Younghoe Koo is part of the Falcons end-of-close-game strategy. The kicker inspires so much confidence that head coach Arthur Smith is willing to set Koo up to be the difference as time expires, without any recourse should things go wrong.
That made Smith comfortable letting Koo try to win it Sunday in Tampa from 51 yards out. He's good from distance, but that's no gimme.
Koo sure made it look that way, knocking it through the uprights with ease and with such power that it would've been good from a farther distance.
"The operation was great. All I had to do was just kick it," Koo said on Sunday. "I know that I hit the ball like I normally do, it's good from about 55 or so. I didn't have to swing harder at all."
That effort was celebrated with an epic helmet toss and a party on the Buccaneers field after a 16-13 victory was secured.
It also earned him an honor. Koo was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, the NFL announced on Wednesday. All told, he was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, converting them from 24, 41 and 51 yards.
The decisive field goal was the seventh game-winner of Koo's career, all of which have come in the last three seasons. That ties him with Las Vegas' Daniel Carlson for the most game-winners as time expired, including overtime, since the start of the 2021 season.
