Younghoe Koo shoulders loss to Saints after 3 missed field goals

NEW ORLEANS — The Atlanta Falcons lost to the New Saints by three points Sunday at Caesars Superdome.

Atlanta left nine points on the field that could have flipped the outcome.

Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo finished with three missed field goal attempts, one of which was blocked. It marked the first time in his seven-year career he has missed a trio of kicks in a single game.

“It’s not the standard that I have for myself,” Koo said. “This game is fully on me. I’ll take that. That’s not OK. We were playing well enough to win football games, especially this one, and I let the team down. I don’t take that lightly. It’s one of the lowest points as a kicker.”

The final score was 20-17, Saints.

Koo’s final stat line was 1-of-4. His only make was a 27-yard field goal in the third quarter.

“He had an off day,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said. “It happens a ton of times. Shooters shoot. He went out there and took his shots today and didn’t make them.”

The first miss came in the second quarter on a 53-yard attempt. Koo’s kick went wide left. The Falcons remained down, 3-0.

Koo’s second misfire, also in the second quarter, wasn’t exactly a missed kick but rather a blocked one. Koo was trying for a 35-yard field goal when Saints defensive tackle John Ridgeway III got a hand on the ball and sent it awry. The Saints maintained their 17-7 lead into halftime as a result.

The third miss happened in the fourth quarter from 47 yards out. Koo’s kick hit the right upright and bounced away. It was the Falcons’ last, best chance to even the game. The score after his attempt, with more than six minutes remaining, matched the final one when the clock struck zero.

Koo almost had another opportunity at redemption once the Falcons’ offense began its last-chance drive with less than two minutes on the clock. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was sacked for a loss of 9 yards, though, as soon as Atlanta crossed into New Orleans territory. There was also a fumble that set the Falcons back even more. Ultimately, the last play was at the Saints’ 43-yard line, which would have set Koo up for about a 60-yarder.

“At the time, I felt good,” Koo said. “Believe it or not. Performance might not say it. But if we had gotten another chance, I had all the confidence in the world that I was going to make that kick.”

Instead, the last play was a completed pass to wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud III for…