1975 Houston Oilers season

NFL team season November 2013 March 2026 Houston Oilers 1975 10–4 3rd AFC Central Bum Phillips Bud Adams Bum Phillips Houston Astrodome Did not qualify WR Ken BurroughQB Dan PastoriniDT Curley CulpDE Elvin BetheaRS Billy "White Shoes" Johnson DT Curley Culp (1st team)RS Billy "White Shoes" Johnson (1st team)DE Elvin Bethea (2nd team) Oilers seasons The 1975 Houston Oilers season was the team's 16th year and sixth in the National Football League. In Bum Phillips' first season as Coach, the Oilers played competitive football, posting their first winning season in eight years with a 10–4 record. All four losses were to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, who beat out the Oilers for the Division Title and Wild Card spot, respectively; the Oilers did not make the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. During week 13, the Oilers defeated the Oakland Raiders, who posted an 11–3 record and advanced to the AFC Championship game. During the season, the Oilers also defeated Washington and Miami, each team with a winning record. Had a second wild card been available (it was not until 1978), the Oilers would have clinched it thanks to their win vs. the Dolphins (both Houston and Miami finished 10-4). It was a three-win improvement over their previous season, the Oilers' first winning season since 1967, and the franchise's best record since 1962. Offseason NFL draft 1975 NFL draft 1975 Houston Oilers 1 6 Robert Brazile Linebacker Jackson State yes yes yes 1 15 Don Hardeman Running back Texas A&I yes 2 40 Emmett Edwards Wide receiver Kansas yes 6 146 Jesse O‘Neill Defensive end Grambling State no 7 162 Mike Biehle Offensive tackle Miami (OH) no 7 171 Mark Cotney Safety Cameron yes 8 196 Jerry Lawrence Defensive tackle South Dakota State yes 9 221 Bob Bruer Tight end Mankato State no 10 246 Alan Pringle Kicker Rice no 11 271 John Sawyer Tight end Southern Mississippi yes 12 302 Willie Miller Wide receiver Colorado State yes 13 327 Ricky Scales Wide receiver Virginia Tech no 14 352 Jody Medford Guard Rice no 15 377 Jack Holmes Running back Texas Southern no 16 402 Ken Lambert Defensive back Virginia Tech no 17 427 Ricky Seeker Center Texas A&M no https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/oti/1975_draft.htm 1975 Houston Oilers draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com November 12, 2014 Roster Houston Oilers roster Quarterbacks 10 Lynn Dickey  7 Dan Pastorini P Running backs 47 Ronnie Coleman American football 30 Don Hardeman y 36 Robert Holmes American football 24 Willie Rodgers 44 Fred Willis Wide receivers 88 Jim Beirne 00 Ken Burrough 87 Emmett Edwards y 86 Nate Hawkins 84 Billy Johnson Tight ends 82 Mack Alston 83 Willie Frazier Offensive linemen 75 Elbert Drungo T 60 Ed Fisher American football G 70 Conway Hayman G 53 Fred Hoaglin C 72 Kevin Hunt American football T 55 Carl Mauck C 73 Greg Sampson T 64 Ron Saul G Defensive linemen 65 Elvin Bethea DE 78 Curley Culp NT 80 John Little American football NT 77 Bubba Smith DE 85 Tody Smith DE 79 Jim White defensive end DE Linebackers 54 Gregg Bingham ILB 52 Robert Brazile y OLB 57 Steve Kiner ILB 56 Guy Roberts linebacker OLB 51 Ted Thompson y ILB 59 Ted Washington Sr. OLB Defensive backs 19 Willie Alexander American football CB 48 Bob Atkins American football FS 33 Mark Cotney y SS 22 Zeke Moore American football CB 29 Willie Germany SS 27 Greg Stemrick CB 38 C. L. Whittington FS Special teams  2 Skip Butler K Reserve lists 52 Duane Benson LB IR 63 Ronnie Carroll American football G IR 15 Al Johnson defensive back S IR 24 Mike Montgomery American football WR IR -- Oliver Nicholson y no LB IR 20 Billy Parks WR IR 81 John Sawyer American football y TE IR -- Lee Thomas American football DE IR rookies in italics Regular season The team achieved a winning record with ten wins and four losses, but finished only third in the division and missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 21 at New England Patriots W 7–0 1–0 Schaefer Stadium 51,934 2 September 28 San Diego Chargers W 33–17 2–0 Astrodome 33,765 3 October 5 Cincinnati Bengals L 19–21 2–1 Astrodome 42,412 4 October 12 at Cleveland Browns W 40–10 3–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 46,531 5 October 19 Washington Redskins W 13–10 4–1 Astrodome 49,566 6 October 26 Detroit Lions W 24–8 5–1 Astrodome 46,904 7 November 2 at Kansas City Chiefs W 17–13 6–1 Arrowhead Stadium 62,989 8 November 9 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–24 6–2 Three Rivers Stadium 49,460 9 November 16 Miami Dolphins W 20–19 7–2 Astrodome 48,892 10 November 24 Pittsburgh Steelers L 9–32 7–3 Astrodome 49,947 11 November 30 at Cincinnati Bengals L 19–23 7–4 Riverfront Stadium 46,128 12 December 7 at San Francisco 49ers W 27–13 8–4 Candlestick Park 44,015 13 December 14 at Oakland Raiders W 27–26 9–4 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 50,719 14 December 21 Cleveland Browns W 21–10 10–4 Astrodome 43,770 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Standings Milestones When they defeated the Redskins in Week 5, the Oilers became the last AFL team to finally win a game against the NFC, since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970 (although the OIlers defeated former NFL teams Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, all of whom moved to the AFC as part of the merger, prior to 1975). Houston was 0-11-1 vs. the NFC from 1970-74, with the tie vs. New Orleans in 1971. References Oilers on Pro Football Reference Oilers on jt-sw.com Houston Oilers Category:Houston Oilers seasons Houston Category:Long stubs with short prose