Texans RB drills dramatic go-ahead field goal after kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn goes down with injury

The award for most dramatic kicking situation in the NFL for Week 9 definitely belongs to the Houston Texans, who have been forced to use a RUNNING BACK at kicker, and somehow, the experiment has done surprisingly well. 

WIth Ka’imi Fairbairn out, the Texans were forced to turn to their backup kicker: Running back Dare Ogunbowale, who drilled a go-ahead field goal during the fourth quarter of Houston’s 39-370 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Ogunbowale became the first non-kicker or punter with a FG made since the Patriots’ Wes Welker in 2004 and the first running back with a FG made since the Saints’ Tony Galbreath in 1979.

With the game tied at 30 and the Texans facing a fourth-and-goal from Tampa’s 11-yard line, the Texans could have gone for it — they had gone for it in a similar situation in the second half — but instead, head coach DeMeco Ryan sent out Ogunbowale for the field goal attempt and the running back made the gamble pay off. 

That 29-yard kick gave the Texans a 33-30 lead with just 8:45 left to play. 

Ogunbowale was kicking because of an injury to Fairbairn. At some point during the first half, Fairbairn suffered a quad injury, but it’s not clear when. Fairbairn was healthy enough to kick a 50-yard field goal with 5:17 left in the second quarter and he was healthy enough to kick off after that, but he hasn’t played since then. 

With Fairbairn out, the Texans turned to Ogunbowale for their kickoffs, before letting him try the 29-yard field goal. 

If you want to know how Ogunbowale did with his first kickoff, just watch the video below. 

He sent the kickoff down to the 3-yard line, which isn’t bad. 

Following a third-quarter touchdown by Houston, Ogunbowale got to kick off again, and this time, he sent the ball into the end zone (He got to kick off off at the 50-yard line after the Buccaneers got called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the two-point attempt). 

The lack of a kicker has definitely created some drama. 

The Texans have scored four touchdowns in the second half and they were forced to go for two on all of them (They converted on one of the attempts.) They got the job done despite the difficult position they were put in, and will look to keep the momentum going when they visit the Bengals in Week 10.