Falcons Kicker Gonzalez Matches Team Feat Not Seen in 30 Year vs Saints

The Atlanta Falcons' kicker got his chance after the team cut two other kickers, and the result was some team history

Zane Gonzalez matched a feat from 30 years ago | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Twelve weeks into the NFL season, the Atlanta Falcons are already on their third starting kicker of the season. Younghoe Koo, who had been serving as Atlanta’s kicker since 2019, headed into Week 1 as the starter, despite missing a career-high nine kicks last season. After Koo missed a 44-yard game-tying field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he was replaced by Parker Romo ahead of the Falcons' Week 2 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.

Romo went 5-for-5 on kicks in his debut, including hitting a 54-yarder in the fourth quarter. However, Atlanta’s marriage with Romo was short-lived, as he would go on to miss two kicks the following week against the Carolina Panthers. Finally, after missing an extra point to tie the game late in the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots in Week 9, the kicker was cut.

Zane Gonzalez was signed ahead of the Falcons' Week 10 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts. In the three weeks he has been with the team, he has made all his field goal attempts, a perfect six for six on the field. 

On Sunday, Gonzalez had a feat that had only been achieved once before in the Falcons' franchise history. The kicker hit two field goals of 54 or more yards. Coincidentally, the only other time this had been done was by Morten Anderson, also against the Saints, back in 1995.

Zane Gonzalez is the second Falcons kicker to make two field goals of 54+ yards in a single game. He joins Morten Andersen as the only other Falcon to do so.

Funny enough Andersen also did so against the Saints (1995). pic.twitter.com/2MFYyVdpVM

— Tori McElhaney (@tori_mcelhaney) November 23, 2025

That kind of reliability had been missing earlier in the season, with head coach Raheem Morris holding little faith in Romo’s ability to deliver from 50+ yards. It was apparent in the decisions Morris would make late in games on fourth downs in enemy territory. 

It was a nice change of pace this season to watch the Falcons nail two deep kicks and go a perfect three for three from the field, while the Saints left points on the field as kicker Blake Grupe missed not one but two field goals. 

Morris had said after Romo’s Week 9 extra point miss that high-pressure kicking moments aren’t built in practice but on the field, in hostile environments.

“Like we talked about, those pressure situations aren't built on practice fields, they're built in games, and they're built in that environment," Morris said.

Gonzalez went into the house of the Falcons’ most hated rivals, and did something no member of the team had done in 30 years: make two very deep field goals as Atlanta took the lead in the all-time series with the Saints, and kept their faint playoff hopes alive.