1991 Houston Oilers season

Last updated

1991 Houston Oilers season
Owner Bud Adams
General manager Mike Holovak
Head coach Jack Pardee
Home stadium Houston Astrodome
Results
Record11–5
Division place1st AFC Central
PlayoffsWon Wild Card Playoffs
(vs. Jets) 17–10
Lost Divisional Playoffs
(at Broncos) 24–26
Uniform
Houston oilers uniforms.png

The 1991 Houston Oilers season was the 32nd season and their 22nd in the National Football League (NFL). Haywood Jeffires would become the second Oiler to have 100 receptions in a season. The first Oiler to accomplish the feat was Charley Hennigan in 1964. Jeffires would be the fifth receiver in NFL history to have a 100 reception season. The Oilers scored 386 points and gave up 251 points. The franchise earned its first division title since the AFL-NFL merger, having last won a division title in the 1967 American Football League season. The franchise finished the season with 11 wins compared to 5 losses and appeared twice on Monday Night Football.

Contents

Offseason

NFL draft

1991 Houston Oilers draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
228 Mike Dumas   Defensive back Indiana
238 Darryll Lewis * Defensive back Arizona
244 John Flannery   Guard Syracuse
371 Steve Jackson  Defensive back Purdue
379 Kevin Donnalley  Guard North Carolina
4101 David Rocker   Defensive tackle Auburn
4102 Marcus Robertson * Defensive back Iowa State
5129 Gary Wellman   Wide receiver USC
7183Kyle Freeman  Linebacker Angelo State
8214 Gary Brown   Running back Penn State
9240 Shawn Jefferson  Wide receiver Central Florida
10267Curtis Moore Linebacker Kansas
11294James Smith Defensive back Richmond
12325 Alex Johnson  Wide receiver Miami (FL)
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1991 Houston Oilers staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – Richard Smith

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Rehabilitation – Steve Watterson

Roster

1991 Houston Oilers roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)


Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Practice squad

Reserve

47 active, 3 inactive, 2 practice squad
Rookies in italics

[2]

Preseason

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1August 3at San Diego Chargers L 29–310–1 Jack Murphy Stadium 43,042
2August 9 Atlanta Falcons L 7–360–2 Astrodome 52,140
3August 18 Dallas Cowboys W 30–201–2Astrodome53,314
4August 22vs. Los Angeles Rams W 16–132–2 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 63,200

[3]

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 1 Los Angeles Raiders W 47–171–0 Astrodome 61,367
2September 8at Cincinnati Bengals W 30–72–0 Riverfront Stadium 56,463
3September 16 Kansas City Chiefs W 17–73–0Astrodome61,058
4September 22at New England Patriots L 20–243–1 Foxboro Stadium 30,702
5 Bye
6October 6 Denver Broncos W 42–144–1Astrodome59,145
7October 13at New York Jets W 23–205–1 Giants Stadium 70,758
8October 20at Miami Dolphins W 17–136–1 Joe Robbie Stadium 60,705
9October 27 Cincinnati Bengals W 35–37–1Astrodome58,634
10November 3at Washington Redskins L 13–16 (OT)7–2 RFK Stadium 55,096
11November 10 Dallas Cowboys W 26–23 (OT)8–2Astrodome63,001
12November 17 Cleveland Browns W 28–249–2Astrodome58,155
13November 24at Pittsburgh Steelers L 14–269–3 Three Rivers Stadium 45,795
14December 2 Philadelphia Eagles L 6–139–4Astrodome61,141
15December 8 Pittsburgh Steelers W 31–610–4Astrodome59,225
16December 15at Cleveland Browns W 17–1411–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 55,680
17December 21at New York Giants L 20–2411–5Giants Stadium63,421
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Games summaries

Week 1 vs Raiders

Week One: Los Angeles Raiders (0–0) at Houston Oilers (0–0)
Quarter1234Total
Raiders 073717
Oilers 610211047

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

  • Date: September 1
  • Game time: 4:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Game attendance: 61,367
  • Box Score, Box Score
Game information

Week 14

Philadelphia Eagles (7–5) at Houston Oilers (9–3)
Quarter1234Total
Eagles0010313
Oilers03306

at AstrodomeHouston, Texas

Game information

Standings

AFC Central
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
(3) Houston Oilers 1150.6885–110–2386251L1
Pittsburgh Steelers 790.4384–27–5292344W2
Cleveland Browns 6100.3752–46–6293298L3
Cincinnati Bengals 3130.1881–52–10263435W1

Playoffs

AFC Wild Card

Houston Oilers 17, New York Jets 10
Quarter1234Total
Jets0100010
Oilers770317

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

After leading 14–10 at halftime, the Oilers stopped the Jets twice inside the 5-yard line in the second half to preserve the victory. Houston quarterback Warren Moon threw two touchdowns in the first half, both to Ernest Givins for 5 and 20 yards. This would be the team's last playoff win while playing in Houston and would not win another playoff game until the Music City Miracle during the 1999 playoffs, their third season in Tennessee and their first season as the Titans.

AFC Divisional Playoff

Denver Broncos 26, Houston Oilers 24
Quarter1234Total
Oilers1470324
Broncos6731026

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

Trailing 24–23 with 2:07 left in the game, quarterback John Elway led the Broncos from their own 2-yard line to the winning 28-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining. On the drive, he converted on two fourth downs. On fourth down and 6 from the Denver 28, he rushed for 7 yards. Then on fourth down and 10, he completed a 44-yard pass to wide receiver Vance Johnson.

The Oilers jumped to a 14–0 lead with quarterback Warren Moon's two touchdown passes to wide receivers Haywood Jeffires and Drew Hill for 15 and 9 yards, respectively. Elway then completed a 10-yard touchdown to Johnson, but kicker David Treadwell missed the extra point. Moon responded by throwing a 6-yard touchdown to wide receiver Curtis Duncan to give Houston a 21–6 lead, but Denver running back Greg Lewis scored a 1-yard touchdown before halftime. In the second half, the Oilers were limited to only a 25-yard field goal by kicker Al Del Greco, which gave Houston a 24–16 lead in the fourth quarter. The Broncos then marched 80 yards to score on Lewis' 1-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 24–23.

Elway's comeback is now known solely as The Drive II.

Awards and records

Milestones

References

  1. "1991 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  2. "1991 Houston Oilers starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  3. "1991 Houston Oilers (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  4. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 440