1989 Houston Oilers season

The 1989 Houston Oilers season was the franchise's 30th season and their 20th in the National Football League (NFL). The franchise scored 365 points while the defense gave up 412 points. Their record of 9 wins and 7 losses resulted in a second-place finish in the AFC Central Division. The Oilers appeared once on Monday Night Football and appeared in the playoffs for the third consecutive year. It would be Jerry Glanville’s final year as the Oilers coach. Despite making the playoffs, the Oilers, like their arch rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, had a negative point differential, making them the first teams since the 1984 Giants with this distinction.

Offseason

NFL draft

1989 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	23	David Williams	Offensive tackle	Florida
Made roster

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Personnel

Staff

1989 Houston Oilers staff

Front office Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams Executive Vice President/General Manager – Mike Holovak Head coaches Head coach – Jerry Glanville Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Kevin Gilbride Running Backs – Frank Novak Receivers – Ray Sherman Tight Ends – Richard Smith Offensive Line – Kim Helton

Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Doug Shively Linebackers – Floyd Reese Secondary – Nick Saban Special teams coaches Special Teams – Richard Smith Strength and conditioning Strength and Rehabilitation – Steve Watterson

Roster

1989 Houston Oilers roster

	Quarterbacks 14 Cody Carlson  1 Warren Moon Running backs 32 Alonzo Highsmith FB 45 Tracy Johnson FB/KR 20 Allen Pinkett 30 Mike Rozier 44 Lorenzo White KR Wide receivers 80 Curtis Duncan 81 Ernest Givins 83 Leonard Harris KR 85 Drew Hill 86 Kenny Jackson 84 Haywood Jeffires Tight ends 87 Bob Mrosko 88 Chris Verhulst		Offensive linemen 77 Bruce Davis T 78 Don Maggs G/T 74 Bruce Matthews G/LS 63 Mike Munchak G 52 Jay Pennison C 70 Dean Steinkuhler T 73 David Williams T 66 George Yarno C/G Defensive linemen 71 Richard Byrd DE/NT 79 Ray Childress DE 95 William Fuller DE 96 Sean Jones DE 94 Glenn Montgomery NT 99 Doug Smith NT		Linebackers 51 Eric Fairs OLB 59 John Grimsley ILB 56 Scott Kozak OLB 93 Robert Lyles OLB 91 Johnny Meads OLB 53 Eugene Seale ILB 54 Al Smith ILB Defensive backs 29 Patrick Allen CB 33 Billy Bell CB 24 Steve Brown CB 28 Cris Dishman CB 31 Jeff Donaldson FS 21 Tracey Eaton FS 22 Kenny Johnson SS/KR/PR 23 Richard Johnson CB 25 Bubba McDowell SS Special teams  9 Greg Montgomery P  7 Tony Zendejas K		Reserve lists 97 Mark Garalczyk DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad 58 John Brantley LB 26 Bo Orlando S 92 Anthony Spears DT 47 active, 1 inactive, 3 practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 10	at Minnesota Vikings	L 7–38	0–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	54,015
2	September 17	at San Diego Chargers	W 34–27	1–1	Jack Murphy Stadium	42,013
3	September 24	Buffalo Bills	L 41–47 (OT)	1–2	Astrodome	57,278
4	October 1	Miami Dolphins	W 39–7	2–2	Astrodome	53,326
5	October 8	at New England Patriots	L 13–23	2–3	Sullivan Stadium	59,828
6	October 15	at Chicago Bears	W 33–28	3–3	Soldier Field	64,383
7	October 22	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–0	4–3	Astrodome	59,091
8	October 29	at Cleveland Browns	L 17–28	4–4	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	78,765
9	November 5	Detroit Lions	W 35–31	5–4	Astrodome	48,056
10	November 13	Cincinnati Bengals	W 26–24	6–4	Astrodome	60,694
11	November 19	Los Angeles Raiders	W 23–7	7–4	Astrodome	59,198
12	November 26	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 0–34	7–5	Arrowhead Stadium	51,342
13	December 3	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 23–16	8–5	Three Rivers Stadium	40,541
14	December 10	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 20–17	9–5	Astrodome	54,532
15	December 17	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 7–61	9–6	Riverfront Stadium	47,510
16	December 23	Cleveland Browns	L 20–24	9–7	Astrodome	58,852

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Wildcard	December 31, 1989	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 26–23	58,406

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns(2)	9	6	1	.594	3–3	6–5–1	334	254	W2
Houston Oilers(4)	9	7	0	.563	3–3	6–6	365	412	L2
Pittsburgh Steelers(5)	9	7	0	.563	1–5	6–6	265	326	W3
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	5–1	6–6	404	285	L1

Game summaries

Week 3

Buffalo Bills (1-1) at Houston Oilers (1-1)

1 2 3 4 OT Total • Bills 10 10 7 14 6 47 Oilers 7 3 14 17 0 41 Date: September 24 Location: Astrodome Houston, TX Game start: 1:00 PM EST Game attendance: 57,278 Game weather: Dome Referee: Jerry Seeman TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Bob Trumpy

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Playoffs

AFC Wildcard Game

Steelers defensive back Rod Woodson recovered a fumble to set up Gary Anderson's winning 51-yard field goal in overtime to give Pittsburgh the win. The Steelers scored first with running back Tim Worley's 1-yard rushing touchdown. But from that point on until the fourth quarter, the two teams exchanged 6 field goals. In the final period, Oilers quarterback Warren Moon, who finished the game with 315 passing yards, threw two touchdowns to wide receiver Ernest Givins, an 18-yarder and a 9-yarder. However, Pittsburgh running back Merrill Hoge tied the game on a 2-yard rushing touchdown with 46 seconds left in regulation.

Hoge finished the game with 100 rushing yards on just 17 carries, along with 3 receptions for 26 yards.

Awards and records

• Ray Childress, 1989 AFC Pro Bowl selection
• Warren Moon, Pro Bowl
• Warren Moon, All-Pro selection
• Warren Moon, Man of the Year

Milestones

• Warren Moon, 1st 400 Yard Passing Game (414)

References

External links

• 1989 Houston Oilers at Pro-Football-Reference.com