Who Should I Start? Ka'imi Fairbairn or Tyler Loop

Saturday, January 18, 7:32 PM

Houston Texans kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn had a rough day in the team's 23-14 defeat in the Divisional Round at Kansas City, making only two of his four field-goal attempts and missing his only extra point. The veteran converted from 30 and 48 yards, but badly missed on a 55-yarder in the first half, pushed an extra point wide on Houston's lone touchdown, and had a low kick blocked in the Texans' last-ditch attempt to get back into the game. It would have taken a special effort for Houston to unseat the defending champs, but between Fairbairn's bad day and the offensive line surrendering eight sacks, the Texans weren't able to do enough as their year ends in the Divisional Round for the second straight season.

Monday, August 4, 9:34 AM

The Baltimore Ravens released kicker John Hoyland on Saturday, leaving rookie Tyler Loop as the lone kicker on the roster. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said Loop is "kicking well enough to win the job." A sixth-round pick out of Arizona, Loop made 83.8% of his field goals and 98.4% of his extra-point attempts in 50 career college games. The 24-year-old is poised to fill the shoes of longtime Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, who was released this offseason amidst multiple allegations of sexual misconduct after 13 years with the team. Baltimore could always bring in a veteran kicker later in the summer, so Loop will still need to perform throughout the preseason to hold the job.