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.
| 1991 Houston Oilers season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Bud Adams |
| General manager | Mike Holovak |
| Head coach | Jack Pardee |
| Home field | Houston Astrodome |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–5 |
| Division place | 1st AFC Central |
| Playoff finish | Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Jets) 17–10 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Broncos) 24–26 |
| Uniform | |
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Offseason edit
NFL draft edit
| 1991 Houston Oilers draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 28 | Mike Dumas | Defensive back | Indiana | |
| 2 | 38 | Darryll Lewis * | Defensive back | Arizona | |
| 2 | 44 | John Flannery | Guard | Syracuse | |
| 3 | 71 | Steve Jackson | Defensive back | Purdue | |
| 3 | 79 | Kevin Donnalley | Guard | North Carolina | |
| 4 | 101 | David Rocker | Defensive tackle | Auburn | |
| 4 | 102 | Marcus Robertson * | Defensive back | Iowa State | |
| 5 | 129 | Gary Wellman | Wide receiver | USC | |
| 7 | 183 | Kyle Freeman | Linebacker | Angelo State | |
| 8 | 214 | Gary Brown | Running back | Penn State | |
| 9 | 240 | Shawn Jefferson | Wide receiver | Central Florida | |
| 10 | 267 | Curtis Moore | Linebacker | Kansas | |
| 11 | 294 | James Smith | Defensive back | Richmond | |
| 12 | 325 | Alex Johnson | Wide receiver | Miami (FL) | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Personnel edit
Staff edit
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Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
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Roster edit
Preseason edit
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 3 | at San Diego Chargers | L 29–31 | 0–1 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 43,042 |
| 2 | August 9 | Atlanta Falcons | L 7–36 | 0–2 | Astrodome | 52,140 |
| 3 | August 18 | Dallas Cowboys | W 30–20 | 1–2 | Astrodome | 53,314 |
| 4 | August 22 | vs. Los Angeles Rams | W 16–13 | 2–2 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | 63,200 |
Regular season edit
- October 13, 1991 – Warren Moon threw for 423 yards against the New York Jets.
- November 10, 1991 – Warren Moon threw for 432 yards against the Dallas Cowboys.
- October 13, 1991 – Haywood Jeffires set an Oilers record with most receptions in one game with 13.
Schedule edit
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 1 | Los Angeles Raiders | W 47–17 | 1–0 | Astrodome | 61,367 | |
| 2 | September 8 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 30–7 | 2–0 | Riverfront Stadium | 56,463 | |
| 3 | September 16 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 17–7 | 3–0 | Astrodome | 61,058 | |
| 4 | September 22 | at New England Patriots | L 20–24 | 3–1 | Foxboro Stadium | 30,702 | |
| 5 | Bye | ||||||
| 6 | October 6 | Denver Broncos | W 42–14 | 4–1 | Astrodome | 59,145 | |
| 7 | October 13 | at New York Jets | W 23–20 | 5–1 | Giants Stadium | 70,758 | |
| 8 | October 20 | at Miami Dolphins | W 17–13 | 6–1 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 60,705 | |
| 9 | October 27 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 35–3 | 7–1 | Astrodome | 58,634 | |
| 10 | November 3 | at Washington Redskins | L 13–16 (OT) | 7–2 | RFK Stadium | 55,096 | |
| 11 | November 10 | Dallas Cowboys | W 26–23 (OT) | 8–2 | Astrodome | 63,001 | |
| 12 | November 17 | Cleveland Browns | W 28–24 | 9–2 | Astrodome | 58,155 | |
| 13 | November 24 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–26 | 9–3 | Three Rivers Stadium | 45,795 | |
| 14 | December 2 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 6–13 | 9–4 | Astrodome | 61,141 | |
| 15 | December 8 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 31–6 | 10–4 | Astrodome | 59,225 | |
| 16 | December 15 | at Cleveland Browns | W 17–14 | 11–4 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 55,680 | |
| 17 | December 21 | at New York Giants | L 20–24 | 11–5 | Giants Stadium | 63,421 | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
Games summaries edit
Week 1 vs Raiders edit
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raiders | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| Oilers | 6 | 10 | 21 | 10 | 47 |
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
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Week 14 edit
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| Oilers | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
at Astrodome • Houston, Texas
- Date: December 2
- Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: Indoors (dome)
- Referee: Tom Dooley
- TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
| Game information | ||
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Standings edit
| AFC Central | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| (3) Houston Oilers | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–1 | 10–2 | 386 | 251 | L1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–2 | 7–5 | 292 | 344 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 2–4 | 6–6 | 293 | 298 | L3 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 1–5 | 2–10 | 263 | 435 | W1 |
Playoffs edit
AFC Wild Card edit
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jets | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Oilers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
- Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Played indoors, domed stadium
- Game attendance: 61,485
- Referee: Tom White
- TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Paul Maguire
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 edit
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilers | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
| Broncos | 6 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 26 |
at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
- Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/2:00 p.m. MST
- Game weather: 30 °F (−1 °C), cloudy
- Game attendance: 75,301
- Referee: Johnny Grier
- TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Todd Christensen
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 edit
- Haywood Jeffires – Houston Oilers record, most receptions in one game, (13)
- Haywood Jeffires, All Pro selection
- Haywood Jeffires, Pro Bowl selection
- Warren Moon, Pro Bowl selection
- Warren Moon, Houston Oilers record, most passing yards in a season (4,690)
- Warren Moon, NFL leader, most passing yards in a season (4,690)
Milestones edit
- Haywood Jeffires – 1st 100 reception season [4]
- Haywood Jeffires – 2nd 1,000 yard receiving season (1,181 yards)
- Warren Moon, 2nd 4,000 yard passing season (4,690)
- Warren Moon, 3rd 400 yard passing game (423 vs. New York Jets)
- Warren Moon, 4th 400 yard passing game (432 vs. Dallas Cowboys)
References edit
- ^ "1991 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
- ^ "1991 Houston Oilers starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
- ^ "1991 Houston Oilers (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
- ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 440