With the Atlanta Falcons’ first win under their belt, head coach Raheem Morris addressed the team’s next area of concern on Monday: finding the end zone.
In their 22-6 road win over Minnesota on Sunday night, the Falcons made five trips to the red zone, resulting in four field goals before they finally broke through for a game-sealing touchdown with 3:22 left.
Ahead of a second straight road test, this time against NFC South foe Carolina, Morris is well aware of the issue at hand.
“We did not do a great job in the red zone, that’s for sure,” Morris said. “Fortunately for us, our defense held their team to almost the same poor play. …
“I’m ecstatic to not have that conversation (of being 0-2). You learn from the lessons, the things you want to do better. You can be harder on yourself, whether from a coaching standpoint or a player standpoint. The guys are getting hungrier.”
The story in Atlanta leading up to Week 2 was its kicking woes and the subsequent decision to make a change from former Pro Bowler Younghoe Koo. After missing a game-tying kick in the Falcons’ 23-20 season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team signed John Parker Romo and left Koo at home for the trip.
Romo made all five of his field goals on Sunday, including a 54-yarder in the fourth quarter, making the Falcons’ future at the spot almost a no-brainer.
“There is about a 90 percent chance that Romo is our kicker next week,” Morris said on Monday. “There’s no doubt about it. I wouldn’t even sit here and act like it’s an open competition, because the guy just went 5-for-5. He did a heck of a job and I want to see him go out there and do it again.”
The Falcons didn’t emerge with a perfect bill of health after their first win against Minnesota since 2020. Top cover cornerback A.J. Terrell exited late in the second quarter with a hamstring injury and did not return.
“Nothing new on A.J. right now,” Morris said. “Obviously he suffered the injury and didn’t come back to the game with that hamstring. I’ll have better information once we start practice and get through the day.”
In Terrell’s place, fourth-year veteran Dee Alford held Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson to one second-half reception in the Atlanta victory.
