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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.

Simple Rating System: Total -4.7, Offense: -3.1, Defense: -1.6, SoS: -0.1, versus averages of 0.0.

Coached by Ed Biles

 Offensive Coordinator: Jim Shofner
 Defensive Coordinator: Dick Nolan

Training Camp: Angelo State (San Angelo, Texas)

Team Stats and Rankings

Tot Yds & TO 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 5.3 325 295 502 3315 22 18 6.2 162 549 2411 16 4.4 138 31 13 25
Lg Rank Offense 23 27 28 24 23 12 16 20 24 23 21 22 20 22
Lg Rank Defense 18 24 22 12 17 14 18 18 22 24 14 25 27 28

Team Games & Schedule

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

Passing

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
No. Age Pos G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate QBR Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk% 4QC GWD
12 Ken Stabler 36 QB 13 12 5-7-0 165 285 57.9 1988 14 4.9 18 6.3 71 7.0 5.1 12.0 152.9 69.5 29 254 5.52 3.83 9.2 0 0
14 Gifford Nielsen 27 qb 5 2 1-1-0 60 93 64.5 709 5 5.4 3 3.2 44 7.6 7.2 11.8 141.8 92.1 8 61 6.42 6.07 7.9 1 1
8 John Reaves 31 qb 5 2 1-1-0 31 61 50.8 379 2 3.3 2 3.3 51 6.2 5.4 12.2 75.8 67.6 3 27 5.50 4.72 4.7 1 1
18 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 21.50 21.50 0.0
Team Total 27.3 16 7-9-0 258 441 58.5 3119 21 4.8 23 5.2 71 7.1 5.7 12.1 194.9 74.4 40 342 5.77 4.49 8.3 2 2
Opp Total 16 295 502 58.8 3554 22 4.4 18 3.6 7.1 6.34 12.0 222.1 80.2 33 239 6.2 5.5 6.2

Rushing & Receiving

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Rushing Receiving
No. 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
34 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
39 Adger Armstrong 24 rb 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
47 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
26 Rob Carpenter 26 rb 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
45 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
12 Ken Stabler 36 QB 13 12 10 -3 0 4 -0.3 -0.2 0.8 -3 0 7
14 Gifford Nielsen 27 qb 5 2 6 2 0 4 0.3 0.4 1.2 2 0 3
8 John Reaves 31 qb 5 2 6 13 0 13 2.2 2.6 1.2 13 0 2
00 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
82 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
87 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
84 Mike Holston 23 wr 16 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 27 427 15.8 2 50 1.7 26.7 427 2 0
86 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
88 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
83 Tim Smith 24 wr 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

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
85 Carl Roaches* 28 PR 16 0 39 296 0 40 7.6 28 769 1 96 27.5 1065
20 Willie Tullis 23 KR 16 0 2 29 0 16 14.5 32 779 1 95 24.3 808
39 Adger Armstrong 24 rb 16 2 3 36 0 18 12.0 460
50 Daryl Hunt 25 RILB 16 13 3 19 0 11 6.3 19
45 Tim Wilson 27 FB 16 9 3 41 0 23 13.7 109
33 J.C. Wilson 25 LCB 16 14 2 27 0 14 13.5 27
53 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

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
No. 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
18 Cliff Parsley 27 P 16 0 79 3137 62 0 39.7
16 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

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
No. Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
34 Earl Campbell* 26 RB 16 16 0 10 2 0 0
12 Ken Stabler 36 QB 13 12 0 7 2 -13 0
36 Carter Hartwig 25 db 16 1 3 78 0 36 0 0 0 1 0 0
14 Gifford Nielsen 27 qb 5 2 0 3 1 -15 0
37 Mike Reinfeldt 28 FS 16 16 2 18 0 16 0 0 0 2 0 0
82 Mike Renfro 26 WR 12 12 0 2 2 12 0
54 Gregg Bingham 30 LILB 16 16 2 20 0 17 0 0 0 1 0 0
00 Ken Burrough 33 WR 16 16 0 1 2 0 0
32 Vernon Perry 28 SS 16 16 2 46 0 34 0 0 0 1 0 0
27 Greg Stemrick 30 RCB 16 15 3 94 0 38 0
39 Adger Armstrong 24 rb 16 2 0 2 0 0 0
52 Robert Brazile* 28 ROLB 16 16 2 7 0 7 0
47 Ronnie Coleman 30 16 0 0 2 0 0 0
22 Bill Kay 21 db 16 2 2 47 0 30 0
8 John Reaves 31 qb 5 2 0 2 0 -2 0
90 Daryle Skaugstad 24 16 0 0 0 2 0 0
33 J.C. Wilson 25 LCB 16 14 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
45 Tim Wilson 27 FB 16 9 0 2 0 0 0
75 Jesse Baker 24 de 16 2 0 0 1 0 0
26 Rob Carpenter 26 rb 4 4 0 1 0 0 0
58 David Carter 28 C 16 13 0 0 1 0 0
69 Andy Dorris 30 LDE 15 15 0 0 1 0 0
71 Ken Kennard 27 NT 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
53 Avon Riley 23 16 0 0 0 1 6 0
62 John Schuhmacher 26 LG 16 15 0 0 1 0 0
67 Mike Stensrud 25 nt 16 1 0 0 1 0 0
59 Ted Washington 33 LOLB 16 16 1 19 0 19 0
Team Total 27.3 16 18 330 0 38 0 0 33 23 -12 0
Opp Total 16 40 20 7 1

Scoring Summary

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
No. Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
16 Toni Fritsch 36 K 16 0 32 15 77
34 Earl Campbell* 26 RB 16 16 10 10 60
87 Dave Casper 30 TE 16 10 8 8 48
00 Ken Burrough 33 WR 16 16 7 7 42
84 Mike Holston 23 wr 16 4 2 2 12
39 Adger Armstrong 24 rb 16 2 1 1 6
86 Mike Barber 28 te 16 6 1 1 6
26 Rob Carpenter 26 rb 4 4 1 1 6
47 Ronnie Coleman 30 16 0 1 1 6
82 Mike Renfro 26 WR 12 12 1 1 6
85 Carl Roaches* 28 PR 16 0 1 1 6
20 Willie Tullis 23 KR 16 0 1 1 6
Team Total 27.3 16 11 21 2 34 32 15 281
Opp Total 16 16 22 38 27 1 355