The Atlanta Falcons aren’t very patient with their kickers these days. This offseason, they brought in competition for their long-time kicker Younghoe Koo, and he was able to win the job until he lost it.
After signing Parker Romo to the their practice squad, they benched Koo for a Week 2 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings and Romo was 5-5 in that game. Fast forward to Week 3 and Romo missed a pair of field goals against the Carolina Panthers in a 30-0 shutout loss.
So, head coach Raheem Morris said the Falcons will bringing in more competition at the position because if Romo made those field goals they would have only lost 30-6. Between looking at kickers and firing the wide receivers coach, it looks like Morris is looking for scapegoats that had no impact on the outcome of that game.
“That’s what we’ve gotta do,” Morris said. “You have to do that until you get it right, and you cannot allow that to be the reason to have this stuff happen. Right? He went 5-for-5 the week before. He went 0-for-2 this week. You gotta bring competition in, and that is something we’re working diligently at.”
Atlanta Falcons signed Ben Sauls to practice squad
And, the Falcons surely brought in competition following those two missed kicks. Today they signed kicker Ben Sauls to the practice squad and he’ll certainly push Romo every time he doesn’t kick one right down the middle.
Sauls kicked really well for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the preseason, making five of his six attempts. Terrin Waack of AtlantaFalcons.com has more on Sauls.
“Sauls is an undrafted rookie who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the offseason but was released before the 53-man roster cut deadline,” Waack writes. “He played in all three of the Steelers’ preseason games, making five of his six field-goal attempts and all six of his point-after attempts. His successful field goals were from 28, 36, 28, 49 and 50 yards out. His sole miss was a 43-yarder.”
Romo knows that he’s on thin ice in Atlanta
Romo must feel like the guy who met his wife while she was still married to someone else. He must constantly be thinking, ‘if she cheated with him, she’ll do it with me.’ It seems like it’s a similar situation when kicking for the Falcons. If they were quick to dump the previous dude and sign me, they’ll probably treat me exactly the same.
“Just reset,” Romo said after the loss to the Panthers. “Reset and take it one kick at a time, doesn’t matter if I make it or miss it.
“I’ve said it multiple times, every day is an interview, so I’ve just got to go back this week and make corrections and make the kicks. You can go kick to kick really, it’s one rep at a time and that goes for everybody. I’ve just got to do what my job is and focus on myself and be better.”
It can’t be easy to kick looking over your shoulder like that, but that’s what Romo has to do. He clearly feels terribly about the game on Sunday, but he also must feel terribly about his job security.
“Obviously, it was not good enough and I have to be better for the team,” Romo said. “When they call me out onto the field, I need to go out there and make points. Today, I didn’t do that.”
If Romo stumbles again and Sauls kicks well, the new guy should know that it’s his turn in the barrel next.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Atlanta Falcons Find a New Scapegoat After Embarrassing Loss appeared first on Heavy Sports.