Ka’imi Fairbairn kicking struggles remain an issue for the Houston Texans

Houston Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn continues with his kicking slump after the first six games of the regular season.

The Houston Texans are 4-2 after an impressive road win against the Kansas City Chiefs, but it wasn’t without several mistakes from their kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn. The 2015 Lou Groza Award recipient is currently facing the toughest start to his career after seeing success early in his first two seasons as the Texans kicker. Fairbairn’s made six of nine in his field goal attempts with two of his misses being beyond the 50-yard line.

Those misses are disappointing for a kicker at the NFL level as it separates the good from the great, but they are understandable under certain situations. Bad ball placement from the holder to extreme weather can dictate whether a kick goes through the uprights or not.

More from Toro Times

• Houston Texans: Can Sean Payton really be the next head coach?
• Houston Texans Draft: Michael Mayer should be a no doubter at pick 12
• Houston Texans already telling fans the Davis Mills era is over
• Houston Texans have hand forced, waste no time in firing Lovie Smith
• Houston Texans: Pros and Cons of keeping Head Coach Lovie Smith

Fairbairn’s recent and only miss from the 40-49 yard range came against the Chiefs as he missed a 46-yard attempt due to a poor hold from punter Bryan Anger. His 66.7 percent accuracy is the lowest of his career after having a career year across the board in 2018. Fairbairn has made 16 of his 20 extra-point attempts through the first six games of the season for an 80 percent accuracy.

His struggles against the Chiefs were evident as he missed two extra points and a field goal attempt. Head coach Bill O’Brien decided to go for it on fourth down to seal the win with the clock winding down in the fourth quarter instead of opting for Fairbairn to kick a field goal to put the game out of reach.

Fairbairn’s future seems murky after seeing cornerback Aaron Colvin and punter Trevor Daniel get their walking papers for mistakes that led to the Texans’ rough start early. However, he has shown more success with the Texans than the other players demonstrated the last season. Although Fairbairn isn’t a great kicker right now, good kickers are hard to come by.

Randy Bullock and Nick Novak are clear examples of what the Texans have gone through before finding Fairbairn. The Texans will have to evaluate the kicking position if the issues persist, but Fairbairn deserves a little more margin for error after demonstrating in the past he can be a reliable kicker on special teams.