Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn’s injury forced backup RB Dare Ogunbowale to kick and he wasn’t terrible

For an emergency kicker, he wasn’t bad at all!

Most NFL teams don’t roster two kickers. With depth needed at positions that see more time on the field, it just doesn’t make sense to carry two full-time kickers. So, if someone gets injured, the task of kicking often falls to a position player who has shown they have some leg.

This is precisely what happened to the Houston Texans and backup running back Dare Ogunbowale on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After starting kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn suffered a game-ending quad injury, Houston had to turn to Ogunbowale for a kickoff in an emergency.

With all things considered, as someone who doesn’t usually kick the ball for a living, Ogunbowale did pretty great!

How the Texans plan to approach field goals, which require more accuracy, remains to be seen. But if they need to lean on Ogunbowale now and in the near future for occasional emergency kicks, they seem to be in good hands.

UPDATE: The Texans had Ogunbowale kick the go-ahead field goal halfway through the fourth quarter. Wow.