1971 Houston Oilers season

The 1971 Houston Oilers season was the team's 12th season, and second with the National Football League. The Oilers improved on their previous season's output of three victories, winning four games in 1971.[1] They missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

1971 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
Head coach	Ed Hughes
General manager	John W. Breen
Home field	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	4–9–1
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1971 Oilers are the only team in NFL history to throw three-or-more interceptions in ten different games.[2] (The team was 2–7–1 in those games.)

Offseason

NFL draft

1971 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	3	Dan Pastorini *	Quarterback	Santa Clara
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[3]

Roster

1971 Houston Oilers roster

	Quarterbacks 10 Lynn Dickey 12 Charley Johnson  7 Dan Pastorini Running backs 35 Woody Campbell 34 Joe Dawkins  2 Dickie Post Wide receivers 81 Jim Beirne 00 Ken Burrough 87 Linzy Cole 18 Charlie Joiner Tight ends 89 Alvin Reed		Offensive linemen 74 Gene Ferguson T 66 Tom Funchess T 75 Elbert Drungo G 60 Tom Regner G 64 Ron Saul G 76 Walt Suggs C Defensive linemen 83 Bruce Bergey DE 65 Elvin Bethea DE 82 Ron Billingsley DT 73 Leo Brooks DT 79 Pat Holmes DE 78 Mike Tilleman DT		Linebackers 52 Garland Boyette 59 Phil Croyle 58 Ron Prichard 85 Floyd Rice 90 George Webster Defensive backs 19 Willie Alexander CB 48 Bob Atkins SS 29 Ken Houston FS 33 Benny Johnson CB 22 Zeke Moore CB Special teams 17 Braden Beck K 11 Mark Moseley K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 19	at Cleveland Browns	L 0–31	0–1	Cleveland Stadium	73,387	Recap
2	September 26	Kansas City Chiefs	L 16–20	0–2	Houston Astrodome	46,498	Recap
3	October 3	New Orleans Saints	T 13–13	0–2–1	Houston Astrodome	47,966	Recap
4	October 10	at Washington Redskins	L 13–22	0–3–1	RFK Stadium	53,041	Recap
5	October 17	Detroit Lions	L 7–31	0–4–1	Houston Astrodome	45,885	Recap
6	October 24	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 16–23	0–5–1	Three Rivers Stadium	45,872	Recap
7	October 31	Cincinnati Bengals	W 10–6	1–5–1	Houston Astrodome	37,947	Recap
8	November 7	at New England Patriots	L 20–28	1–6–1	Schaefer Stadium	53,155	Recap
9	November 14	at Oakland Raiders	L 21–41	1–7–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,705	Recap
10	November 21	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 13–28	1–8–1	Riverfront Stadium	59,390	Recap
11	November 28	Cleveland Browns	L 24–37	1–9–1	Houston Astrodome	37,921	Recap
12	December 5	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 29–3	2–9–1	Houston Astrodome	37,778	Recap
13	December 12	at Buffalo Bills	W 20–14	3–9–1	War Memorial Stadium	28,107	Recap
14	December 19	San Diego Chargers	W 49–33	4–9–1	Houston Astrodome	35,959	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	5–1	7–4	285	273	W5
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	8	0	.429	4–2	5–6	246	292	L1
Houston Oilers	4	9	1	.308	2–4	4–7	251	330	W3
Cincinnati Bengals	4	10	0	.286	1–5	3–8	284	265	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

1. 1971 Houston Oilers
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the NFL, in the regular season, requiring Passes Intercepted >= 3, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.
3. "1971 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.