1991 Houston Oilers season

1991 Houston Oilers season
Head coach	Jack Pardee
General manager	Mike Holovak
Owner	Bud Adams
Home field	Astrodome
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	1st AFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost AFC Divisional Playoff

The 1991 season was the Houston Oilers 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. The last division title for the Oilers was in 1967. The franchise finished the season with 11 wins compared to 5 losses and appeared twice on Monday Night Football.

Offseason

NFL Draft

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

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Personnel

Staff

1991 Houston Oilers staff
	Front office Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams Executive Vice President/General Manager – Mike Holovak Assistant General Manager – Floyd Reese Head coaches Head Coach – Jack Pardee Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Kevin Gilbride Running Backs – Frank Novak Receivers – Chris Palmer Offensive Line – Bob Young			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Jim Eddy Defensive Line – Jim Stanley Linebackers – Richard Smith Defensive Backs – Pat Thomas Quality Control – Gregg Williams Special teams coaches Special Teams – Richard Smith Strength and conditioning Strength and Rehabilitation – Steve Watterson

Roster

1991 Houston Oilers roster
	Quarterbacks 14 Cody Carlson  1 Warren Moon Running backs 33 Gary Brown 30 Victor Jones 20 Allen Pinkett KR 44 Lorenzo White Wide receivers 87 Pat Coleman PR 80 Curtis Duncan 81 Ernest Givins 83 Leonard Harris 85 Drew Hill 84 Haywood Jeffires 86 Alex Johnson 82 Tony Jones 89 Frank Miotke		Tight ends Vacant Offensive linemen 66 Doug Dawson G 77 Kevin Donnalley G 55 John Flannery G 78 Don Maggs T 74 Bruce Matthews C 63 Mike Munchak G 70 Dean Steinkuhler T 73 David Williams T		Defensive linemen 76 Jeff Alm DT 79 Ray Childress DT 95 William Fuller DE 90 Ezra Johnson DE 96 Sean Jones DE 94 Glenn Montgomery DT 72 Willis Peguese DE 99 Doug Smith DT 97 Lee Williams DE Linebackers 51 Eric Fairs MLB 93 Rick Graf OLB 56 Scott Kozak OLB 57 Lamar Lathon OLB 91 Johnny Meads OLB 53 Eugene Seale MLB 54 Al Smith MLB		Defensive backs 22 Herbie Anderson CB 28 Cris Dishman CB 38 Mike Dumas FS 24 Steve Jackson CB 23 Richard Johnson CB 29 Darryll Lewis CB 25 Bubba McDowell SS 26 Bo Orlando FS 31 Marcus Robertson FS Special teams  3 Al Del Greco K  6 Ian Howfield K  9 Greg Montgomery P  7 Kent Sullivan P Rookies in italics

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Regular season

• 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

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 1, 1991	Los Angeles Raiders	W 47–17	61,367
2	September 8, 1991	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 30–7	56,463
3	September 16, 1991	Kansas City Chiefs	W 17–7	61,058
4	September 22, 1991	at New England Patriots	L 24–20	30,702
5	Bye
6	October 6, 1991	Denver Broncos	W 42–14	59,145
7	October 13, 1991	at New York Jets	W 23–20	70,758
8	October 20, 1991	at Miami Dolphins	W 17–13	60,705
9	October 27, 1991	Cincinnati Bengals	W 35–3	58,634
10	November 3, 1991	at Washington Redskins	L 16–13	55,096
11	November 10, 1991	Dallas Cowboys	W 26–23	63,001
12	November 17, 1991	Cleveland Browns	W 28–24	58,155
13	November 24, 1991	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 26–14	45,795
14	December 2, 1991	Philadelphia Eagles	L 13–6	61,141
15	December 8, 1991	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 31–6	59,225
16	December 15, 1991	at Cleveland Browns	W 17–14	55,680
17	December 21, 1991	at New York Giants	L 24–20	63,421

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(3) Houston Oilers	11	5	0	.688	386	251	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	7	9	0	.438	292	344	W2
Cleveland Browns	6	10	0	.375	293	298	L3
Cincinnati Bengals	3	13	0	.188	263	435	W1

Playoffs

AFC Wild Card

Houston Oilers 17, New York Jets 10

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets	0	10	0	0	10
Oilers	7	7	0	3	17

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

• 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

Denver Broncos 26, Houston Oilers 24

	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

• 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

• Haywood Jeffires – 1st 100 Reception Season ^[3]
• 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

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. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 440

External links

• 1991 Houston Oilers at Pro-Football-Reference.com