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1994 Houston Oilers season
1994 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
General manager	Floyd Reese
Head coach	Jack Pardee (fired on November 14, 1-9 record); Jeff Fisher (interim; 1-5 record)
Home field	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	2–14
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	C Bruce Matthews; CB Darryll Lewis
Uniform
	← 1993; Oilers seasons; 1995 →;

The 1994 Houston Oilers season was the 35th season overall the Oilers played and their 25th with the National Football League (NFL), and was part of the 1994 NFL season.^[1] The Oilers missed the playoffs for the first time since 1986.

Two notable losses the Oilers suffered were the trading of Warren Moon, the team’s longtime starting quarterback, to the Minnesota Vikings and the departure of defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who was hired to coach the Arizona Cardinals. With Moon being replaced by career backup Cody Carlson and the defense left without its leader, the 1994 Oilers went into a tailspin despite returning several of their explosive offensive players such as Ernest Givins and Haywood Jeffires. The team started out with only one win in their first ten games, which led to head coach Jack Pardee and offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride being fired. Jeff Fisher, who had just joined the team that year as Ryan's replacement as defensive coordinator, was promoted to head coach.

Carlson did not last the season as he suffered a series of injuries that proved to be career ending. Billy Joe Tolliver ended up making the most starts of any Oilers quarterback, losing all seven of his starts. Neither Tolliver, Carlson, or third quarterback Bucky Richardson threw for more than six touchdowns (Carlson only managed one in five starts) and Tolliver and Carlson threw more interceptions than touchdowns. Running back Gary Brown could not repeat his 1,000-yard total from the previous year, managing only 648. Givins, who had recorded nearly 900 receiving yards in 1993, fell to 521 in 1994 while seeing his receptions total drop to 35. Jeffires' numbers improved slightly, and he led the Oilers in receiving touchdowns with six, but he was not elected to the Pro Bowl as he had been in 1993. Slaughter, meanwhile, only caught two touchdowns, which was his lowest total to that point in his career. The offense finished last in the league in points scored and 26th in total yardage.

The defense, which lost several of its key pieces from the previous season including its two leaders in sacks, also fell off. After giving up the fourth-lowest point total in 1993, the Oilers allowed a total of 352 points in 1994. Despite that, three players recorded at least six sacks with Lamar Lathon leading with 8.5. Darryll Lewis recorded five interceptions in his first full season as a starter, with fellow cornerback Cris Dishman getting four and returning one for a touchdown, and safety Marcus Robertson adding three of his own. The defense also managed to improve on their total yardage allowed from 1993, moving up from ninth in that category despite finishing near the bottom of the league in points allowed.

When the season was over the Oilers stood at 2–14, tying their 1983 squad with the team’s fewest wins in a sixteen game season and the second-fewest overall, with the 1972, 1973, 1982 squads only winning once each season. The ten-game swing is the worst season-to-season drop in games won in NFL history, which would later be tied by the 2013 Houston Texans. Seven of their fourteen losses came by three points or fewer.

Although the Oilers finished with the worst record that season, they did not receive the #1 pick in the 1995 NFL draft due to the entry of the expansion Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars into the league (under NFL rules, a new team is automatically granted the first pick in their first draft, unless they decide to give it up as the Panthers would do). However, the news was not all negative. With the high pick the Oilers chose Steve McNair, who would go on to become one of the franchise’s all-time great players.

Offseason

After having imploded in the playoffs against Kansas City in the 1993 playoffs, the Oilers traded long-time quarterback Warren Moon to Minnesota, leaving Cody Carlson as the starter for the 1994 season. Carlson, however, was severely injured early in the season and would eventually retire due to said injuries after the season.

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1994 Houston Oilers draft
1	26	Henry Ford	Defensive tackle	Arkansas
2	60	Jeremy Nunley	Defensive end	Alabama
3	101	Malcolm Floyd	Wide receiver	Fresno State
4	119	Mike Davis	Cornerback	Cincinnati
4	129	Sean Jackson	Running back	Florida State
5	157	Roderick Lewis	Tight end	Arizona
5	161	Jim Reid	Offensive tackle	Virginia
6	187	Lee Gissendaner	Wide receiver	Northwestern
6	194	Barron Wortham	Linebacker	UTEP
7	220	Lemanski Hall	Linebacker	Alabama
Made roster

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

**1994 Houston Oilers staff**
	Front office Owner/chairman of the board/president – Bud Adams Executive vice-president/general manager – Floyd Reese Vice-president of player personnel and scouting – Mike Holovak Head coaches Head coach – Jack Pardee Assistant head coach/offense – Kevin Gilbride Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Dick Coury Running backs – Frank Novak Receivers – Charlie Baggett Offensive line – Bob Young			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Jeff Fisher Defensive line – Jim Stanley Linebackers – Gregg Williams Defensive backs – Tom Bettis Quality control – Frank Bush Special teams coaches Special teams – Frank Novak Strength and conditioning Strength and Rehabilitation – Steve Watterson

Roster

**1994 Houston Oilers roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Cody Carlson 7 Bucky Richardson 11 Billy Joe Tolliver 10 Lee Williamson Running backs (RB) 33 Gary Brown 47 Le'Shai Maston FB 37 Todd McNair 32 Spencer Tillman 44 Lorenzo White Wide receivers (WR) 87 Pat Coleman 83 Malcolm Seabron 81 Ernest Givins 82 Travis Hannah 80 Haywood Jeffires 84 Webster Slaughter 88 Gary Wellman Tight ends (TE) 85 Pat Carter 49 Roderick Lewis 48 John Henry Mills		Offensive linemen (OL) 77 Kevin Donnalley G 55 John Flannery G 72 Brad Hopkins T 74 Bruce Matthews C 64 Erik Norgard C/G 67 Jim Reid T 75 Bill Schultz G 70 Stan Thomas T 73 David Williams T Defensive linemen (DL) 79 Ray Childress DT 90 Kenny Davidson DE 92 Henry Ford DE 57 Lamar Lathon DE 94 Glenn Montgomery DT 93 Jeremy Nunley DE 68 Tim Roberts DT		Linebackers (LB) 56 Micheal Barrow OLB 59 Joe Bowden OLB 53 Brett Faryniarz OLB 51 Lemanski Hall OLB 50 Eddie Robinson OLB 54 Al Smith MLB 52 Barron Wortham MLB Defensive backs (DB) 22 Tomur Barnes CB 23 Blaine Bishop SS 30 Mike Davis CB 28 Cris Dishman CB 24 Steve Jackson CB 29 Darryll Lewis CB 25 Bubba McDowell SS 26 Bo Orlando FS 31 Marcus Robertson FS Special teams 16 Rich Camarillo P 3 Al Del Greco K		Practice squad 86 Mario Bailey WR 98 Willie Jennings DT Reserve 89 Reggie Brown WR (IR) 41 Sean Jackson RB (IR) 71 Mike Teeter DE (IR) 53 active, 3 inactive, 2 practice squad Rookies in italics

^[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 4	at Indianapolis Colts	L 21–45	0–1	RCA Dome	Recap
2	September 11	at Dallas Cowboys	L 17–20	0–2	Texas Stadium	Recap
3	September 18	Buffalo Bills	L 7–15	0–3	Astrodome	Recap
4	September 25	Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–13	1–3	Astrodome	Recap
5	October 3	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–30	1–4	Three Rivers Stadium	Recap
6	Bye
7	October 13	Cleveland Browns	L 8–11	1–5	Astrodome	Recap
8	October 24	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 6–21	1–6	Veterans Stadium	Recap
9	October 30	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 14–17	1–7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
10	November 6	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 9–12 (OT)	1–8	Astrodome	Recap
11	November 13	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 31–34	1–9	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
12	November 21	New York Giants	L 10–13	1–10	Astrodome	Recap
13	November 27	at Cleveland Browns	L 10–34	1–11	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
14	December 4	Arizona Cardinals	L 12–30	1–12	Astrodome	Recap
15	December 11	Seattle Seahawks	L 14–16	1–13	Astrodome	Recap
16	December 18	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 9–31	1–14	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
17	December 24	New York Jets	W 24–10	2–14	Astrodome	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 14

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cardinals	0	10	0	20	30
Oilers	9	3	0	0	12

Date: December 4
Location: Astrodome, Houston, Texas
Game start: 3:00 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 39,821
Game weather: played indoors, domed stadium
Referee: Red Cashion
Television network: Fox

^[4]

This ninth successive defeat for the Oilers has the unusual distinction of being the most recent NFL game as of 2019 during which both teams scored a safety, and one of only eight since at least 1940.^[5]

Week 17

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
⁽¹⁾ Pittsburgh Steelers	12	4	0	.750	316	234	L1
⁽⁴⁾ Cleveland Browns	11	5	0	.688	340	204	W1
Cincinnati Bengals	3	13	0	.188	276	406	W1
Houston Oilers	2	14	0	.125	226	352	W1