The Eagles play the Titans this weekend, a franchise with very little going for it, now or in the past. Even before the tumultuous move to Tennessee, after winning the first two AFL Championships the Houston Oilers were known more for their spectacular failures than anything. Nothing was worse than the full calendar year of 1993 (plus 2 weeks) though. It’s a long, sad story that leads to the end of the Oilers in Houston…
Eagles at Tennessee Titans
Sunday, September 20 at 1pm on FOX
Nissan Stadium – Nashville, TN
1993 started off great for the Oilers. The team was 10-6 and not only led the NFL in passing, but had the 3rd best defense too. Of their 6 losses, only 1 had been by more than 1 score. They had also just beat the crap out of their first round playoff opponent, the Buffalo Bills, 27-3. In that game, the Bills star QB, Jim Kelly, was hurt and would not play that week. Even better, their own star QB, Warren Moon, was officially at full health after missing 5 out of the last 6 games of the regular season. Once the game started, things only got better.
The Comeback
Moon through 4 first half TDs had the Oilers raced out to a damn near insurmountable 28-3 lead. The Bills had absolutely nothing going and even delivered the cherry on top to start the 3rd quarter, a pick 6 to Houston DB Bubba McDowell. The score was 35-3 and this game was over.
A little personal note because I like these kinds of things. I was 9 years old when I faked being sick to get out of going to my grandmother’s house to stay home and watch this game. At around noon I got my change jar that I had been saving and walked down the street to my local pizzeria, bought myself a small cheese pizza, and walked back to my house. At the same time, my dad faked having to work so he could also get out of going to his in-laws house so he could watch the game at a bar. Little did we know that we were about to watch the greatest comeback in NFL history.1
A steady drive by the Bills cuts the lead to 35-10. The Bills get the onside kick and less than a minute later it’s 35-17. After a 3 and out by the Oilers, the Bills score fast and it’s 35-24. Buffalo gets the ball back almost immediately on a Moon interception deep in his own territory. 4 plays later it’s 35-31. The Bills scored 4 TDs in less than 7 minutes of game time.
The Oilers had chances to put the game away in the 4th quarter but two long drives only ended in a total of 3 points. Those 3 were needed to tie the game with 15 seconds left because Bills backup Frank Reich hit Andre Reed for his 3rd TD of the game to take the lead with 3 minutes to go. Moon threw another INT in overtime and a facemask by Haywood Jeffires already had the Bills in field goal territory. Bills 41, Oilers 38. Wow.
Tragedy
Jeff Alm was a defensive tackle and 2nd round pick by the Oilers in 1990. After appearing in 14 games for the 1992 squad, injuries and loneliness were taking its toll on the kid during the 1993 season, causing him to only play in 2 games.
After a disastrous 1-4 start, the Oilers started to roll with wins over the Patriots and Bengals followed by an undefeated November. Two more wins brought the streak to 8 in a row and a 9-4 record. That’s when tragedy struck.
Alm was having dinner with a college teammate on December 13th. The pair were driving at 2:45a when Alm, who was driving, lost control of his vehicle. His friend, Sean Lynch, was not wearing a seatbelt and was launched from the car and fell 30 feet off the highway to his death. Alm called 911. Before anyone could arrive though, Alm took his gun and shot himself.
Things Were All Good Just a Week Ago
The Oilers players were shocked and distraught with what happened but played on and united around what happened. They ended the season on an 11-game win streak, finished 12-4, and earned a bye through the first round of the playoffs as the 2nd seed in the AFC. You would think things were great despite what happened with Alm, but that would ignore what happened in the final game of the season, a 24-0 win over the Jets.
Wait, what could be wrong with a 24-0 shutout to end the season, did someone get hurt? Nope, but that didn’t stop defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan from ruining everything. The former Eagles head coach was certainly known for being a hot head, but he took that reputation way too far in his first and only season in Houston.
Ryan had a big problem with the Run-and-Shoot offense deployed by the Oilers which was known for gaining big yardage but also for many short drives that kept Ryan’s defense from getting any rest. Just before halftime on that January 2nd game, Ryan’s defense stopped the Jets with about 30 seconds to go and Houston up 14-0. Ryan figured that Oilers offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride would simply run out the clock and let everyone go into the break. Instead, Gilbride had backup QB Cody Carlson passing. The first throw was incomplete but the second resulted in a fumble and Ryan’s defense going back on to the field.
Ryan was livid. He approached Gilbride and started yelling at him. By the time they were close enough, Ryan threw a punch at Gilbride before the players separated them. The whole thing was caught on national TV too. Ryan inflamed the situation more when he claimed Gilbride would be selling insurance within 2 years. They would have 2 weeks to hear about it instead of preparing for the playoffs and resting following the season’s amazing turn around.
The Oilers were to play the Chiefs and new QB Joe Montana after Kansas City defeated the Steelers in OT the previous week. Despite a 10-0 halftime lead for Houston, Montana would lead KC back to win after a costly Moon fumble on a Derrick Thomas2 sack.
The long year was finally over but this was only the beginning of the end for the Oilers. They traded Moon that offseason, tanked to 2-14 in 1994. At the same time, owner Bud Adams was lobbying the city of Houston for a new stadium that would never come. By 1995 it was announced that the team would be moving to Nashville. The city revolted and the team left after the 1996 season. The Oilers in Houston were dead.
- It has since been surpassed by the Vikings coming back from down 33 points to the Colts and winning 39-36 on December 17th, 2022. Bills and Oilers is still the greatest playoff comeback ↩︎
- I completely forgot about Derek Thomas until right now. Next time the Chiefs play the Eagles, I am writing about him. ↩︎
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