1975 Houston Oilers season

NFL team 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)

* <- 1974
* Oilers seasons
* 1976 ->

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[edit]

### NFL draft[edit]

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

[1]

## Roster[edit]

Houston Oilers roster

Quarterbacks

* 10 Lynn Dickey
* 7 Dan Pastorini

Running backs

* 47 Ronnie Coleman
* 30 Don Hardeman
* 24 Willie Rodgers
* 44 Fred Willis

Wide receivers

* 00 Ken Burrough
* 87 Emmett Edwards
* 86 Nate Hawkins
* 84 Billy Johnson

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
* 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

| Linebackers

* 54 Gregg Bingham ILB
* 52 Robert Brazile OLB
* 57 Steve Kiner
* 56 Guy Roberts
* 51 Ted Thompson ILB

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

AFC Central

* view
* talk
* edit

| 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[edit]

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[edit]

1. ^ "1975 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.

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

* v
* t
* e

Tennessee Titans

* Founded in 1960
* Formerly the Houston Oilers (1960–1996) and the Tennessee Oilers (1997–1998)
* Based and headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee

Franchise|

* History
* in Houston
* Coaches
* Seasons
* Players
* First-round draft picks
* Starting quarterbacks

Stadiums|

* Jeppesen Stadium
* Rice Stadium
* Houston Astrodome
* Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
* Vanderbilt Stadium
* Nissan Stadium

Culture|

* Bud Adams
* Luv Ya Blue
* T-Rac
* Cheerleaders

Lore|

* The Comeback
* Music City Miracle
* One Yard Short

Rivalries|

* Baltimore Ravens
* Buffalo Bills
* Dallas Cowboys
* Houston Texans
* Jacksonville Jaguars
* Pittsburgh Steelers

Division championships (11)|

* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1967
* 1991
* 1993
* 2000
* 2002
* 2008
* 2020
* 2021

Conference championships (1)|

* 1999

League championships (2)|

* 1960
* 1961

Retired numbers|

* 1
* 9
* 27
* 34
* 43
* 63
* 65
* 74

Media|

* Broadcasters
* Titans All Access
* Titans Preseason Football
* Titans Radio Network
* WKRN-TV
* WTVF
* WZTV
* WGFX-FM
* WSMV-TV

Current league affiliations|

* League: National Football League (1970–present)
* Conference: American Football Conference
* Division: South Division

Former league affiliation|

* League: American Football League (1960–1969)

Key personnel|

* Bud Adams
* Amy Adams Strunk

* v
* t
* e

Tennessee Titans seasons

Formerly the Houston Oilers (1960–1996) and the Tennessee Oilers (1997–1998)

* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

Bold indicates AFL Championship (1960–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory
Italics indicates Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance

* v
* t
* e

1975 NFL season

| AFC| East | Central| West| East| Central| West | NFC

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Baltimore | Cincinnati| Denver| Dallas| Chicago| Atlanta
Buffalo | Cleveland| Kansas City| NY Giants| Detroit| Los Angeles
Miami | Houston| Oakland| Philadelphia| Green Bay| New Orleans
New England | Pittsburgh| San Diego| St. Louis| Minnesota| San Francisco
NY Jets | | | Washington| |

* 1975 NFL Draft
* NFL playoffs
* Pro Bowl
* Super Bowl X

This article relating to an American football season is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[PCT]: Winning percentage
*[DIV]: Win–Loss record within their division
*[CONF]: Win–Loss record within their conference
*[PF]: Points For (Total points scored)
*[PA]: Points Against (Total points allowed)
*[STK]: Current Winning or Losing Streak
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template