As the Atlanta Falcons’ freefall continues, head coach Raheem Morris was clear in his assessment of the team’s third straight loss.
With a chance to tie the score at 24 against the New England Patriots with 4:40 left in Sunday’s game, kicker Parker Romo missed the extra point. The Falcons did get the ball back, but could not get into scoring position, leaving the miss as the difference in the result.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to make that kick and give yourself a chance,” Morris told reporters on Monday. “That’s the game. … We’ve got to get it fixed and it has to be fixed now.”
Kicking woes have plagued the Falcons (3-5) since their season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when Younghoe Koo missed a game-tying 44-yarder as Atlanta fell 23-20.
Morris’ comments Monday were almost identical to Week 1, when the second-year head coach said, “We’ve got to make those kicks,” before the team cut the veteran Koo.
By the time Atlanta leaves for its Week 10 meeting with the Indianapolis Colts in Berlin, the team could be on its third kicker.
“Obviously we’ve got to look at that and we’ve started that process already,” Morris said of replacing Romo. “We’ve worked out a bunch of different people. We’ll be able to bring people in and figure out who it’s going to be this week. Those pressure situations aren’t built on practice fields. They’re built in games.”
The good from Sunday included Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s career-high three passing touchdowns, despite falling to 4-6 as a starter since taking Kirk Cousins’ job last December.
One of the only blemishes on Penix’s performance was an intentional grounding penalty he took which stalled out the Falcons’ final drive.
After the game, Penix and Morris accused the Patriots of simulating the snap by clapping, which led to the snap arriving early and is supposed to be a “disconcerting signals” penalty.
Morris walked back his comments on Monday, saying all he was going off was what his players told him.
“This was our players telling us they simulated the snap out there,” Morris said. “They heard something and obviously they did, that’s why he snapped it. This was no intent that (New England) did anything wrong.
“… We can’t snap the ball early no matter what anybody does. It’s gotta be more about us. That was just me being angry (Sunday).”
Even on a three-game losing streak, Penix still feels the Falcons can play their best football.
“It’s still high,” Penix said of the team’s confidence. “It’s got to be. It’s NFL football. We’re still in it. We still have a lot of games to go. We’ve got to go out there and just make sure each and every day of practice we give our 110% effort like we always do and be ready for this next game coming up. Obviously a long flight out to Germany, but we’ll be ready for it.”
Atlanta’s offensive line took a hit at New England, as left guard Matthew Bergeron exited in the first quarter with an ankle injury before three-time Pro Bowl right guard Chris Lindstrom (foot) left in the fourth.
“We’ll get those guys to Wednesday and see what happens,” said Morris, who also updated the status of linebacker Troy Andersen, who hasn’t played since Dec. 8 of last season with a knee injury. “You never want to rule (Andersen coming back this season) out. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
