1983 Houston Oilers season

1983 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
General manager	Ladd Herzeg
Head coach	Ed Biles Chuck Studley (interim)
Home stadium	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	2–14
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB Earl Campbell
←  1982 Oilers seasons 1984  →

The 1983 Houston Oilers season was the 24th season overall and 14th with the National Football League (NFL). After a strike-shorted 1–8 season, the Oilers traded their second draft choice to the Los Angeles Rams, ^[1] probably fearing that Eric Dickerson, the player they desired to pick with that second choice, ^[2] would join the Los Angeles Express of the USFL. Dickerson was cool about playing for the Oilers, ^[2] while his family was firmly opposed. ^[3]

The Oilers ultimately made a marginal improvement, winning two games, ^[4] but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season. The 460 points allowed by the team are the most given up by the team in franchise history. ^[5]

The week 13 game against Tampa Bay, before which both teams had 1–11 records, was nicknamed the "Repus Bowl". Steve Wulf wrote of the game, "Yes, this was the Small One, the battle of the beatens, the movable object meeting the resistible force. There were only tomorrows. When these two teams get together, nothing can happen. This game was for a marble." ^[6] Tampa Bay won the game 33–24.

The last remaining active member of the 1983 Houston Oilers was offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, who retired after the 2001 season.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1983 NFL draft

1983 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	9	Bruce Matthews * †	Guard	USC
2	30	Harvey Salem	Tackle	California
2	42	Keith Bostic *	Defensive back	Michigan
3	58	Tim Joiner	Linebacker	LSU
3	69	Chris Dressel	Tight end	Stanford
3	83	Steve Brown	Defensive back	Oregon
4	86	Greg Hill	Defensive back	Oklahoma State
4	88	Mike McCloskey	Tight end	Penn State
5	114	Larry Moriarty	Running back	Notre Dame
5	139	Jerome Foster	Defensive end	Ohio State
6	142	Steve Haworth	Defensive back	Oklahoma
7	170	Herkie Walls	Wide receiver	Texas
8	198	Robert Thompson	Linebacker	Michigan
9	226	Kevin Potter	Defensive back	Missouri
Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[7]

Personnel

Staff

1983 Houston Oilers staff

Front office Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams Executive Vice President/General Manager – Ladd Herzeg Head coaches Head coach – Ed Biles Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Kay Dalton Offensive backs – Elijah Pitts Receivers – Andy Bourgeois Tight ends – Vic Rapp Offensive line – Bill Walsh

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Chuck Studley Defensive line – Ralph Staub Linebackers – Dick Selcer Defensive backs – Ken Houston Special teams coaches Special teams – Vic Rapp Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Bill Allerheiligen

Roster

1983 Houston Oilers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Oliver Luck 14 Gifford Nielsen 12 Brian Ransom Running backs (RB) 34 Earl Campbell 40 Donnie Craft 45 Dwayne Crutchfield 35 Stan Edwards 30 Larry Moriarty Wide receivers (WR) 81 Steve Bryant 84 Mike Holston 85 Carl Roaches 83 Tim Smith 86 Herkie Walls Tight ends (TE) 87 Walt Arnold 88 Chris Dressel 89 Mike McCloskey

Offensive linemen (OL) 58 David Carter C 77 Doug France T 66 Pat Howell G 74 Bruce Matthews G 63 Mike Munchak G 73 Harvey Salem T 68 Les Studdard C 76 Morris Towns T Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Jesse Baker DE 78 Jerome Foster DE 90 Bob Hamm DE 72 Brian Sochia NT 67 Mike Stensrud NT 70 Malcolm Taylor DE

Linebackers (LB) 54 Gregg Bingham ILB 52 Robert Brazile OLB 50 Daryl Hunt ILB 57 Tim Joiner OLB 53 Avon Riley OLB 51 Ted Thompson ILB Defensive backs (DB) 25 Keith Bostic SS 24 Steve Brown CB 36 Carter Hartwig FS 21 Derrick Hatchett CB 22 Bill Kay CB 23 Greg Hill CB 26 Darryl Meadows SS 20 Willie Tullis CB 33 J. C. Wilson CB/S Special teams (ST)  6 John James P  4 Florian Kempf K

Reserve 56 Robert Abraham LB (IR) 80 Harold Bailey WR (IR) 65 Elvin Bethea DE (IR) 71 Ken Kennard DE (IR) 37 Mike Reinfeldt S (IR) 82 Mike Renfro WR (IR) 62 John Schuhmacher G (IR) 79 Wilson Whitley NT (NF-Inj.) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 4	Green Bay Packers	L 38–41 (OT)	0–1	Astrodome	Recap
2	September 11	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 6–20	0–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
3	September 18	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 28–40	0–3	Astrodome	Recap
4	September 25	at Buffalo Bills	L 13–30	0–4	Rich Stadium	Recap
5	October 2	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 10–17	0–5	Three Rivers Stadium	Recap
6	October 9	Denver Broncos	L 14–26	0–6	Astrodome	Recap
7	October 16	at Minnesota Vikings	L 14–34	0–7	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	Recap
8	October 23	Kansas City Chiefs	L 10–13 (OT)	0–8	Astrodome	Recap
9	October 30	at Cleveland Browns	L 19–25 (OT)	0–9	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
10	November 6	Cincinnati Bengals	L 14–55	0–10	Astrodome	Recap
11	November 13	Detroit Lions	W 27–17	1–10	Astrodome	Recap
12	November 20	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 10–38	1–11	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
13	November 27	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 24–33	1–12	Tampa Stadium	Recap
14	December 4	Miami Dolphins	L 17–24	1–13	Astrodome	Recap
15	December 11	Cleveland Browns	W 34–27	2–13	Astrodome	Recap
16	December 18	at Baltimore Colts	L 10–20	2–14	Memorial Stadium	Recap

Season summary

Week 1 vs Packers

See also: 1983 Green Bay Packers season

Week One: Green Bay Packers (0–0) at Houston Oilers (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Packers	7	21	3	7	3	41
Oilers	10	0	7	21	0	38

at Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas

• Date: September 4
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Game attendance: 44,073
• Referee: Bob McElwee
• TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil
• Box Score, Box Score

Game information

First quarter GB – Paul Coffman 25-yard pass from Lynn Dickey (Jan Stenerud kick), 10:31. Packers 7–0. Drive: HOU – Florian Kempf 49-yard field goal, 6:30. Packers 7–3. Drive: HOU – Tim Smith 47-yard pass from Archie Manning (Florian Kempf kick), 2:40. Oilers 10–7. Drive: Second quarter GB – John Jefferson 5-yard pass from Lynn Dickey (Jan Stenerud kick), 8:55. Packers 14–10. Drive: GB – John Jefferson 13-yard pass from Lynn Dickey (Jan Stenerud kick), 0:51. Packers 21–10. Drive: GB – Gerry Ellis 11-yard pass from Lynn Dickey (Jan Stenerud kick), 0:30. Packers 28–10. Drive: Third quarter HOU – Earl Campbell 7-yard run (Florian Kempf kick), 9:08. Packers 28–17. Drive: GB – Jan Stenerud 46-yard field goal, 4:36. Packers 31–17. Drive: Fourth quarter HOU – Earl Campbell 8-yard run (Florian Kempf kick), 11:05. Packers 31–24. Drive: HOU – Earl Campbell 1-yard run (Florian Kempf kick), 4:23. Tie 31–31. Drive: GB – James Lofton 74-yard pass from Lynn Dickey (Jan Stenerud kick), 4:13. Packers 38–31. Drive: HOU – Larry Moriarty 2-yard run (Florian Kempf kick), 0:48. Tie 38–38. Drive: Overtime GB – Jan Stenerud 42-yard field goal, 9:05. Packers 41–38. Drive: Top passers GB – Lynn Dickey – 27/31, 333 yards, 5 TD, INT HOU – Archie Manning – 22/34, 348 yards, TD, 2 INT Top rushers GB – Eddie Lee Ivery – 12 rushes, 71 yards HOU – Earl Campbell – 27 rushes, 123 yards, 3 TD Top receivers GB – James Lofton – 8 receptions, 154 yards, TD HOU – Tim Smith – 8 receptions, 197 yards, TD

Week 11 vs Lions

Week Eleven: Detroit Lions (5–5) at Houston Oilers (0–10)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	10	7	0	17
Oilers	3	7	14	3	27

at Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas

• Date: November 13, 1983
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Game attendance: 40,660
• Referee: Bob Frederic
• Box Score, Box Score

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Lions	Passing	Eric Hipple	17/29, 213 Yds, 3 INT
	Rushing	Billy Sims	20 Rush, 105 Yds, TD
	Receiving	Billy Sims	9 Rec, 90 Yds
Oilers	Passing	Oliver Luck	18/26, 189 Yds, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Earl Campbell	28 Rush, 107 Yds
	Receiving	Mike Renfro	7 Rec, 75 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP DET HOU 1 8:02 Oilers 47-yard field goal by Florian Kempf 0 3 2 12:48 Lions Billy Sims 1-yard touchdown run, Eddie Murray kick good 7 3 2 3:48 Lions 35-yard field goal by Eddie Murray 10 3 2 0:50 Oilers Mike McCloskey 13-yard touchdown reception from Oliver Luck, Florian Kempf kick good 10 10 3 10:25 Lions James Jones 3-yard touchdown reception from Gary Danielson, Eddie Murray kick good 17 10 3 9:12 Oilers Chris Dressel 13-yard touchdown reception from Oliver Luck, Florian Kempf kick good 17 17 3 1:01 Oilers Larry Moriarty 4-yard touchdown run, Florian Kempf kick good 17 24 4 13:08 Oilers 21-yard field goal by Florian Kempf 17 27 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 17 27

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers (3)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	355	303	L1
Cleveland Browns	9	7	0	.563	3–3	7–5	356	342	W1
Cincinnati Bengals	7	9	0	.438	4–2	4–8	346	302	L1
Houston Oilers	2	14	0	.125	1–5	1–11	288	460	L1

References

1. "Rams, Oilers Trade Drafts". The Sacramento Bee . April 24, 1983. p. C4.
2. "Dickerson Not Eager To Be Oiler". Austin American-Statesman . April 23, 1983. p. C2.
3. "SMU's Dickerson Cool to Prospect of Oilers". The San Francisco Examiner . April 22, 1983. p. F6.
4. "1983 Houston Oilers". Pro Football Reference.
5. Patra, Kevin (December 25, 2012). "Tennessee Titans on pace to break shameful record". National Football League . Retrieved December 25, 2012.
6. Murphy, Austin (November 20, 2008). "Washington-Washington State playing for pride in Apple Cup". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
7. "1983 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.