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1987 Houston Oilers season

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1987 Houston Oilers season
OwnerBud Adams
General managerLadd Herzeg
Head coachJerry Glanville
Home fieldHouston Astrodome
Results
Record9–6
Division place2nd AFC Central
Playoff finishWon Wild Card Playoffs
(vs. Seahawks) 23–20 (OT)
Lost Divisional Playoffs
(at Broncos) 10–34
Uniform

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.

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

Offseason

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NFL draft

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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

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Personnel

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Staff

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1987 Houston Oilers staff

Front office

  • Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams
  • Executive Vice President/General Manager – Ladd Herzeg

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Miller McCalmon

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Rehabilitation – Steve Watterson


Roster

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1987 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

Reserve


Rookies in italics

NFL replacement players

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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


Running backs

  • 33 Don Williams
  • 36 Jarvis McKyer
  • 38 Lionel Wilson


Wide receivers

  • 15 Roger Coleman
  • 84 Robert Mitchell


Tight ends


Offensive linemen

  • 70 Charles Agee
  • 76 Louis Garza
  • 78 Roland Aumueller


Defensive linemen

  • 71 Gerald Browner
  • 99 Rickey Hagood

Linebackers

  • 55 Scott Stoughton
  • 56 George Woods


Defensive backs

  • 29 Robert White
  • 31 Darrell Francis
  • 37 Ken McKyer


Special teams

Regular season

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Schedule

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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

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Week 7

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1 234Total
Falcons 3 10146 33
• Oilers 3 10717 37
Scoring summary
Q1ATLLuckhurst 39 yard field goalATL 3–0
Q1HOUZendejas 31 yard field goalTie 3−3
Q2ATLLuckhurst 37 yard field goalATL 6–3
Q2HOUZendejas 43 yard field goalTie 6–6
Q2ATLDixon 10 yard pass from Campbell (Luckhurst kick)ATL 13−6
Q2HOUDuncan 41 yard pass from Moon (Zendejas kick)Tie 13−13
Q3HOUGivins 8 yard pass from Moon (Zendejas kick)HOU 20–13
Q3ATLBailey 29 yard pass from Campbell (Luckhurst kick)Tie 20–20
Q3ATLWhisenhunt 3 yard pass from Campbell (Luckhurst kick)ATL 27−20
Q4HOURozier 14 yard run (Zendejas kick)Tie 27–27
Q4HOUZendejas 24 yard field goalHOU 30–27
Q4ATLLuckhurst 45 yard field goalTie 30–30
Q4ATLLuckhurst 18 yard field goalATL 33–30
Q4HOUDuncan 14 yard pass from Moon (Zendejas kick)HOU 37–33

Standings

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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

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AFC Wild Card

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Houston Oilers 23, Seattle Seahawks 20 (OT)
Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Seahawks 7 3 37020
Oilers 3 10 70323

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

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

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Denver Broncos 34, Houston Oilers 10
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Oilers 0 3 0710
Broncos 14 10 3734

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

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

References

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