# 1975 Houston Oilers season

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
### NFL draft

1975 Houston Oilers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 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 ||||||

## 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

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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

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.