NFL trend watch: a perfect kicker and concerns for the 49ers

Younghoe Koo has yet to miss a kick this season for the Falcons.Photograph: Brett Davis/USA Today Sports

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Younghoe Koo

In a golden season for kickers, one boot rules them all. The cleat of power welded to the instep of Younghoe Koo is delivering an all-timer for the Falcons. After four games Koo is perfect, hitting all nine of his field-goal attempts and all six of his extra-points. What about Washington’s Austin Siebert? A pretender. Perfect as the kicker may be, he has played a game fewer and is yet to make a field goal from 50 or beyond, while Koo has nailed three, including the walk-off strike from 58 yards that downed the Saints on Sunday. That this ascension has come after he bombed out of the NFL following his struggles with the Chargers makes it all the sweeter. Long live the King.

Washington Commanders

After seeing their team endure a hard-fought but heavy defeat at the hands of the Buccaneers in the season opener, Washington fans may have felt this year would play out like many that had come before. What a difference three weeks, three wins and three more excellent games from rookie quarterback/Cheshire cat Jayden Daniels makes. Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is building a devastating attack built around his rookie’s running talent, something that is slowly opening up the passing game. After too many seasons in the wilderness, the Commanders are emerging as the dominant force in the NFC East.

Related: Jayden Daniels has changed the comical Commanders into a serious franchise

Praise must be heaped on Kingsbury’s approach to running the ball. He has eschewed a bell-cow back in favour of sharing the load between four impressive rushers: in doing so he has the league’s highest-scoring unit, with 10 touchdowns. It says a lot about the talent of Daniels and Brian Robinson Jr when your third-string rusher, Austin Ekeler, was the league’s touchdown leader only two seasons ago. It says even more about the quality of coaching and blocking…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-trend-watch-perfect-kicker-080034789.html

Author : The Guardian

Publish date : 2024-10-02 08:00:34

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