1987 Houston Oilers season

1987 Houston Oilers season
1987 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
Head coach	Jerry Glanville
General manager	Ladd Herzeg
Home field	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	9–6
Division place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Seahawks) 23–20 (OT); Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Broncos) 10–34
Uniform
	← 1986; Oilers seasons; 1988 →;

The 1987 Houston Oilers season was the franchise's 18th season in the National Football League and the 28th overall. The Oilers came into the season looking to improve on their 5–11 record from 1986, and make the playoffs for the first time since 1980. The 1987 NFL season was affected by a players strike that took place in week 3 of the season, which canceled all week 3 games. As a result, the Oilers canceled their was-to-be week 3 game against the Los Angeles Raiders. The Oilers began the season 3–1, their best start to a season since 1980. After the Oilers lost at home to the Patriots 21–7 in week 5, the Oilers defeated the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals to give them a 5–2 start to the season. After the Oilers lost to the 49ers on the road, they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road, 23–3, for their first win in Pittsburgh since 1978. The Oilers would then play 2 disastrous games against the Browns and the Colts, as they allowed 40+ points in each game, losing 40–7 to Cleveland at home and losing 51–27 to the Colts in Indianapolis. The Oilers would defeat the Chargers the next week, rebounding from those 2 bad losses. The Oilers would clinch a playoff spot in the seasons final week with a 21–17 win over Cincinnati, thus ending their 6-year playoff drought. In the playoffs, they defeated the Seattle Seahawks 23–20 in overtime on a Tony Zendejas field goal. However, the next week, they lost to the Broncos 34–10 in the Divisional Round, ending their season.

Warren Moon (left) and Mike Rozier (right), playing for the Oilers in 1987, led the team in passing and rushing that season, respectively.

Offseason[]

NFL draft[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1987 Houston Oilers draft
1	3	Alonzo Highsmith	Running back	Miami (FL)
1	20	Haywood Jeffires *	Wide receiver	North Carolina State
2	46	Walter Johnson	Linebacker	Louisiana Tech
3	64	Cody Carlson	Quarterback	Baylor
4	105	Mark Dusbabek	Linebacker	Minnesota
5	133	Spencer Tillman	Running back	Oklahoma
6	147	Al Smith *	Linebacker	Utah State
6	159	Toby Caston	Linebacker	LSU
7	176	Robert Banks	Defensive end	Notre Dame
8	202	Michel James	Wide receiver	Washington State
9	231	Wes Neighbors	Center	Alabama
10	258	Curtis Duncan *	Wide receiver	Northwestern
11	287	John Davis	Offensive tackle	Georgia Tech
12	314	Ira Valentine	Running back	Texas A&M
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[1]

Personnel[]

Staff[]

**1987 Houston Oilers staff**

	Front office Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams Executive Vice President/General Manager – Ladd Herzeg Head coaches Head Coach – Jerry Glanville Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – June Jones Running Backs – Dick Jamieson Receivers – Milt Jackson Tight Ends – Miller McCalmon Offensive Line – Kim Helton			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Doug Shively Linebackers – Floyd Reese Secondary – Tom Bettis Special teams coaches Special Teams – Miller McCalmon Strength and conditioning Strength and Rehabilitation – Steve Watterson

Roster[]

**1987 Houston Oilers roster**

	Quarterbacks 14 Cody Carlson 1 Warren Moon 10 Brent Pease Running backs 32 Alonzo Highsmith FB 20 Allen Pinkett KR 30 Mike Rozier 35 Ray Wallace FB Wide receivers 82 Willie Drewrey 80 Curtis Duncan 81 Ernest Givins 85 Drew Hill 84 Haywood Jeffires Tight ends 88 Mark Gehring 89 87 Jamie Williams		Offensive linemen 77 Bruce Davis T 72 Kent Hill G 74 Bruce Matthews G 63 Mike Munchak G 52 Jay Pennison C 70 Dean Steinkuhler T Defensive linemen 71 Richard Byrd DE 79 Ray Childress DT 95 William Fuller DE 64 DT 99 Doug Smith DT		Linebackers 92 Tom Briehl 51 Eric Fairs 59 John Grimsley OLB 57 Walter Johnson 91 Johnny Meads OLB 53 Eugene Seale MLB Defensive backs 29 Patrick Allen CB 25 Keith Bostic SS 24 Steve Brown CB 31 Jeff Donaldson S 22 Kenny Johnson 23 Richard Johnson CB 28 Allen Lyday 26 Audray McMillian Special teams 8 Jeff Gossett P 7 Tony Zendejas K		Reserve lists ## Neal Dellocono LB (IR) 78 Don Maggs T (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

NFL replacement players[]

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

1987 Houston Oilers replacement roster

Quarterbacks

10 David Worsham
12 John Witkowski
14 Brent Pease
18 Paul Williams

Running backs

30 Herman Hunter
32 Ricky Moore
33 Don Williams
35
36 Jarvis McKyer
38 Lionel Wilson
40 Andrew Jackson

Wide receivers

15 Roger Coleman
16 Chris Darrington
17 Oliver Williams
80 Leonard Harris
81
82 Sam Moore
83 Joey Walters
84 Haywood Jeffires
84 Robert Mitchell
85 Matt Conerly
86 Jeff Fields

Tight ends

87
88 Mark Gehring
89

Offensive linemen

52 Billy Kidd
60 Jerrell Franklin
62 Doug Kellermeyer
66
69
70 Charles Agee
73
76 Louis Garza
77
78 Roland Aumueller

Defensive linemen

71 Gerald Browner
75 Jesse Baker
75 Kenny Neil
94
94 Charles Martin
95
98 Rayford Cooks
99 Rickey Hagood
99 Doug Smith

Linebackers

51 Eugene Seale
53
54
55 Scott Stoughton
56 George Woods
57
59 Scott Fox

Defensive backs

20
21 Craig Birdsong
22 Kenneth Johnson
23 Domingo Bryant
24
25
26
27
28
29 Robert White
31 Darrell Francis
37 Ken McKyer

Special teams

4 Florian Kempf K
7 Tony Zendejas K
8 P
9 John Diettrich K
11 Lee Johnson P

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 13	Los Angeles Rams	W 20–16	1–0	Astrodome	33,186
2	September 20	at Buffalo Bills	L 30–34	1–1	Rich Stadium	56,534
–	September 27	Los Angeles Raiders	canceled	1–1	Astrodome	–
3	October 4	at Denver Broncos	W 40–10	2–1	Mile High Stadium	38,494
4	October 11	at Cleveland Browns	W 15–10	3–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	38,927
5	October 18	New England Patriots	L 7–21	3–2	Astrodome	26,294
6	October 25	Atlanta Falcons	W 37–33	4–2	Astrodome	29,062
7	November 1	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 31–29	5–2	Riverfront Stadium	52,700
8	November 8	at San Francisco 49ers	L 20–27	5–3	Candlestick Park	59,740
9	November 15	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 23–3	6–3	Three Rivers Stadium	56,177
10	November 22	Cleveland Browns	L 7–40	6–4	Astrodome	51,161
11	November 29	at Indianapolis Colts	L 27–51	6–5	Hoosier Dome	54,999
12	December 6	San Diego Chargers	W 33–18	7–5	Astrodome	31,714
13	December 13	at New Orleans Saints	L 10–24	7–6	Louisiana Superdome	68,257
14	December 20	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–16	8–6	Astrodome	38,683
15	December 27	Cincinnati Bengals	W 21–17	9–6	Astrodome	49,775

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries[]

Week 7[]

Standings[]

AFC Central
view talk	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns⁽²⁾	10	5	0	.667	5–1	8–3	390	239	W3
Houston Oilers⁽⁴⁾	9	6	0	.600	5–1	7–4	345	349	W2
Pittsburgh Steelers	8	7	0	.533	2–4	6–5	285	299	L2
Cincinnati Bengals	4	11	0	.267	0–6	3–9	285	370	L3

Playoffs[]

AFC Wild Card[]

Houston Oilers 23, Seattle Seahawks 20 (OT)

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Seahawks	7	3	3	7	0	20
Oilers	3	10	7	0	3	23

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 50,519
Referee: Bob McElwee
TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Joe Namath

Oilers kicker Tony Zendejas won the game with a 42-yard field goal 8:05 into overtime. Although Houston outgained Seattle with 427 total offensive yards to 250, the game remained close until the very end.

AFC Divisional Playoff[]

Denver Broncos 34, Houston Oilers 10

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	0	3	0	7	10
Broncos	14	10	3	7	34

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/2:00 p.m. MST
Game attendance: 75,440
Referee: Jerry Markbreit
TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

Awards and records[]

Keith Bostic, NFL Leader, Interceptions, (6) – Tied with two others for league lead

References[]

^ "1987 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 20, 2014.

External links[]

1987 Houston Oilers at Pro-Football-Reference.com

[1] "1987 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 20, 2014.

[1]

v t Tennessee Titans
Founded in 1960 Formerly the Houston Oilers (1960–1996) and the Tennessee Oilers (1997–1998) Based and headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee
Franchise	History in Houston Coaches Seasons Players First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks
Stadiums	Jeppesen Stadium Rice Stadium Houston Astrodome Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Vanderbilt Stadium Nissan Stadium
Culture	Bud Adams Luv Ya Blue T-Rac Cheerleaders
Lore	The Comeback Music City Miracle One Yard Short
Rivalries	Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Dallas Cowboys Houston Texans Jacksonville Jaguars Pittsburgh Steelers
Division championships (10)	1960 1961 1962 1967 1991 1993 2000 2002 2008 2020
Conference championships (1)	1999
League championships (2)	1960 1961
Retired numbers	1 9 27 34 43 63 65 74
Media	Broadcasters Titans All Access Titans Preseason Football Titans Radio Network WKRN-TV WTVF WZTV WGFX-FM WSMV-TV
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: South Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)
Owners	Bud Adams (1959–2013) KSA Industries (2013–present) Susie Adams Smith Amy Adams Strunk

v t Tennessee Titans seasons
Formerly the Houston Oilers (1960–1996) and the Tennessee Oilers (1997–1998)
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Bold indicates AFL Championship (1960–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory Italics indicates Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance