1975 Houston Oilers season

1975 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
General manager	Bum Phillips
Head coach	Bum Phillips
Home field	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	WR Ken Burrough QB Dan Pastorini DT Curley Culp DE Elvin Bethea RS Billy "White Shoes" Johnson
AP All-Pros	DT Curley Culp (1st team) RS Billy "White Shoes" Johnson (1st team) DE Elvin Bethea (2nd team)

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

Main article: 1975 NFL draft

1975 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
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

Roster

Houston Oilers roster
Quarterbacks 10 Lynn Dickey 7 Dan Pastorini P Running backs 47 Ronnie Coleman 30 Don Hardeman 36 Robert Holmes 24 Willie Rodgers 44 Fred Willis Wide receivers 88 Jim Beirne 00 Ken Burrough 87 Emmett Edwards 86 Nate Hawkins 84 Billy Johnson 20 Billy Parks Tight ends 82 Mack Alston 83 Willie Frazier 81 John Sawyer		Offensive linemen 75 Elbert Drungo T 60 Ed Fisher G 70 Conway Hayman G 53 Fred Hoaglin C 72 Kevin Hunt T 55 Carl Mauck C 73 Greg Sampson T 64 Ron Saul G Defensive linemen 65 Elvin Bethea DE 78 Curley Culp DT 80 John Little DT 77 Bubba Smith DE 85 Tody Smith DE 79 Jim White DE	Linebackers 54 Gregg Bingham ILB 52 Robert Brazile OLB 57 Steve Kiner 56 Guy Roberts 51 Ted Thompson ILB 59 Ted Washington OLB Defensive backs 19 Willie Alexander CB 48 Bob Atkins FS 33 Mark Cotney 22 Zeke Moore CB 29 Willie Germany SS 27 Greg Stemrick CB 38 C. L. Whittington FS Special teams 2 Skip Butler K	Reserve lists Practice squad rookies in italics

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
	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.

References

• Oilers on Pro Football Reference
• Oilers on jt-sw.com