensuing touchdown drive of their own, the second-year quarterback orchestrated an eight play, 60-yard drive that began on his own 14 yard line and 57 seconds on the clock. He got them to the Tampa Bay 26 yard line, but Koo missed the game-tying field goal. 

Despite the loss, Penix never waivered. He was poised under pressure and made several big time plays in big time moments. Through four career starts, there’s plenty of reason to believe that the Falcons have their guy. 

Rookies Perform Well

Jalon Walker got some good pressure early in this game and took several snaps today, as did James Pearce Jr, who nearly got a sack on the team’s final series. 

The big winners today were the two rookies in the secondary. 

Xavier Watts tied for the team lead in tackles (six), and had a pair of nicely defended passes. He made several nice, open-field tackles, including one on Bucky Irving to force a fourth down (the Bucs missed the ensuing kick). The rookie looked poised in coverage, and nearly came away with an interception at one point in the game. 

Billy Bowman Jr. got his first career sack, the first of the rookie class. He also finished the day with six tackles.