The Houston Texans pulled off the upset in Week 11 when they downed the Tennessee Titans 22-13 in rainy conditions at Nissan Stadium.
The Texans snapped their eight-game losing streak and handed the 8-2 Titans a loss that complicates their quest to shore up the AFC South en route to the No. 1 overall seed.
In the victory, kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed an extra point on the Texans’ first touchdown of the afternoon. Instead of leading 13-0 with 7:47 to go until halftime, Houston led 12-0.
Ultimately, Fairbairn’s missed extra point came out in the wash as Titans kicker Randy Bullock similarly missed an extra point of his own.
Texans special teams coach Frank Ross wouldn’t make excuses for Fairbairn when he met with the media on Nov. 24, but he did point out that the extra points haven’t exactly been sure things since 2015 when they were moved back to 33 yards.
“You see it across the league, that doesn’t mean anything,” said Ross. “Everybody has to focus on their own players and do their own job.”
Fairbairn is 9-of-11 on field goals in 2021 with a 4-of-7 rate on extra points. Ross suggests the third missed PAT of the season may have been an overcompensation on Fairbairn’s part.
Said Ross: “I’ve said this before, but nobody wants to make the kicks more than himself. He’s working every day to improve any little mishit he may have. There was an overcompensation there pulled it across a little bit. We kick our extra points from the left hash as we see it, and a ball that doesn’t necessarily stay straight or hook is going to be even more emphasized from the left hash that close in.”
Ross has confidence Fairbairn will be on point when they face the New York Jets in Week 12 at NRG Stadium.
“He’s going to continue to work that and hopefully get that right this week,” Ross said.
