# 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.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1987 Houston Oilers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 3 | Alonzo Highsmith | Running back | Miami (FL) |
| 1 | 20 | Haywood Jeffires * | Wide receiver | North Carolina State |
| 2 | 46 | Walter Johnson | Linebacker | Louisiana Tech |
| 3 | 64 | Cody Carlson | Quarterback | Baylor |
| 4 | 105 | Mark Dusbabek | Linebacker | Minnesota |
| 5 | 133 | Spencer Tillman | Running back | Oklahoma |
| 6 | 147 | Al Smith * | Linebacker | Utah State |
| 6 | 159 | Toby Caston | Linebacker | LSU |
| 7 | 176 | Robert Banks | Defensive end | Notre Dame |
| 8 | 202 | Michel James | Wide receiver | Washington State |
| 9 | 231 | Wes Neighbors | Center | Alabama |
| 10 | 258 | Curtis Duncan * | Wide receiver | Northwestern |
| 11 | 287 | John Davis | Offensive tackle | Georgia Tech |
| 12 | 314 | Ira Valentine | Running back | Texas A&M |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### NFL replacement players

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

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | 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 |

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns$^{(2)}$ | 10 | 5 | 0 | .667 | 5–1 | 8–3 | 390 | 239 | W3 |
| Houston Oilers$^{(4)}$ | 9 | 6 | 0 | .600 | 5–1 | 7–4 | 345 | 349 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 8 | 7 | 0 | .533 | 2–4 | 6–5 | 285 | 299 | L2 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 4 | 11 | 0 | .267 | 0–6 | 3–9 | 285 | 370 | L3 |

## Playoffs
### AFC Wild Card

| 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

| 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: 28 °F or −2.2 °C, relative humidity 55%, wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn), wind chill 19 °F or −7.2 °C
* 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