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1981 Houston Oilers

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Record: 7-9-0, Finished 3rd in AFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 281 points (17.6/g), 23rd of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 355 points (22.2/g), 18th.
 Differential of -74 points (-4.6/g), 24th.
 Expected W-L: 5.8-10.2.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -13 (-0.8/g), 22nd.

Coached by Ed Biles (7-9-0)

1981 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 6 box W 1-0 @ Los Angeles Rams 27 20 13 309 169 140 3 17 385 248 137 4
2 Sun September 13 box W 2-0 @ Cleveland Browns 9 3 8 209 118 91 4 20 302 203 99 2
3 Sun September 20 box L 2-1 Miami Dolphins 10 16 9 202 117 85 1 16 257 133 124 1
4 Sun September 27 box L 2-2 @ New York Jets 17 33 16 221 105 116 6 25 478 307 171 2
5 Sun October 4 box W 3-2 Cincinnati Bengals 17 10 11 187 -4 191 1 20 357 282 75 1
6 Sun October 11 box W 4-2 Seattle Seahawks 35 17 21 372 156 216 1 19 289 214 75 3
7 Sun October 18 box L 4-3 @ New England Patriots 10 38 18 309 189 120 4 21 436 192 244 4
8 Mon October 26 box L 4-4 @ Pittsburgh Steelers 13 26 13 307 231 76 3 22 363 196 167 1
9 Sun November 1 box L 4-5 @ Cincinnati Bengals 21 34 21 433 301 132 4 25 422 266 156 1
10 Sun November 8 box W 5-5 Oakland Raiders 17 16 17 298 190 108 2 16 316 167 149 2
11 Sun November 15 box L 5-6 @ Kansas City Chiefs 10 23 19 370 224 146 5 19 283 25 258 2
12 Sun November 22 box L 5-7 New Orleans Saints 24 27 16 260 161 99 2 20 321 140 181 2
13 Sun November 29 box L 5-8 Atlanta Falcons 27 31 23 318 235 83 3 18 459 348 111 2
14 Thu December 3 box W 6-8 Cleveland Browns 17 13 7 154 120 34 1 28 367 177 190 2
15 Sun December 13 box L 6-9 @ San Francisco 49ers 6 28 11 186 130 56 2 22 414 266 148
16 Sun December 20 box W 7-9 Pittsburgh Steelers 21 20 18 376 335 41 2 17 277 151 126 2

Team Stats and Rankings

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
Team Offense 281 4511 947 4.8 241 258 441 2777 21 23 5.8 124 466 1734 11 3.7 103 44 21 14
Team Defense 355 5726 1084 5.3 512 295 502 3315 22 18 6.2 162 549 2411 16 4.4 325 31 13 25
Lg Rank Offense 23 27 28 24 23 12 16 21 24 23 21 22 20 22
Lg Rank Defense 18 24 17 12 17 14 18 18 22 24 14 25 27 28

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk%
Ken Stabler 36 QB 13 12 5-7-0 165 285 57.9 1988 14 4.9 18 6.3 71 7.0 4.6 12.0 152.9 69.5 29 254 5.5 3.4 9.2
Gifford Nielsen 27 5 2 1-1-0 60 93 64.5 709 5 5.4 3 3.2 44 7.6 6.7 11.8 141.8 92.1 8 61 6.4 5.6 7.9
John Reaves 31 5 2 1-1-0 31 61 50.8 379 2 3.3 2 3.3 51 6.2 5.1 12.2 75.8 67.6 3 27 5.5 4.4 4.7
Cliff Parsley 27 P 16 0 2 2 100.0 43 0 0.0 0 0.0 31 21.5 21.5 21.5 2.7 118.7 0 0 21.5 21.5 0.0
Team Total 27.3 16 7-9-0 258 441 58.5 3119 21 4.8 23 5.2 71 7.1 5.2 12.1 194.9 74.4 40 342 5.8 4.1 8.3
Opp Total 16 295 502 58.8 3315 22 4.4 18 3.6 6.6 5.4 11.2 207.2 78.2 33 239 6.2 4.6

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Rushing Receiving
Age Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb
Earl Campbell* 26 RB 16 16 361 1376 10 43 3.8 86.0 22.6 36 156 4.3 0 17 2.3 9.8 1532 10 10
Adger Armstrong 24 16 2 31 146 0 18 4.7 9.1 1.9 29 278 9.6 1 48 1.8 17.4 424 1 2
Ronnie Coleman 30 16 0 21 91 1 30 4.3 5.7 1.3 19 211 11.1 0 24 1.2 13.2 302 1 2
Rob Carpenter 26 4 4 18 74 0 20 4.1 18.5 4.5 13 80 6.2 1 33 3.3 20.0 154 1 1
Tim Wilson 27 FB 16 9 13 35 0 7 2.7 2.2 0.8 5 33 6.6 0 11 0.3 2.1 68 0 2
Ken Stabler 36 QB 13 12 10 -3 0 4 -0.3 -0.2 0.8 -3 0 7
Gifford Nielsen 27 5 2 6 2 0 4 0.3 0.4 1.2 2 0 3
John Reaves 31 5 2 6 13 0 13 2.2 2.6 1.2 13 0 2
Ken Burrough 33 WR 16 16 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 40 668 16.7 7 71 2.5 41.8 668 7 1
Mike Renfro 26 WR 12 12 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 39 451 11.6 1 43 3.3 37.6 451 1 2
Dave Casper 30 TE 16 10 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 33 572 17.3 8 52 2.1 35.8 572 8 0
Mike Holston 23 16 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 27 427 15.8 2 50 1.7 26.7 427 2 0
Mike Barber 28 te 16 6 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 13 190 14.6 1 35 0.8 11.9 190 1 0
Billy Brooks 28 3 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 16 8.0 0 16 0.7 5.3 16 0 0
Tim Smith 24 4 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 37 18.5 0 25 0.5 9.3 37 0 0
Team Total 27.3 16 466 1734 11 43 3.7 108.4 29.1 258 3119 12.1 21 71 16.1 194.9 4853 32 33
Opp Total 16 549 2411 16 4.4 150.7 34.3 295 3315 11.2 22 18.4 207.2 5726 38 20

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
Carl Roaches* 28 RET 16 0 39 296 0 40 7.6 28 769 1 96 27.5 1065
Willie Tullis 23 RET 16 0 2 29 0 16 14.5 32 779 1 95 24.3 808
Adger Armstrong 24 16 2 3 36 0 18 12.0 460
Daryl Hunt 25 RILB 16 13 3 19 0 11 6.3 19
Tim Wilson 27 FB 16 9 3 41 0 23 13.7 109
J.C. Wilson 25 LCB 16 14 2 27 0 14 13.5 27
Avon Riley 23 16 0 1 51 0 51 51.0 51
Team Total 27.3 16 41 325 0 40 7.9 72 1722 2 96 23.9 6900
Opp Total 16 47 0 59 1201 0 20.4

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
0--19 20--29 30--39 40--49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
Age Pos G GS FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
Cliff Parsley 27 P 16 0 79 3137 62 0 39.7
Toni Fritsch 36 K 16 0 4 3 4 4 13 7 1 1 22 15 68.2% 34 32 94.1%
Team Total 27.3 16 4 3 4 4 13 7 1 1 22 15 68.2% 34 32 94.1% 79 3137 62 0 39.7
Opp Total 16 42 27 64.3% 39 38 97.4% 70 2933 41.9

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
Adger Armstrong 24 16 2 2 0 0 0
Jesse Baker 24 16 2 0 1 0 0
Gregg Bingham 30 LILB 16 16 2 20 0 17 0 1 0 0
Robert Brazile* 28 ROLB 16 16 2 7 0 7
Ken Burrough 33 WR 16 16 1 2 0 0
Earl Campbell* 26 RB 16 16 10 2 0 0
Rob Carpenter 26 4 4 1 0 0 0
David Carter 28 C 16 13 0 1 0 0
Ronnie Coleman 30 16 0 2 0 0 0
Andy Dorris 30 LDE 15 15 0 1 0 0
Carter Hartwig 25 16 1 3 78 0 36 0 1 0 0
Bill Kay 21 16 2 2 47 0 30
Ken Kennard 27 NT 16 16 0 1 0 0
Gifford Nielsen 27 5 2 3 1 -15 0
Vernon Perry 28 SS 16 16 2 46 0 34 0 1 0 0
John Reaves 31 5 2 2 0 -2 0
Mike Reinfeldt 28 FS 16 16 2 18 0 16 0 2 0 0
Mike Renfro 26 WR 12 12 2 2 12 0
Avon Riley 23 16 0 0 1 6 0
John Schuhmacher 26 LG 16 15 0 1 0 0
Daryle Skaugstad 24 16 0 0 2 0 0
Ken Stabler 36 QB 13 12 7 2 -13 0
Greg Stemrick 30 RCB 16 15 3 94 0 38
Mike Stensrud 25 16 1 0 1 0 0
Ted Washington 33 LOLB 16 16 1 19 0 19
J.C. Wilson 25 LCB 16 14 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
Tim Wilson 27 FB 16 9 2 0 0 0
Team Total 27.3 16 18 330 0 38 33 23 -12 0
Opp Total 16 40 20 7 1

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
Toni Fritsch 36 K 16 0 32 15 77
Earl Campbell* 26 RB 16 16 10 60
Dave Casper 30 TE 16 10 8 48
Ken Burrough 33 WR 16 16 7 42
Mike Holston 23 16 4 2 12
Adger Armstrong 24 16 2 1 6
Mike Barber 28 te 16 6 1 6
Rob Carpenter 26 4 4 1 6
Ronnie Coleman 30 16 0 1 6
Mike Renfro 26 WR 12 12 1 6
Carl Roaches* 28 RET 16 0 1 6
Willie Tullis 23 RET 16 0 1 6
Team Total 27.3 16 11 21 2 32 15 281
Opp Total 16 16 22 38 27 1 355