1971 Houston Oilers: 4-9-1
Previous Season Next SeasonHome record: 3-3-1 (148 points scored, 143 allowed) Road record: 1-6-0 (116 points scored, 170 allowed) Head Coach: Ed Hughes 264 points scored (16th of 26 teams), 313 points allowed (22nd) NFL Averages: 19.4 points/game (271.1 points/team) Team stats and rankings: ---------------- PASSING ---------------- ----------- RUSHING ---------- --- TOTAL --- Cmp Att Yards (Rank) Yd/Att TD Int Att Yards (Rank) Yd/Att TD Yards (Rank) Turnovers Offense: 194 423 2,409 ( 6) 5.31 12 37 361 1,106 (26) 3.1 10 3,515 (22) 51 Defense: 180 354 2,072 (10) 5.30 11 23 489 1,723 (11) 3.5 22 3,795 ( 9) 37
Team roster (starters in bold): # Player Pos GP Hgt Wgt Age Exp College 00 Ken Burrough WR 13 6'4 210 23 2 Texas Southern 2 Dickie Post RB 7 5'9 190 26 5 Houston 7 Dan Pastorini QB 14 6'3 220 22 R Santa Clara 10 Lynn Dickey QB 7 6'4 218 22 R Kansas State 11 Mark Moseley K 12 5'11 182 23 2 Stephen F. Austin 12 Charley Johnson QB 14 6'0 190 32 11 New Mexico State 17 Braden Beck K 2 6'2 200 27 1 Stanford 18 Charlie Joiner WR 14 5'11 188 24 3 Grambling 19 Willie Alexander DB 14 6'2 195 22 R Alcorn State 22 Zeke Moore DB 13 6'2 196 27 5 Lincoln (Mo.) 24 Mike Richardson RB 7 5'11 196 24 3 Southern Methodist 25 John Charles DB 14 6'1 200 27 5 Purdue 28 Andy Hopkins RB 2 5'10 187 22 R Stephen F. Austin 29 Ken Houston DB 14 6'3 196 26 5 Prairie View A&M 32 Ward Walsh RB 13 6'0 215 23 1 Colorado 33 Benny Johnson DB 10 5'11 178 23 2 Johnson C. Smith 34 Joe Dawkins RB 6 5'11 222 23 2 Wisconsin 35 Woody Campbell RB 12 5'11 208 27 5 Northwestern 36 Robert Holmes RB 8 5'9 220 26 4 Southern 37 Dave Olerich LB 14 6'1 225 26 5 San Francisco 41 Leroy Sledge RB 6 6'2 230 25 1 Bakersfield J.C. 45 Leroy Howard DB 7 5'11 175 22 R Bishop 48 Bob Atkins DB 12 6'3 210 25 4 Grambling 52 Garland Boyette LB 14 6'1 235 31 8 Grambling 56 Bob Young OG 14 6'2 256 29 6 Howard Payne 58 Ron Pritchard LB 14 6'1 235 24 3 Arizona State 59 Phil Croyle LB 14 6'3 220 24 R California 60 Tom Regner OG 8 6'1 255 27 5 Notre Dame 62 Jerry Sturm C 14 6'3 265 34 11 Illinois 64 Ron Saul OG 3 6'2 255 23 2 Michigan State 65 Elvin Bethea DE 14 6'3 262 25 4 North Carolina A&T 66 Tom Funchess OT 12 6'5 260 27 4 Jackson State 71 Tom Domres DT 5 6'3 260 25 4 Wisconsin 73 Lee Brooks DT 11 6'5 266 23 2 Texas 74 Gene Ferguson OT 14 6'7 300 24 3 Norfolk State 75 Elbert Drungo OG 11 6'5 250 28 3 Tennessee State 76 Walt Suggs OT 11 6'5 250 32 10 Mississippi State 77 Sam Walton OT 14 6'5 270 28 3 East Texas State 78 Mike Tilleman DT 14 6'5 280 27 6 Montana 79 Pat Holmes DE 14 6'5 250 31 6 Texas Tech 81 Jim Beirne WR 14 6'2 196 25 4 Purdue 82 Ron Billingsley DT 13 6'8 290 26 5 Wyoming 83 Willie Frazier TE 6 6'4 250 29 8 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 83 Bruce Bergey DE 1 6'4 240 25 R UCLA 85 Floyd Rice TE 14 6'3 220 22 R Alcorn State 86 Mac Haik WR 4 6'1 195 25 4 Mississippi 87 Linzy Cole WR 14 5'11 170 23 2 Texas Christian 88 Allen Aldridge DE 13 6'6 260 26 1 Prairie View A&M 89 Alvin Reed TE 14 6'5 230 27 5 Prairie View A&M 90 George Webster LB 10 6'4 223 25 5 Michigan State
Per Per Passing Att Cmp Pct Yards Att Cmp TD TD% Int Int% Sack Loss Rating Dan Pastorini 270 127 47.0 1,702 6.30 13.4 7 2.6 21 7.8 20 152 43.8 Charley Johnson 94 46 48.9 592 6.30 12.9 3 3.2 7 7.4 8 61 48.7 Lynn Dickey 57 19 33.3 315 5.53 16.6 0 0.0 9 15.8 3 21 13.3 Woody Campbell 2 2 100.0 34 17.00 17.0 2 100.0 0 0.0 0 0 158.3
Receiving Rec Yards Avg TD Jim Beirne 38 550 14.5 1 Charlie Joiner 31 681 22.0 7 Alvin Reed 25 408 16.3 1 Ken Burrough 25 370 14.8 1 Woody Campbell 20 179 8.9 0 Robert Holmes 17 138 8.1 0 Joe Dawkins 9 53 5.9 0 Willie Frazier 8 113 14.1 0 Ward Walsh 6 36 6.0 1 Leroy Sledge 6 32 5.3 1 Dickie Post 5 66 13.2 0 Mike Richardson 4 17 4.2 0 | Rushing Att Yards Avg TD Robert Holmes 91 288 3.2 4 Woody Campbell 96 259 2.7 1 Dan Pastorini 26 140 5.4 3 Joe Dawkins 42 135 3.2 2 Ward Walsh 38 129 3.4 0 Leroy Sledge 24 74 3.1 0 Dickie Post 22 42 1.9 0 Mike Richardson 17 33 1.9 0 Lynn Dickey 1 4 4.0 0 Andy Hopkins 2 2 1.0 0 Charley Johnson 2 0 0.0 0 |
Kickoff Returns Att Yards Avg TD Linzy Cole 32 834 26.1 0 Zeke Moore 10 214 21.4 0 Ken Burrough 8 157 19.6 0 Robert Holmes 5 129 25.8 0 Mike Richardson 1 26 26.0 0 Charlie Joiner 1 25 25.0 0 Ward Walsh 1 24 24.0 0 Floyd Rice 1 0 0.0 0 | Punt Returns Att Yards Avg FC TD Ken Houston 16 91 5.7 4 0 Linzy Cole 14 107 7.6 15 0 Floyd Rice 2 0 0.0 0 0 Zeke Moore 0 0 ? 1 0 Mike Richardson 0 0 ? 1 0 |
1971 Draft: NFL Rnd Ovr Pos Player Games College 1 3 QB Dan Pastorini 140 Santa Clara 3 56 QB Lynn Dickey 152 Kansas State 4 81 OT Larron Jackson 83 Missouri 5 109 RB Willie Armstrong Grambling 6 134 DB Willie Alexander 122 Alcorn A&M 7 159 LB Phil Croyle 32 California 7 174 OT Larry Watson Morgan State [pick acquired from NYG] 9 212 LB Floyd Rice 104 Alcorn A&M 10 237 DE Russell Price North Carolina Central 11 265 WR Macon Hughes Rice 12 290 OG John Thompson Minnesota 13 315 OG Joe Hoing Arkansas Tech 14 343 DB Dick Adams Miami (Ohio) 15 368 RB Andy Hopkins 2 Stephen F. Austin 16 393 RB Moses Denson 26 Maryland-Eastern Shore 17 421 LB Calvin Fox Michigan State
Traded draft picks: #2 to NO (Sam Holden), #8 to DEN (Tom Beard)
Transactions:
| 01-25-1971 | traded Hoyle Granger, Terry Stoepel, Charlie Blossom and Houston's #2 pick in the 1971 draft to Saints for Dave Rowe and Ken Burrough |
| 04-26-1971 | traded Leroy Mitchell to Broncos for John Charles |
| 05-14-1971 | traded Olen Underwood to Broncos for Bob Young |
| 06-02-1971 | traded Houston's #4 pick in the 1972 draft to Cardinals for Dave Olerich |
| 06-14-1971 | traded Glen Ray Hines, Jess Lewis, Houston's #2 pick in the 1972 draft and #3 pick in the 1973 draft to Saints for Mike Tilleman |
| 07-15-1971 | traded Eric Hutchinson to Bears for an undisclosed 1973 draft pick |
| 07-26-1971 | traded Jerry LeVias to Chargers for Ron Billingsley and Gene Ferguson |
| 07-27-1971 | traded Houston's #15 pick in the 1972 draft to Steelers for Worthy McClure |
| 08-03-1971 | traded an undisclosed draft pick to Chiefs for Goldie Sellers |
| 08-05-1971 | Colts claimed Ken Mendenhall on waivers |
| 08-11-1971 | traded Larron Jackson and Houston's #5 pick in the 1972 draft to Broncos for Cleophus Johnson |
| 08-24-1971 | traded Russell Price to Dolphins for an undisclosed draft pick |
| 08-27-1971 | traded Houston's #2 pick in the 1973 draft to Chiefs for Scott Lewis |
| 09-07-1971 | traded Dave Rowe to Patriots for Tom Funchess |
| 09-13-1971 | returned Scott Lewis (after failing physical) to Chiefs |
| 09-23-1971 | Bills claimed Spike Jones on waivers |
| 10-25-1971 | traded Joe Dawkins to Broncos for Dickie Post |
| 10-26-1971 | traded Willie Frazier to Chiefs for Robert Holmes and Kansas City's #3 pick in the 1972 draft |
| 11-23-1971 | traded Russell Price to Dolphins for Miami's #10 pick in the 1972 draft |
1971 Regular Season Game Log: Click on the date to view the game summary. Date Opponent Result Record 09/19/71 at Cleveland Browns L 13-14 0-1-0 09/26/71 vs Kansas City Chiefs L 16-20 0-2-0 10/03/71 vs New Orleans Saints T 13-13 0-2-1 10/10/71 at Washington Redskins L 13-22 0-3-1 10/17/71 vs Detroit Lions L 7-31 0-4-1 10/24/71 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 16-23 0-5-1 10/31/71 vs Cincinnati Bengals W 10-6 1-5-1 11/07/71 at New England Patriots L 20-28 1-6-1 11/14/71 at Oakland Raiders L 21-41 1-7-1 11/21/71 at Cincinnati Bengals L 13-28 1-8-1 11/28/71 vs Cleveland Browns L 24-37 1-9-1 12/05/71 vs Pittsburgh Steelers W 29-3 2-9-1 12/12/71 at Buffalo Bills W 20-14 3-9-1 12/19/71 vs San Diego Chargers W 49-33 4-9-1