The Houston Texans are heading into their bye week with some new faces on their special teams unit.
Correct me if you heard this before but the Houston Texans’ special teams unit was off to a bad start this season.
This could be attributed to the players, Texans’ special teams coach Larry Izzo, or maybe both.
The Texans have had very little success in the third and most underrated part of football, special teams. Offense and defense are the other two phases of the game if you’re wondering.
Special teams is extremely important if you want to win football games, but many teams forget that.
Game planning needs to be done in this portion of football too. Kickers and punters are people too!
All kidding aside, the Texans haven’t shown up to play on kickoffs and punting situations.
There have been so many blown assignments in the early part of the season, that I could write a book.
However, the good news is that Texans are addressing these issues.
The Texans’ special teams unit seems to have a special duo in kicker Kaimi Fairbarn and punter Shane Lechler.
Houston has really have found a keeper in Fairbarn. His strong leg has been evident on kickoffs and he hasn’t had a single kick returned for a touchdown.
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Fairbarn had a 70 percent touchback rate during his college career at UCLA and it has translated well to the NFL with a 72% percent touchback rate. Of 36 kick offs only 10 have been returned so far this season.
Fairbarn is 10 for 10 on field goals (100%) and 15 of 17 on extra points (88%). It’s safe to say that he has been extremely accurate in his first six NFL games.
Fairbarn is 1 for 1 from 20-29 yards, 4 for 4 from 30-39 yards, 4 for 4 from 40-49 yards, and 1 for 1 from 50+ yards.
The Texans are working on bringing in other players to contribute on special teams as well.
Houston has recently signed linebacker Ben Heeney, wide receiver Chris Thompson, and defensive back Kurtis Drummond to their active roster.
Drummond leads the special teams unit with six tackles. Dylan Cole and Brian Peters have four tackles, and linebackers Zach Cunningham, Brennan Scarlett, and safety Eddie Pleasant are all tied with three.
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The Texans aren’t perfect on special teams and there are still areas they can improve. Yet it is an encouraging sign that they aren’t shy in making personnel moves in order to make some improvements.
This league is about getting better each week and the Texans need to make roster moves until they’re comfortable with their team moving forward.