I’m a big Ka’imi Fairbairn fan, and not just because my niece is married to a guy who went to Punahou (a school whose alums include Barack Obama, DeForest Buckner and Andrei Iosivas). Fairbairn makes his kicks, and man do they use him a lot.
At times, it almost seems like Houston’s offense is built around its kicker. The offense scored only 33 touchdowns but generated 52 field goals. That’s an insane ratio.
And helped by the insane workload, the Texans finished with 174 kicking points – the most in league history. Fairbairn missed two weeks, but in his 15 games, he tallied 160 points – 10.7 per week.
Houston kicked a league-record 48 field goals.
The limited efficiency – with lots of field goals but not many touchdowns – is rare. The only thing team I could find that was similar were the 2005 Arizona Cardinals, with 45 field goal attempts versus only 20 extra points. That was the year Neil Rackers went crazy.
Quite a year for Fairbairn
I don’t think his matchup for this week looks particularly good – at Pittsburgh – but with how they’ve been settling for field goals, Fairbairn would be the top kicker on my board for Wildcard Weekend.
| TEAMS WITH OVER 35 FIELD GOALS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | XP-A | FG-A | Points |
| 2025 | Houston | 30-30 | 48-52 | 174 |
| 2011 | San Francisco | 34-34 | 44-52 | 166 |
| 2005 | Arizona | 20-20 | 43-45 | 149 |
| 2017 | Kansas City | 40-40 | 41-45 | 163 |
| 2024 | Pittsburgh | 35-35 | 41-44 | 158 |
| 2025 | Seattle | 48-48 | 41-48 | 171 |
| 2024 | Dallas | 30-30 | 40-47 | 150 |
| 2017 | LA Rams | 48-51 | 40-43 | 168 |
| 2021 | Las Vegas | 30-33 | 40-43 | 150 |
| 2024 | LA Chargers | 33-36 | 39-42 | 150 |
| 1999 | Miami | 27-27 | 39-46 | 144 |
| 2017 | San Francisco | 28-30 | 39-41 | 145 |
| 2003 | St. Louis | 46-46 | 39-42 | 163 |
| 2020 | Atlanta | 34-38 | 38-40 | 148 |
| 2013 | Baltimore | 26-26 | 38-41 | 140 |
| 2025 | LA Chargers | 34-35 | 38-41 | 148 |
| 2013 | New England | 44-44 | 38-41 | 158 |
| 2022 | Baltimore | 31-32 | 37-43 | 142 |
| 1996 | Carolina | 34-35 | 37-45 | 145 |
| 2018 | Houston | 39-41 | 37-42 | 150 |
| 2024 | Miami | 26-28 | 37-41 | 137 |
| 2017 | New England | 45-47 | 37-40 | 156 |
| 2025 | Dallas | 47-48 | 36-42 | 155 |
| 2024 | Houston | 34-36 | 36-42 | 142 |
| 1996 | Indianapolis | 27-27 | 36-40 | 135 |
| 2008 | New England | 40-40 | 36-40 | 148 |
| 2021 | Pittsburgh | 27-29 | 36-40 | 135 |
| 1998 | Tennessee | 28-28 | 36-40 | 136 |
—Ian Allan