Complex sentence: The two teams were the class of the league that year, with the Texans thumping the Oilers at Houston 31--7 on October 28, and the Oilers returning the favor a week later, beating Dallas 14--6 at the Cotton Bowl.
Split into simpler sentences: The two teams were the class of the league that year, and they split their regular season series, with the visiting team winning. The Texans thumped the Oilers at Houston 31--7 on October 28, and the next week the Oilers returned the favor with a 14--6 win at the Cotton Bowl.