1981 Houston Oilers

1981 Houston Oilers season
Head Coach	Ed Biles
Home Field	Astrodome
Results
Record	7–9
Place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1980	1982

The 1981 Houston Oilers season was the franchise's 22nd overall and the 12th in the National Football League (NFL). Bum Phillips was fired as head coach during the offseason for failing to reach the Super Bowl, and replaced by Ed Biles. However, the Oilers defensive problems would catch up with them as they finished with a disappointing 7-9 record, as Earl Campbell fought through injuries to rush for 1,376 yards. After a fast 4-2 start, Houston would struggle in the second half, going 3-7 in their final 10 games, including a critical loss to the New Orleans Saints, who finished 4-12 in 1981.

Personnel

Staff

1981 Houston Oilers final staff
	Front Office Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams Executive Vice President/General Manager – Ladd Herzeg Head Coaches Head Coach – Ed Biles Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Jim Shofner Offensive Backs – Elijah Pitts Receivers – Andy Bourgeois Offensive Line – Ray Callahan			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Dick Nolan Defensive Line – Joe Galat Linebackers – Dick Selcer Defensive Backs – Bob Gambold Special Teams Coaches

Roster

1981 Houston Oilers roster
	Quarterbacks 14 Gifford Nielsen  8 John Reaves 12 Ken Stabler Running backs 39 Adger Armstrong 34 Earl Campbell 47 Ronnie Coleman 45 Tim Wilson FB Wide receivers 11 Harold Bailey 00 Ken Burrough 84 Mike Holston 82 Mike Renfro 85 Carl Roaches 83 Tim Smith Tight ends 86 Mike Barber 87 Dave Casper		Offensive linemen 58 David Carter C/G 66 Greg Davidson C 77 Angelo Fields T 60 Ed Fisher G 74 Leon Gray T 55 Carl Mauck C 62 John Schuhmacher G 76 Morris Towns T Defensive linemen 75 Jesse Baker DE 65 Elvin Bethea DE 69 Andy Dorris DE 71 Ken Kennard NT 90 Daryle Skaugstad DT 67 Mike Stensrud DE		Linebackers 54 Gregg Bingham ILB 52 Robert Brazile OLB 57 John Corker OLB 50 Daryl Hunt ILB 53 Avon Riley OLB 56 Art Stringer ILB 51 Ted Thompson ILB 59 Ted Washington OLB Defensive backs 36 Carter Hartwig CB/FS 22 Bill Kay 32 Vernon Perry SS 37 Mike Reinfeldt FS 27 Greg Stemrick CB 20 Willie Tullis CB 33 J. C. Wilson CB Special teams 16 Toni Fritsch K 18 Cliff Parsley P		Reserve lists Practice/Taxi Squad Rookies in italics

Offseason

NFL Draft

• Main article: 1981 NFL draft

1981 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
3	79	Mike Holston	Wide receiver	Morgan State
4	106	Nick Eyre	Offensive tackle	BYU
5	133	Delbert Fowler	Linebacker	West Virginia
6	159	Bill Kay	Defensive back	Purdue
7	193	Don Washington	Defensive back	Texas A&M–Kingsville
8	217	Willie Tullis	Defensive back	Troy
9	243	Avon Riley	Linebacker	UCLA
10	270	Larry Jones	Running back	Colorado State
11	297	Claude Matthews	Guard	Auburn
12	324	Bill Capece	Placekicker	Florida State
Made roster

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 6	at Los Angeles	W 27–20	1-0	63,198
2	September 13	at Cleveland	W 9–3	2-0	79,483
3	September 20	Miami	L 16–10	2-1	47,379
4	September 27	at NY Jets	L 33–17	2-2	50,309
5	October 4	Cincinnati	W 17–10	3-2	44,350
6	October 11	Seattle	W 35–17	4-2	42,671
7	October 18	at New England	L 38–10	4-3	60,474
8	October 26	at Pittsburgh	L 26–13	4-4	52,732
9	November 1	at Cincinnati	L 34–21	4-5	54,736
10	November 8	Oakland	W 17–16	5-5	45,519
11	November 15	at Kansas City	L 23–10	5-6	73,984
12	November 22	New Orleans	L 27–24	5-7	49,581
13	November 29	Atlanta	L 31–27	5-8	40,201
14	December 3	Cleveland	W 17–13	6-8	44,502
15	December 13	at San Francisco	L 28–6	6-9	55,707
16	December 20	Pittsburgh	W 21–20	7-9	41,056

Standings

1981 AFC Central standings
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Cincinnati Bengals	12	4	0	.750	421	304
Pittsburgh Steelers	8	8	0	.500	356	297
Houston Oilers	7	9	0	.438	281	355
Cleveland Browns	5	11	0	.313	276	375

External links

• 1981 Houston Oilers season article at Wikipedia
• 1981 Houston Oilers at the Pro Football Reference
• 1981 Houston Oilers at jt-sw.com