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1975 Houston Oilers season

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1975 Houston Oilers season
OwnerBud Adams
General managerBum Phillips
Head coachBum Phillips
Home fieldHouston Astrodome
Results
Record10–4
Division place3rd AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR Ken Burrough
QB Dan Pastorini
DT Curley Culp
DE Elvin Bethea
RS Billy "White Shoes" Johnson
AP All-ProsDT Curley Culp (1st team)
RS Billy "White Shoes" Johnson (1st team)
DE Elvin Bethea (2nd team)

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.

It was a three-win improvement over their previous season and the franchise's best record since 1962.

Offseason

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NFL draft

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1975 Houston Oilers draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 6 Robert Brazile *   Linebacker Jackson State
1 15 Don Hardeman  Running back Texas A&I
2 40 Emmett Edwards  Wide receiver Kansas
6 146 Jesse O‘Neill  Defensive end Grambling State
7 162 Mike Biehle  Offensive tackle Miami (OH)
7 171 Mark Cotney  Safety Cameron
8 196 Jerry Lawrence  Defensive tackle South Dakota State
9 221 Bob Bruer  Tight end Mankato State
10 246 Alan Pringle  Kicker Rice
11 271 John Sawyer  Tight end Southern Mississippi
12 302 Willie Miller  Wide receiver Colorado State
13 327 Ricky Scales  Wide receiver Virginia Tech
14 352 Jody Medford  Guard Rice
15 377 Jack Holmes  Running back Texas Southern
16 402 Ken Lambert  Defensive back Virginia Tech
17 427 Ricky Seeker  Center Texas A&M
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Roster

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Houston Oilers roster
Quarterbacks


Running backs


Wide receivers


Tight ends


Offensive linemen


Defensive linemen


Linebackers


Defensive backs


Special teams


Reserve lists

Practice squad

rookies in italics

Regular season

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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

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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

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AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(1) 12 2 0 .857 6–0 10–1 373 162 L1
Cincinnati Bengals(4) 11 3 0 .786 3–3 8–3 340 246 W1
Houston Oilers 10 4 0 .714 2–4 7–4 293 226 W3
Cleveland Browns 3 11 0 .214 1–5 2–8 218 372 L1

Milestones

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When they defeated the Redskins in Week 5, the Oilers became the last NFL team to finally win a game against the NFC, since the AFL/NFL merge happened in 1970.

References

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  1. ^ "1975 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.