An awful Atlanta Falcons' Week 3 loss was a painful example of just how quickly things can change in this league. A week ago, kicker John Parker Romo was the hero, going 5-of-5 and helping the Falcons get a dominating win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football. Fast forward, and now Romo's job is in jeopardy with the Falcons having been blown off the field by one of the league's worst teams.
With this in mind, Atlanta fans won't be surprised that the Falcons signed K Ben Sauls on Tuesday, according to beat writer Terrin Waack.
After a solid NCAA career with Pittsburgh and going undrafted in April, the Steelers opted to give Sauls a shot this past summer. The results were solid with Sauls going 5-of-6 in preseason action. With the Steelers having one of the league's best kickers (Chris Boswell), there was never a chance that Sauls was sticking on the roster, leading to his becoming the Falcons' latest signing.
Falcons Put John Parker Romo on Notice by Bringing in Ben Sauls
Sauls' signing is a practice squad move, suggesting that Romo is going to get another week to right the ship. This seems more than fair given that the Falcons' kicker is 5-of-7 on the season and only needs to string together another great game or two to get back on track. Still, Sauls' presence will put pressure on Romo to begin his turnaround as soon as possible.
Playing on the road against Carolina shouldn't have proven to be as difficult an environment as it appeared to be. It wasn't just Romo, but the entire Atlanta roster that was completely out of sorts. Those struggles include a poor special teams performance, leaving the Falcons with a 64.7 grade on the season (24th), per Pro Football Focus.
Romo's failures were at the center of the Falcons' struggles in Week 3, but there's no time to dwell on that with how quickly the NFL schedule moves. Everyone, including Romo, must be better moving forward, and that starts in Week 4 against the Washington Commanders.
If Romo rebounds, Falcons fans can let out a collective sigh of relief. But if not, and his woes linger, Atlanta might have no choice but to see what Sauls is capable of.