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.

File:Warren Moon and Mike Rozier 1987.jpg

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

Personnel

NFL replacement players

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

Regular season

Schedule

style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Week	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Date	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Opponent	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Result	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Record	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Venue	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| 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

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: , relative humidity 55%, wind , wind chill
• 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