# 1991 Houston Oilers season

The 1991 Houston Oilers season was the 32nd season and their 22nd in the National Football League (NFL). Haywood Jeffires would become the second Oiler to have 100 receptions in a season. The first Oiler to accomplish the feat was Charley Hennigan in 1964. Jeffires would be the fifth receiver in NFL history to have a 100 reception season. The Oilers scored 386 points and gave up 251 points. The franchise earned its first division title since the AFL-NFL merger, having last won a division title in the 1967 American Football League season. The franchise finished the season with 11 wins compared to 5 losses and appeared twice on Monday Night Football.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1991 Houston Oilers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 2 | 28 | Mike Dumas | Defensive back | Indiana |
| 2 | 38 | Darryll Lewis * | Defensive back | Arizona |
| 2 | 44 | John Flannery | Guard | Syracuse |
| 3 | 71 | Steve Jackson | Defensive back | Purdue |
| 3 | 79 | Kevin Donnalley | Guard | North Carolina |
| 4 | 101 | David Rocker | Defensive tackle | Auburn |
| 4 | 102 | Marcus Robertson * | Defensive back | Iowa State |
| 5 | 129 | Gary Wellman | Wide receiver | USC |
| 7 | 183 | Kyle Freeman | Linebacker | Angelo State |
| 8 | 214 | Gary Brown | Running back | Penn State |
| 9 | 240 | Shawn Jefferson | Wide receiver | Central Florida |
| 10 | 267 | Curtis Moore | Linebacker | Kansas |
| 11 | 294 | James Smith | Defensive back | Richmond |
| 12 | 325 | Alex Johnson | Wide receiver | Miami (FL) |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 3 | at San Diego Chargers | L 29–31 | 0–1 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 43,042 |
| 2 | August 9 | Atlanta Falcons | L 7–36 | 0–2 | Astrodome | 52,140 |
| 3 | August 18 | Dallas Cowboys | W 30–20 | 1–2 | Astrodome | 53,314 |
| 4 | August 22 | vs. Los Angeles Rams | W 16–13 | 2–2 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | 63,200 |

## Regular season

* October 13, 1991 – Warren Moon threw for 423 yards against the New York Jets.
* November 10, 1991 – Warren Moon threw for 432 yards against the Dallas Cowboys.
* October 13, 1991 – Haywood Jeffires set an Oilers record with most receptions in one game with 13.

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 1 | Los Angeles Raiders | W 47–17 | 1–0 | Astrodome | 61,367 |
| 2 | September 8 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 30–7 | 2–0 | Riverfront Stadium | 56,463 |
| 3 | September 16 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 17–7 | 3–0 | Astrodome | 61,058 |
| 4 | September 22 | at New England Patriots | L 20–24 | 3–1 | Foxboro Stadium | 30,702 |
| 5 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 6 | October 6 | Denver Broncos | W 42–14 | 4–1 | Astrodome | 59,145 |
| 7 | October 13 | at New York Jets | W 23–20 | 5–1 | Giants Stadium | 70,758 |
| 8 | October 20 | at Miami Dolphins | W 17–13 | 6–1 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 60,705 |
| 9 | October 27 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 35–3 | 7–1 | Astrodome | 58,634 |
| 10 | November 3 | at Washington Redskins | L 13–16 (OT) | 7–2 | RFK Stadium | 55,096 |
| 11 | November 10 | Dallas Cowboys | W 26–23 (OT) | 8–2 | Astrodome | 63,001 |
| 12 | November 17 | Cleveland Browns | W 28–24 | 9–2 | Astrodome | 58,155 |
| 13 | November 24 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–26 | 9–3 | Three Rivers Stadium | 45,795 |
| 14 | December 2 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 6–13 | 9–4 | Astrodome | 61,141 |
| 15 | December 8 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 31–6 | 10–4 | Astrodome | 59,225 |
| 16 | December 15 | at Cleveland Browns | W 17–14 | 11–4 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 55,680 |
| 17 | December 21 | at New York Giants | L 20–24 | 11–5 | Giants Stadium | 63,421 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Games summaries
#### Week 1 vs Raiders

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| Oilers | 6 | 10 | 21 | 10 | 47 |
at Astrodome, Houston, Texas
* Date: September 1
* Game time: 4:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Game attendance: 61,367
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
HOU – Allen Pinkett 8-yard run (kick failed), 5:37. Oilers 6–0.
Second quarter
HOU – Warren Moon 1-yard run (Ian Howfield kick), 13:40. Oilers 13–0.
HOU – Ian Howfield 34-yard field goal, 5:27. Oilers 16–0.
LA – Willie Gault 59-yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Jeff Jaeger kick), 2:44. Oilers 16–7.
Third quarter
HOU – Ernest Givins 22-yard pass from Warren Moon (Ian Howfield kick), 12:17. Oilers 23–7.
LA – Jeff Jaeger 39-yard field goal, 7:24. Oilers 23–10.
HOU – Tony Jones 28-yard pass from Warren Moon (Ian Howfield kick), 5:59. Oilers 30–10.
HOU – Mike Dumas 19-yard fumble return (Ian Howfield kick), 3:45. Oilers 37–10.
Fourth quarter
HOU – Ian Howfield 46-yard field goal, 9:43. Oilers 40–10.
LA – Sam Graddy 80-yard pass from Vince Evans (Jeff Jaeger kick), 9:29. Oilers 40–10.
HOU – Gary Brown 39-yard run (Ian Howfield kick), 1:52. Oilers 47–10.
Top passers
LA – Vince Evans – 6/10, 127 yards, TD, INT
HOU – Warren Moon – 18/33, 250 yards, 2 TD
Top rushers
LA – Marcus Allen – 8 rushes, 17 yards
HOU – Allen Pinkett – 26 rushes, 144 yards
Top receivers
LA – Sam Graddy – 3 receptions, 102 yards, TD
HOU – Ernest Givins – 6 receptions, 90 yards, TD :

#### Week 14

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| Oilers | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
at Astrodome • Houston, Texas
* Date: December 2
* Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Referee: Tom Dooley
* TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
Eagles
Jim McMahon 12/20, 84 yards, int
James Joseph 12 rush, 56 yards
Roy Green 3 rec, 44 yards
Oilers
Warren Moon 24/46, 262 yards
Allen Pinkett 6 rush, 10 yards
Ernest Givens 6 rec, 89 yards :
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | PHI | HOU |
| 2 | | | | | Oilers | 42-yard field goal by Del Greco | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | | | | | Eagles | 23-yard field goal by Ruzek | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | | | | | Eagles | Jackson 21-yard touchdown reception from Kemp, Ruzek kick good | 10 | 3 |
| 4 | | | | | Oilers | 47-yard field goal by Del Greco | 10 | 6 |
| 4 | | | | | Eagles | 29-yard field goal by Ruzek | 13 | 6 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 13 | 6 |

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(3)}$ Houston Oilers | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–1 | 10–2 | 386 | 251 | L1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–2 | 7–5 | 292 | 344 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 2–4 | 6–6 | 293 | 298 | L3 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 1–5 | 2–10 | 263 | 435 | W1 |

## Playoffs
### AFC Wild Card

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Oilers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
at Astrodome, Houston, Texas
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: Played indoors, domed stadium
* Game attendance: 61,485
* Referee: Tom White
* TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Paul Maguire
After leading 14–10 at halftime, the Oilers stopped the Jets twice inside the 5-yard line in the second half to preserve the victory. Houston quarterback Warren Moon threw two touchdowns in the first half, both to Ernest Givins for 5 and 20 yards. This would be the team's last playoff win while playing in Houston and would not win another playoff game until the Music City Miracle during the 1999 playoffs, their third season in Tennessee and their first season as the Titans.

### AFC Divisional Playoff

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
| Broncos | 6 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 26 |
at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/2:00 p.m. MST
* Game weather: 30 °F (−1 °C), cloudy
* Game attendance: 75,301
* Referee: Johnny Grier
* TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Todd Christensen
Trailing 24–23 with 2:07 left in the game, quarterback John Elway led the Broncos from their own 2-yard line to the winning 28-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining. On the drive, he converted on two fourth downs. On fourth down and 6 from the Denver 28, he rushed for 7 yards. Then on fourth down and 10, he completed a 44-yard pass to wide receiver Vance Johnson.
The Oilers jumped to a 14–0 lead with quarterback Warren Moon's two touchdown passes to wide receivers Haywood Jeffires and Drew Hill for 15 and 9 yards, respectively. Elway then completed a 10-yard touchdown to Johnson, but kicker David Treadwell missed the extra point. Moon responded by throwing a 6-yard touchdown to wide receiver Curtis Duncan to give Houston a 21–6 lead, but Denver running back Greg Lewis scored a 1-yard touchdown before halftime. In the second half, the Oilers were limited to only a 25-yard field goal by kicker Al Del Greco, which gave Houston a 24–16 lead in the fourth quarter. The Broncos then marched 80 yards to score on Lewis' 1-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 24–23.
Elway's comeback is now known solely as The Drive II.

## Awards and records

* Haywood Jeffires – Houston Oilers record, most receptions in one game, (13)
* Haywood Jeffires, All Pro selection
* Haywood Jeffires, Pro Bowl selection
* Warren Moon, Pro Bowl selection
* Warren Moon, Houston Oilers record, most passing yards in a season (4,690)
* Warren Moon, NFL leader, most passing yards in a season (4,690)

### Milestones

* Haywood Jeffires – 1st 100 reception season
* Haywood Jeffires – 2nd 1,000 yard receiving season (1,181 yards)
* Warren Moon, 2nd 4,000 yard passing season (4,690)
* Warren Moon, 3rd 400 yard passing game (423 vs. New York Jets)
* Warren Moon, 4th 400 yard passing game (432 vs. Dallas Cowboys)