1984 Houston Oilers season

The 1984 Houston Oilers season was the 25th season overall and 15th with the league. The team improved upon their previous season's output of 2–14, winning three games,^[1] but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. With hopes of improving the offense the Oilers won the bidding war to sign CFL star and future Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon. However, with Earl Campbell in full decline, the Oilers decided to trade him to the Saints after a 1–5 start. The move would leave a gaping hole at running back, but it was the defense that was a greater weak spot as the Oilers finished with a 3–13 record, allowing 457 points on the season.

1984 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
General manager	Ladd Herzeg
Head coach	Hugh Campbell
Home stadium	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	3–13
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1983 Oilers seasons 1985 →

Regular season

Despite acquiring CFL star Warren Moon at quarterback, the Oilers stumbled out of the gate, falling to 0–10 before picking up a 17–16 win on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs. The following week they beat the New York Jets 31–20. In that game Moon tossed two touchdown passes to Tim Smith and one to Herkie Walls. The Oilers defense intercepted a Ken O'Brien pass.^[2] They picked up their third and final win of the season in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers 23–20. Moon connected with tight end Chris Dressell for a touchdown, while Steelersʼ quarterback Mark Malone tossed two interceptions – one to rookie Bo Eason and the other to Willie Tullis.^[3] The Oilers finished the season in last place in the AFC Central with a 3–13 record.^[4]

Offseason

The 1984 draft would yield some solid players for Houston. They selected Dean Steinkuhler in round one. They used their second round choice to draft Doug Smith out of Auburn, but he spurred the Oilers to sign with the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL. The draft also saw Houston land Johnny Meads, Jeff Donaldson, John Grimsley and Patrick Allen.

Transactions

• October 10, 1984: The Houston Oilers traded running back Earl Campbell to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for their top choice in the 1985 NFL draft. ^[5]

NFL draft

Main article: 1984 NFL draft

The following players were selected in the 1984 NFL draft.

1984 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	Dean Steinkuhler	Offensive tackle	Nebraska
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[6]

Supplemental draft

Main article: 1984 NFL supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players

The following players were selected in the 1984 NFL supplemental draft.

1984 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	Mike Rozier *	Running back	Nebraska
2	29	Don Maggs	Tackle	Tulane
3	58	Lynn Madsen	Defensive Tackle	Washington
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[6]

Personnel

Staff

1984 Houston Oilers staff

Front office Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams Executive Vice President/General Manager – Ladd Herzeg Head coaches Head Coach – Hugh Campbell Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Kay Dalton Offensive Backs – Al Roberts Receivers – Bruce Lemmerman Offensive Line – Bill Walsh

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Jerry Glanville Defensive Line – Bob Padilla Linebackers – John Devlin Defensive Backs – Ken Houston Special teams coaches Special Teams – Gene Gaines Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Bill Allerheiligen

Roster

1984 Houston Oilers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Oliver Luck  1 Warren Moon 12 Brian Ransom Running backs (RB) 35 Stan Edwards 38 Willie Joyner 30 Larry Moriarty 35 Richard Williams Wide receivers (WR) 81 Steve Bryant 84 Mike Holston 80 Eric Mullins 85 Carl Roaches 83 Tim Smith 82 Herkie Walls Tight ends (TE) 88 Chris Dressel 89 Mike McCloskey 87 Jamie Williams

Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Pat Howell G 74 Bruce Matthews C/T 76 Eric Moran T 63 Mike Munchak G 55 Jim Romano C 73 Harvey Salem T 62 John Schuhmacher G Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Jesse Baker DE 78 Jerome Foster DE 90 Bob Hamm DE 97 Mike Johnson DE 72 Brian Sochia NT 67 Mike Stensrud NT

Linebackers (LB) 56 Robert Abraham ILB 54 Gregg Bingham ILB 52 Robert Brazile OLB 59 John Grimsley ILB 50 Daryl Hunt ILB 57 Tim Joiner OLB 93 Robert Lyles OLB 91 Johnny Meads OLB 53 Avon Riley OLB 51 Ted Thompson ILB Defensive backs (DB) 29 Patrick Allen CB 25 Keith Bostic SS 24 Steve Brown CB 31 Jeff Donaldson FS 21 Bo Eason FS 27 Mike Kennedy SS 26 Darryl Meadows SS 20 Willie Tullis CB Special teams (ST)  8 Joe Cooper K  6 John James P

Reserve 77 Doug France T (IR) 36 Carter Hartwig S (IR)  4 Florian Kempf K (IR) 28 Allen Lyday S (IR) 70 Dean Steinkuhler T (IR) 98 Mark Studaway DE (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game site	NFL.com recap
1	September 2	Los Angeles Raiders	L 14–24	0–1	Astrodome	Recap
2	September 9	Indianapolis Colts	L 21–35	0–2	Astrodome	Recap
3	September 16	at San Diego Chargers	L 14–31	0–3	Jack Murphy Stadium	Recap
4	September 23	at Atlanta Falcons	L 10–42	0–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	Recap
5	September 30	New Orleans Saints	L 10–27	0–5	Astrodome	Recap
6	October 7	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 3–13	0–6	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
7	October 14	at Miami Dolphins	L 10–28	0–7	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap
8	October 21	San Francisco 49ers	L 21–34	0–8	Astrodome	Recap
9	October 28	Cincinnati Bengals	L 13–31	0–9	Astrodome	Recap
10	November 4	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 7–35	0–10	Three Rivers Stadium	Recap
11	November 11	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 17–16	1–10	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
12	November 18	New York Jets	W 20–31	2–10	Astrodome	Recap
13	November 25	at Cleveland Browns	L 10–27	2–11	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
14	December 2	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 23–20	3–11	Astrodome	Recap
15	December 9	at Los Angeles Rams	L 16–27	3–12	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
16	December 16	Cleveland Browns	L 20–27	3–13	Astrodome	Recap

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(3)	9	7	0	.563	3–3	6–6	387	310	W2
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	5–1	6–6	339	339	W4
Cleveland Browns	5	11	0	.313	3–3	4–8	250	297	W1
Houston Oilers	3	13	0	.188	1–5	3–9	240	437	L2

Season summary

Week 2: vs. Indianapolis Colts

Week 2: Indianapolis Colts at Houston Oilers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts	0	21	7	7	35
Oilers	7	7	0	7	21

at Astrodome • Houston, Texas

• Date: September 9, 1984
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 43,820
• Referee: Fred Wyant
• TV announcers (NBC): Phil Stone (play-by-play) and Reggie Rucker (color commentator)
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Colts Oilers

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP IND HOU 1 Oilers Campbell 2-yard touchdown run, Kempf kick good 0 7 2 Colts Pagel 1-yard touchdown run, Biasucci kick good 7 7 2 Oilers Campbell 15-yard touchdown run, Kempf kick good 7 14 2 Colts Dickey 15-yard touchdown run, Biasucci kick good 14 14 2 Colts Butler 31-yard touchdown reception from Pagel, Biasucci kick good 21 14 3 Colts Butler 14-yard touchdown reception from Pagel, Biasucci kick good 28 14 4 Oilers Campbell 1-yard touchdown run, Kempf kick good 28 21 4 Colts Porter 33-yard touchdown reception from Pagel, Biasucci kick good 35 21 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 35 21

Week 8 (Sunday, October 21, 1984): vs. San Francisco 49ers

^[7]

Week 8: San Francisco 49ers at Houston Oilers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers (7–1)	10	7	3	14	34
Oilers (0–8)	0	7	7	7	21

at Houston Astrodome • Houston, Texas

• Date: October 21, 1984
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: indoors
• Game attendance: 39,900
• Referee: Gene Barth
• TV announcers (CBS): Tom Brookshier (play-by-play) and Wayne Walker (color commentator)
• ^[8]

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
SF	Passing	Joe Montana	25/35, 353 YDS, 3 TDs, 1 INT
	Rushing	Wendell Tyler	23 CAR, 108 YDS
	Receiving	Dwight Clark	5 REC, 127 YDS, 1 TD
HOU	Passing	Warren Moon	25/33, 356 YDS, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
	Rushing	Larry Moriarty	9 CAR, 36 YDS, 1 TD
	Receiving	Tim Smith	6 REC, 101 YDS, 1 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP SF HOU 1 9:56 49ers Francis 11-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good 7 0 1 3:17 49ers 26-yard field goal by Wersching 10 0 2 14:49 Oilers Moriarty 1-yard touchdown run, Kempf kick good 10 7 2 0:29 49ers Tyler 26-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good 17 7 3 12:22 49ers 22-yard field goal by Wersching 20 7 3 5:42 Oilers Smith 45-yard touchdown reception from Moon, Kemof kick good 20 14 4 7:50 49ers Craig 5-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 27 14 4 5:18 Oilers Williams 29-yard touchdown reception from Moon, Kempf kick good 27 21 4 5:00 49ers Clark 80-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good 34 21 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 34 21

• Point spread: 49ers by 11
• Over/Under: 42.0 (over)
• Time of Game:

49ers	Game Statistics	Oilers
25	First downs	22
38–164	Rushes–yards	18–82
353	Passing yards	356
25–35–1	Passes	25–33–2
1–0	Sacked–yards	2–6
353	Net passing yards	350
517	Total yards	432
85	Return yards	105
3–49.3	Punts	3–46.3
2–0	Fumbles–lost	3–1
8–70	Penalties–yards	7–75
34:13	Time of Possession	25:47

Week 15

See also: 1984 Los Angeles Rams season

Week Fifteen: Houston Oilers (3–11) at Los Angeles Rams (9–5)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	3	10	3	0	16
Rams	17	3	0	7	27

at Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

• Date: December 9, 1984
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Sunny, 58 °F or 14.4 °C
• Game attendance: 49,092
• Referee: Fred Silva
• TV: NBC
• Pro-Football-Reference.com, The Football Database

Game information

First quarter LA – Drew Hill 57-yard pass from Jeff Kemp (Mike Lansford kick), 13:08. Rams 7–0. Drive: HOU – Joe Cooper 21-yard field goal, 7:22. Rams 7–3. Drive: LA – Eric Dickerson 7-yard run (Mike Lansford kick), 4:28. Rams 14–3. Drive: LA – Mike Lansford 35-yard field goal, 1:42. Rams 17–3. Drive: Second quarter HOU – Joe Cooper 42-yard field goal, 13:19. Rams 17–6. Drive: HOU – Larry Moriarty 4-yard run (Joe Cooper kick), 6:13. Rams 17–13. Drive: LA – Mike Lansford 19-yard field goal, 2:26. Rams 20–13. Drive: Third quarter HOU – Joe Cooper 18 yard field goal, 7:50. Rams 20–16. Drive: Fourth quarter LA – Eric Dickerson 6–yard run, 5:49. Rams 27–16. Drive: Top passers HOU – Warren Moon – 19/29, 200 yards, INT LA – Jeff Kemp – 12/23, 199 yards, TD Top rushers HOU – Larry Moriarty – 24 rushes, 102 yards, TD LA – Eric Dickerson – 27 rushes, 215 yards, 2 TD Top receivers HOU – Tim Smith – 6 receptions, 69 yards LA – Drew Hill – 1 reception, 57 yards, TD