# 1973 Houston Oilers season

The 1973 Houston Oilers season was their fourth season in the National Football League and their 14th in competition overall. The team matched their previous season output of 1–13, and they missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Their eighteen consecutive losses after winning the third game in 1972 was an NFL record beaten only by the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976 and 1977, the Detroit Lions from the last game of 2007 until the third game of 2009, and the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2020 to 2021.
Coach Bill Peterson left the team after a 0–5 start and was replaced by coaching veteran Sid Gillman, who went 1–8 to finish the season. Peterson finished his NFL coaching career with a 1–18 record. The one win is the fewest for any head coach in NFL history. The Oilers’ offense struggled in 1973, ranking last in rushing yards (1388), second worst in yards per play (3.9), and third worst in both total yards (3307) and first downs (tied at 193).
The 1973 Oilers had one of the worst defenses of all time, statistically; they gave up 447 points during the season, the most ever for a 14-game season in the merger era (1970–1977). Only three teams gave up more points in a 14-game season: the 1966 Giants, the 1963 Broncos, and the 1961 Raiders. Their point-differential of −248 points was the worst in the league that year, and remains one of the ten worst in NFL history. (The second-worst team, the Philadelphia Eagles, gave up 393 points, or 3.8 fewer points per game.) Houston also gave up a league-high 26 touchdown passes in 1973.
They are also the most recent franchise in the NFL to have back-to-back one-win seasons; in fact since 1974 not a single NFL franchise again suffered multiple one- or no-win seasons in a non-strike season, until the Cleveland Browns did so in 2016 and 2017. Since the NFL developed a uniform schedule in 1936, the only other time a franchise has had back-to-back one-win seasons has been the 1949 and 1950 Baltimore Colts.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1973 Houston Oilers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 1 | John Matuszak | Defensive end | Tampa |
| 1 | 14 | George Amundson | Running back | Iowa State |
| 4 | 79 | Gregg Bingham | Linebacker | Purdue |
| 5 | 105 | Edesel Garrison | Wide receiver | USC |
| 6 | 131 | Ron Mayo | Tight end | Morgan State |
| 7 | 157 | Shelby Jordan | Offensive tackle | Washington University in St. Louis |
| 8 | 183 | Joe Blahak | Free safety | Nebraska |
| 9 | 209 | Mark Williams | Kicker | Rice |
| 10 | 235 | Darrell Vaughn | Defensive tackle | Northern Colorado |
| 11 | 261 | Larry Eaglin | Defensive back | Stephen F. Austin |
| 12 | 287 | Brad Lyman | Wide receiver | UCLA |
| 13 | 313 | Willie Martin | Guard | Northeastern State (Oklahoma) |
| 14 | 339 | Ron Lou | Center | Arizona State |
| 15 | 365 | Roger Goree | Linebacker | Baylor |
| 16 | 391 | Tim Dameron | Wide receiver | East Carolina |
| 17 | 417 | Randy Braband | Linebacker | Texas |
| Made roster ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 16 | at New York Giants | L 14–34 | 0–1 | Yankee Stadium | 57,979 |
| 2 | September 23 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 10–24 | 0–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 51,823 |
| 3 | September 30 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 7–36 | 0–3 | Astrodome | 39,331 |
| 4 | October 7 | Los Angeles Rams | L 26–31 | 0–4 | Astrodome | 34,875 |
| 5 | October 14 | Denver Broncos | L 20–48 | 0–5 | Astrodome | 32,801 |
| 6 | October 21 | at Cleveland Browns | L 13–42 | 0–6 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 61,146 |
| 7 | October 28 | at Chicago Bears | L 14–35 | 0–7 | Soldier Field | 43,755 |
| 8 | November 4 | at Baltimore Colts | W 31–27 | 1–7 | Memorial Stadium | 52,707 |
| 9 | November 11 | Cleveland Browns | L 13–23 | 1–8 | Astrodome | 37,230 |
| 10 | November 18 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 14–38 | 1–9 | Arrowhead Stadium | 68,444 |
| 11 | November 25 | New England Patriots | L 0–32 | 1–10 | Astrodome | 27,344 |
| 12 | December 2 | Oakland Raiders | L 6–17 | 1–11 | Astrodome | 25,801 |
| 13 | December 9 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 7–33 | 1–12 | Three Rivers Stadium | 38,004 |
| 14 | December 16 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 24–27 | 1–13 | Astrodome | 21,955 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Game summaries
### Week 3

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 3 | 3 | 13 | 17 | 36 |
| Oilers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
at Astrodome, Houston, Texas
* Date: September 30
* Game time: 2:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Game attendance: 39,331
* Referee: Jim Tunney
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
Steelers
Terry Bradshaw 9/17, 159 Yds, TD, 2 INT
John Fuqua 13 Rush, 48 Yds
Frank Lewis 1 Rec, 44 Yds
Oilers
Dan Pastorini 14/25, 87 Yds, TD, 2 INT
Bob Gresham 14 Rush, 41 Yds
Billy Parks 7 Rec, 80 Yds :
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | PIT | HOU |
| 1 | | | | | Steelers | 20-yard field goal by Gerela | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | | | | | Oilers | Alston 7-yard touchdown reception from Pastorini, Butler kick good | 3 | 7 |
| 2 | | | | | Steelers | 47-yard field goal by Gerela | 6 | 7 |
| 3 | | | | | Steelers | Bradshaw 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick no good | 12 | 7 |
| 3 | | | | | Steelers | Interception returned 45 yards for touchdown by Russell, Gerela kick good | 19 | 7 |
| 4 | | | | | Steelers | Shanklin 26-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw, Gerela kick good | 26 | 7 |
| 4 | | | | | Steelers | 26-yard field goal by Gerela | 29 | 7 |
| 4 | | | | | Steelers | Interception returned 86 yards for touchdown by Edwards, Gerela kick good | 36 | 7 |
| "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. | 36 | 7 |

## Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 4–2 | 8–3 | 286 | 231 | W6 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 4–2 | 7–4 | 347 | 210 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 7 | 5 | 2 | .571 | 4–2 | 6–3–2 | 234 | 255 | L2 |
| Houston Oilers | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 0–6 | 1–10 | 199 | 447 | L6 |