The Texans are dealing with a special teams emergency against the Buccaneers.
Houston kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn suffered a quad injury in the first half and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. In need of someone to take the opening kickoff to start the second half, the Texans turned to their apparent emergency kicker, running back Dare Ogunbowale.
Coincidentally, Ogunbowale was only made active this week because starting RB Dameon Pierce was ruled out with an injury. The Texans could have really been in trouble had their running back-turned-kicker not been dressed for this matchup.
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Who is Ogunbowale and why are the Texans using him as their kicker in their Week 9 matchup with Tampa Bay?
What happened to Ka’imi Fairbairn?
Fairbairn suffered a quad injury in the first half against the Buccaneers and he was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Fairbairn has been one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL this season, going 17-for-18 on field goals and 13-for-13 on PATs.
Who is the Texans kicker?
Ogunbowale is a seven-year veteran in the NFL after going undrafted as a senior out of Wisconsin in 2017.
It’s also worth noting that Ogunbowale is the brother of Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale, who was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft.
Ogunbowale has played for the Redskins, Buccaneers, Jaguars and Texans, tallying 426 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in his career.
He had only appeared in two of Houston’s seven games so far this season, but was elevated to the 53-man roster ahead of their Week 9 matchup with Tampa Bay because starting RB Dameon Pierce was ruled out with an ankle injury.
The move proved to be beneficial for a reason other than RB depth — Ogunbowale is now serving as the team’s emergency kicker after Fairbairn’s quad injury sidelined him for the remainder of the game.
Ogunbowale doesn’t have any kicking experience at the NFL level, but he was a star soccer player in high school. He could have even played at the Division-II level in college, according to a Sports Illustrated feature written on his story as a walk-on at Wisconsin back in 2015.
Ogunbowale had been handling kickoff duties the entire second half, but the Texans elected to go for two following each of their touchdowns once Fairbairn went down.
Dare Ogunbowale kicks it off to start the second half pic.twitter.com/LroDvaNoYz
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 5, 2023
It seemed that Ogunbowale was not going to attempt any field goals or extra points, but head coach DeMeco Ryans elected to trust his emergency kicker in the biggest moment of the game.
Tied 30-30 with 8:45 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Texans faced a 4th & goal on Tampa Bay’s 11-yard line. Instead of going for the end zone, Ryans called on Ogunbowale for a 29-yard field goal to take the lead and the RB buried it.
What is even happening in this game 🤯 pic.twitter.com/7Ynjfmplt1
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 5, 2023
It is unclear why Ogunbowale has taken over kicking duties instead of punter Cameron Johnston, but the running back has gone above and beyond in his interim job so far.