1987 Houston Oilers season

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 there 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 season's final week with a 21–17 win over Cincinnati, thus ending their 6-year playoff drought. This was the first of seven consecutive playoff appearances for the Oilers. 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.

1987 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
General manager	Ladd Herzeg
Head coach	Jerry Glanville
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

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

Main article: 1987 NFL draft

1987 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
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

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 (QB) 14 Cody Carlson  1 Warren Moon 10 Brent Pease Running backs (RB) 32 Alonzo Highsmith FB 20 Allen Pinkett KR 30 Mike Rozier 33 Spencer Tillman 35 Ray Wallace FB 45 Ira Valentine Wide receivers (WR) 82 Willie Drewrey 80 Curtis Duncan 81 Ernest Givins 85 Drew Hill 84 Haywood Jeffires Tight ends (TE) 89 Jeff Parks 87 Jamie Williams

Offensive linemen (OL) 77 Bruce Davis T 72 Kent Hill G 74 Bruce Matthews G 63 Mike Munchak G 52 Jay Pennison C 70 Dean Steinkuhler T 69 Doug Williams T Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Jesse Baker DE 71 Richard Byrd DE 79 Ray Childress DT 98 Rayford Cooks DE 95 William Fuller DE 94 Charles Martin DE 99 Doug Smith DT

Linebackers (LB) 51 Eric Fairs 59 John Grimsley OLB 57 Walter Johnson 93 Robert Lyles OLB 91 Johnny Meads OLB 53 Eugene Seale MLB Defensive backs (DB) 29 Patrick Allen CB -- Craig Birdsong 25 Keith Bostic SS 24 Steve Brown CB 31 Jeff Donaldson S 21 Bo Eason FS 22 Kenny Johnson 26 Audray McMillian Special teams  8 Jeff Gossett P  7 Tony Zendejas K

Reserve 56 Robert Abraham LB (IR) 97 Robert Banks DE (IR) 90 Toby Caston ILB (IR) 24 Charles Clinton DB (IR) 73 John Davis G (IR) ## Neal Dellocono LB (IR) -- Mark Dusbabek LB (IR) 23 Richard Johnson CB (IR) 28 Allen Lyday S (IR) 78 Don Maggs T (IR) 68 Vince Stroth T (IR) 29 Bucky White CB (IR) 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 11 Robbie Robbins 12 John Witkowski Running backs 30 Herman Hunter 32 Ricky Moore 33 Don Williams 35 Eric Cobble 36 Jarvis McKyer 38 Lionel Wilson 40 Andrew Jackson Wide receivers 15 Roger Coleman 80 Leonard Harris 81 Keith McDonald 82 Sam Moore 83 Joey Walters 84 Haywood Jeffires 84 Robert Mitchell 85 Chris Darrington 86 Oliver Williams Tight ends 87 Scott Eccles 88 Mark Gehring 89 James Arrike		Offensive linemen 50 Billy Kidd 60 Jerrell Franklin 62 Doug Kellermeyer 66 Clay Miller 69 Brett Petersmark 70 Charles Agee 73 Almon Young 76 Louis Garza 77 Scott Boucher 77 Barry Pettyjohn 78 Roland Aumueller Defensive linemen 71 Gerald Browner 75 Jesse Baker 75 Kenny Neil 94 Eric Larkin 94 Charles Martin 95 Dwain Turner 98 Rayford Cooks 99 Rickey Hagood 99 Doug Smith		Linebackers 50 Paul Vogel 51 Eugene Seale 53 Thad Jefferson 54 Larry Smith 55 Scott Stoughton 56 George Woods 57 Bryon Johnson 59 Scott Fox Defensive backs 20 Earl Allen 21 Craig Birdsong 22 Kenneth Johnson 23 Domingo Bryant 24 Clinton Charles 25 Larry Joyner 26 Tony Newsom 27 Donovan Small 28 Emmuel Thompson 29 Robert White 31 Darrell Francis 37 Ken McKyer Special teams  4 Florian Kempf K  7 Tony Zendejas K  8 Steve Superick 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

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 3 10 14 6 33 • Oilers 3 10 7 17 37 Date: October 25 Location: Houston Astrodome Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Fred Silva

Scoring summary Q1 ATL Luckhurst 39 yard field goal ATL 3–0 Q1 HOU Zendejas 31 yard field goal Tie 3−3 Q2 ATL Luckhurst 37 yard field goal ATL 6–3 Q2 HOU Zendejas 43 yard field goal Tie 6–6 Q2 ATL Dixon 10 yard pass from Campbell (Luckhurst kick) ATL 13−6 Q2 HOU Duncan 41 yard pass from Moon (Zendejas kick) Tie 13−13 Q3 HOU Givins 8 yard pass from Moon (Zendejas kick) HOU 20–13 Q3 ATL Bailey 29 yard pass from Campbell (Luckhurst kick) Tie 20–20 Q3 ATL Whisenhunt 3 yard pass from Campbell (Luckhurst kick) ATL 27−20 Q4 HOU Rozier 14 yard run (Zendejas kick) Tie 27–27 Q4 HOU Zendejas 24 yard field goal HOU 30–27 Q4 ATL Luckhurst 45 yard field goal Tie 30–30 Q4 ATL Luckhurst 18 yard field goal ATL 33–30 Q4 HOU Duncan 14 yard pass from Moon (Zendejas kick) HOU 37–33

Standings

AFC Central
	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)

Quarter	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

Quarter	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 weather: 28 °F or −2.2 °C, relative humidity 55%, wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn), wind chill 19 °F or −7.2 °C
• 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

External links

• 1987 Houston Oilers at Pro-Football-Reference.com