1981 Houston Oilers season

The 1981 Houston Oilers season was the franchise's 22nd overall and the 12th in the National Football League (NFL). Bum Phillips was fired as head coach during the offseason for failing to reach the Super Bowl, and replaced by Ed Biles. However, the Oilers defensive problems would catch up with them as they finished with a disappointing 7–9 record, as Earl Campbell fought through injuries to rush for 1,376 yards. After a fast 4–2 start, Houston would struggle in the second half, going 3–7 in their final 10 games, including a critical loss to the New Orleans Saints, who finished 4–12 in 1981.

Regular season

Schedule

File:Houston Oilers at Pittsburgh Steelers 1981-10-26 (ticket).jpg

A ticket for an October 26, 1981 game between the Oilers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Week	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Date	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Opponent	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Result	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Record	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Game site	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| NFL.com recap
1	September 6	at Los Angeles Rams	W 27–20	1–0	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
2	September 13	at Cleveland Browns	W 9–3	2–0	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
3	September 20	Miami Dolphins	L 10–16	2–1	Astrodome	Recap
4	September 27	at New York Jets	L 17–33	2–2	Shea Stadium	Recap
5	October 4	Cincinnati Bengals	W 17–10	3–2	Astrodome	Recap
6	October 11	Seattle Seahawks	W 35–17	4–2	Astrodome	Recap
7	October 18	at New England Patriots	L 10–38	4–3	Schaefer Stadium	Recap
8	Template:Dow tooltip	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 13–26	4–4	Three Rivers Stadium	Recap
9	November 1	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 21–34	4–5	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
10	November 8	Oakland Raiders	W 17–16	5–5	Astrodome	Recap
11	November 15	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 10–23	5–6	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
12	November 22	New Orleans Saints	L 24–27	5–7	Astrodome	Recap
13	November 29	Atlanta Falcons	L 27–31	5–8	Astrodome	Recap
14	Template:Dow tooltip	Cleveland Browns	W 17–13	6–8	Astrodome	Recap
15	December 13	at San Francisco 49ers	L 6–28	6–9	Candlestick Park	Recap
16	December 20	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 21–20	7–9	Astrodome	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

External links

• 1981 Houston Oilers at Pro-Football-Reference.com

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