Texans' Fairbairn drills game

Ka'imi Fairbairn set the Houston Texans franchise points record with his first field goal Sunday afternoon. His last field goal Sunday was perhaps the most consequential kick of his eight-year career.

Fairbairn blasted a 59-yard field goal through the uprights as time expired in Sunday's Week 5 win over the Buffalo Bills at NRG Stadium. The successful kick was the longest game-winning kick of Fairbairn's career, and more importantly, it sealed Houston's 23-20 win in a battle of two Super Bowl contenders .

C.J. Stroud was impressive, then imperfect, Sunday. Nico Collins played only a half, then exited due to a hamstring injury. It wasn't the prettiest offensive output for Houston. But with the team's back against the wall, its kicker delivered.

Seeing Fairbairn's 59-yarder may be jarring for football fans accustom to prior eras when 50-plus-yard kicks were (at best) a 50-50 proposition. Fairbairn is destroying that expectation in his best professional season thus far. Consider the following: Fairbairn is 11-for-11 on field goals in 2024. He entered Sunday 3-for-3 on kicks of 50-plus yards—including a 59-yarder in Week 2 vs. Chicago—and Sunday against the Bills, Fairbairn banged home field-goal attempts from 50 yards, 47 yards and, at the buzzer, 59 yards.

Fairbairn isn't alone league-wide in stretching his range toward 60 yards and beyond. But the regularity with which Fairbairn makes such difficult kicks warrants serious All-Pro consideration.

There's seemingly little science behind Fairbairn's brilliance. His excellence isn't like Stroud's, Collins' or Will Anderson's, where dominance is creatively displayed each down. For Fairbairn, his exceptional play is almost simplistic in a sense. The Texans kicker is a human metronome with his leg, powering Houston's offense in home wins in both Week 2 and now Week 5.

This is a Houston team littered with household names . Fairbairn is among the most valuable pieces to date in the franchise's 4–1 start.