The Atlanta Falcons suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 when they failed to force overtime with a missed field goal. They lost 23-20 and benched their kicker Younghoe Koo for this Sunday night’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings will host the Falcons tonight at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday Night Football in Minneapolis.
Atlanta Falcons inactives:
K Younghoe Koo
WR Jamal Agnew
CB Clark Phillips III
OT Jack Nelson
WR Casey Washington
DL Sam Roberts
Minnesota Vikings inactives:
OL Christian Darrisaw
LB Andrew Van Ginkel
CB Jeff Okudah
OL Joe Huber
LB Austin Keys
QB Max Brosmer
S Harrison Smith
Younghoe Koo benched for the Atlanta Falcons
It’s not every day that a kicker’s status is big fantasy news. But, Koo faced stiff competition in training camp from Lenny Kreig, but he was able to beat him out to be the Week 1 starter. However, given Koo’s struggles last year, everyone knew he’d be on a short leash. And he was/is.
“Yeah, injury or not, it wasn’t the best season,” Koo said a few weeks ago of his banged-up, less-than-stellar year where he was 25-34 for 73.5% of his kicks.
Koo knew that even beating out Krieg didn’t mean that his job was safe.
“Week 1 comes, it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done or what you haven’t done in the past,” Koo said. “It’s what matters right there, so I just try to get ready for that.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter posted on X that Koo was been benched for Parker Romo, who will start on Sunday night.
Falcons ruled out kicker Younghoe Koo for Sunday night’s matchup with the Minnesota Vikings and listed his reason for downgraded as not injury related,” Schefter posted on X.
Falcons also promoted kicker Parker Romo to kick Sunday night vs. the Vikings.
Rematch of the 2023 NCAA National Title Game
In January 2024, the Michigan Wolverines took down the Washington Huskies in the NCAA National Title Game. What does that have to do with Sunday night’s game between the Falcons and the Vikings? Michael Penix, Jr. was the quarterback of the Huskies and Vikings‘ signal caller J.J. McCarthy was running the show for the Wolverines.
Penix was okay (sort of) in the 34-13 shellacking, going 27-51 passing for 255 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. McCarthy didn’t do much at all besides get the win, as he was 10-18 passing for 140 yards and not much else.
Penix was drafted No. 8 in the 2024 NFL Draft, while McCarthy slipped down to No. 10. The former sat behind Kirk Cousins all season, but was decent in three starts. Meanwhile, the latter tore his meniscus last year and missed the entire season.
“He’s a winner. He’s a proven winner,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said of McCarthy’s win over the Chicago Bears last week. “He’s gone out and won at the collegiate level, [and now] his first game as a pro. I think he just goes out and just plays football and does what he’s supposed to do.
“Everybody knows in this game there’s going to be ups and downs. It doesn’t matter how he started. It’s really how he finished. He threw a game-winning touchdown. He sealed it in a four-minute drive and was able to go out there and find a way to win that football game. That’s really what’s most important. That’s ultimately great quarterback play when you talk about those things.”
Atlanta Falcons Have New Kicker Active for Vikings Game