Falcons' Younghoe Koo Earns Dishonorable Mention After Career-Worst Day

NFL.com's Jeffri Chadiha included Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo on a list that no NFL player ever wanted to be on after Week 10.

Atlanta Falcons place kicker Younghoe Koo / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons might have a kicker problem. Former Pro Bowler Younghoe Koo has made only 70.8% of his field goals this season.

That's a shocking mark. In his first five seasons with the Falcons, Koo never posted a field goal percentage below 86.5%.

On Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, he reached a new low, connecting on only 1 of his 4 attempts. After the poor performance, NFL.com's Jeffri Chadiha included Koo on his list of "Three Down" in his Week 10 column.

"This Falcons have one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, which is why it’s so astounding that Koo has suddenly turned unreliable," Chadiha wrote. "He missed three out of four field goals (one was blocked) in a 20-17 loss to New Orleans, and he’s only made two of his last seven attempts overall. Koo has nailed 86.4 percent of his career field goal tries. He’s at 70.8 percent this season."

Koo's misses have come from all over the field. He actually owns a better percentage from 40-49 yards away this season than 50-plus. Koo has also missed a field goal from inside of 40 yards.

Last season, he went 29-for-31 (93.5%) on attempts inside of 50 yards.

The good news is Koo's kicking problems haven't impacted his extra-point attempts. He is 23-for-23 on those tries this season.

But while Koo failed to convert three field-goal attempts versus the Saints, the Falcons lost 20-17.

The Falcons appear to have their best team in years this season. But no NFL team can carry a kicker. Too many games come down to field goals for a true contender to be able to overcome poor kicking performances.

Koo will need to find his confidence and groove again, or the Falcons are going to have issues. Of course, for his confidence to return, Koo should avoid reading things like Chadiha's analyst of his latest performance.