FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Parker Romo came back to New England hoping to show the Patriots they made a mistake by cutting him at the end of training camp.
Instead, he left them celebrating the decision.
The Falcons kicker — who made 11 of 12 kicks for Minnesota last year and was perfect in two preseason games for New England — missed the potential tying extra point with five minutes to play Sunday and the Patriots held on to win 24-23.
"Nobody wanted
this win more than I did,” the 28-year-old Atlanta-area native said in the visitor’s locker room. “Just because of the fact I did really well for them in training camp and I ended up here.”
The Patriots (7-2) are riding a six-game winning streak that has propelled them to the top of the AFC East standings. Atlanta (3-4) has lost three straight since back-to-back victories over Buffalo and Washington.
The Patriots took a 21-7 lead before the Falcons capitalized on a strip sack to make it a one-score game right before the half and then Romo made a 38-yard field goal early in the fourth to make it 24-17.
After a New England punt, Michael Penix Jr. hit Drake London for a 40-yard completion to the Patriots 26, and the two connected again for a 10-yarder to the 10. On fourth-and-goal from the 8, Penix found London for his third TD catch — a toe-tapper in the end zone that could have tied the game.
But Romo pushed his kick wide to the right.
“There’s plenty of guys on this team that I love, and want to do better for them," Romo said. "Every time I go out on the field, I want to make points. I’ve got to be better.”
The Falcons forced a three-and-out to get the ball back after the missed kick and advanced to the New England 48, but Penix was called for intentional grounding on second down and couldn’t convert a third-and-20.
After an Atlanta punt, the Patriots converted a third-and-5 that allowed them to kneel out the clock.
“It’s not frustrating. It’s football. It’s NFL football,” Penix said. “You talk about not tying the game, but we still had a lot of time on the clock. … It’s never on one person, never on one play.”
The Patriots have won their last eight games against the Falcons, including the 34-28 overtime victory in Super Bowl 51 to cap the 2016 season after trailing 28-3 in the second half. Atlanta hasn’t won in Foxborough since 1998, when New England was playing in the since-demolished Foxboro Stadium.
Romo made both field goals and all three extra points for New England in the preseason before he was released on cutdown day. The Falcons signed him after longtime Atlanta kicker and 2020 Pro Bowl selection Younghoe Koo missed a last-second 44-yard field goal in the season-opening 23-20 loss to Tampa Bay.
Romo was activated for Atlanta's Sept. 14 game against Minnesota and went 5 for 5 on field goal attempts – including a 54-yarder – and his only point after in the 22-6 victory over the Vikings.
He missed a pair of field goals the next week in a 30-0 loss to Carolina, and had one blocked in the Oct. 13 victory over Buffalo.
But Sunday’s missed point-after was the first mistake that really hurt the team.
Falcons coach Raheem Morris said he wasn’t ready to make a change.
“Everything's always going to be talked about. I don’t make those emotional decisions right now,” he said. “We’ve got to go back and find out what was wrong. But we still had an opportunity to win that football game. We’ve got to find a way to win that one.”
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