The

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

season was the team's 33rd season and their 23rd in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). The Oilers reached the playoffs for the 6th consecutive season, which was the longest such streak in the NFL at the time. (They would extend that to seven straight playoff appearances the following season). During their 1992 season, Houston finished the season 10–6, good enough for 2nd place in the

AFC Central The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was adopted after the restructuring of the 2002 NFL ...

. However, in the postseason, the Oilers would fall on the losing end of what would become one of the most substantial come from behind victories in NFL history, dropping a 35–3 lead in the Wild Card game against Buffalo to lose by a score of 41–38. As noted, the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

victory in this game was deemed the greatest comeback in NFL history before the Minnesota Vikings' victory over the Indianapolis Colts surpassed it in 2022, and is referred to as "The Comeback" (or by then-Oiler fans, "The Choke").

Offseason

NFL Draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Game Summaries

Week One vs. Steelers

Two

Warren Moon Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonton ...

touchdowns and a score off a Steelers fumble put the Oilers up 24–16 at halftime, but from there

Neil O'Donnell Neil Kennedy O'Donnell (born July 3, 1966) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League for 14 seasons. He played college football at Maryland and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third ro ...

led the Steelers back on three scoring drives and a 29–24 Pittsburgh win.

Week Two at Colts

Warren Moon added two more touchdowns while

Jack Trudeau Jack Francis Trudeau (born September 9, 1962) is a former professional American football player and morning show co-host on Fox Sports Radio. He was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 1986 NFL Draft. A quarterback from ...

and

Tom Tupa Thomas Joseph Tupa Jr. (born February 6, 1966) is a former American football punter and quarterback in the National Football League. Personal life and high school career As a child, Tupa participated in the NFL's Punt, Pass, and Kick contest, ...

couldn't reach 140 passing yards in a 20–10 Oilers win.

Week Three vs. Chiefs

Two years after throwing for 527 yards in a 27–10 win Moon was intercepted twice and held to 279 yards but led the Oilers from down 13–3 to lead in the fourth 20–13. From there future Oiler

Todd McNair Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...

tied the game, but

Al Del Greco Albert Louis Del Greco (born March 2, 1962) is a former American football placekicker and a current sports radio personality. After eight years as golf coach at Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama, Del Greco was named the head coach of th ...

won it 23–20 in overtime on a 39-yard field goal.

Week Four vs.
Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

Warren Moon threw a touchdown and ran in a second while

Stan Humphries William Stanley Humphries (born April 14, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers.. He played high school football a ...

was intercepted three times in a 27–0 shutout. It would be the franchise's final win over the Chargers until

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Bye Week

Week Six at Bengals

The Oilers had won their previous two matchups (both 1991) with the Bengals by a combined score of 65–10 but memory of Cincinnati's 41–14 playoff win in 1990 was still fresh as the Oilers raced to a 24–0 lead, Warren Moon threw five touchdowns, and Houston won 38–24.

Week Seven at
Broncos A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...

The Oilers returned to the site of a 26–24 playoff meltdown the previous season. The game lead changed five times as the Oilers took a 21–20 lead but the Broncos won 27–21.

Week Eight vs. Bengals

Houston authored another season sweep as Moon threw for 342 yards and two scores while Norman Esiason had a touchdown but gave up a safety when he was run out his own end zone.

Week Nine at Steelers

Moon led the Oilers to two field goal drives as the Steelers led 7–6 at halftime. Moon had to give way to

Cody Carlson Matthew Cody Carlson (born November 5, 1963) is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Houston Oilers in the 3rd round of the 1987 NFL Draft. A 6'3", 200-lb. quarterback from Baylor University, Carlson played in ...

, who threw a touchdown then saw a fumble-return score and a 20–7 Houston lead. But from there two Neil O'Donnell touchdowns rallied Pittsburgh to a 21–20 win.

Week Ten vs. Browns

Moon again started and again Carlson came in, this time with the Oilers down 17–0, and his two touchdowns weren't enough in a 24–14 Browns win.

Week Eleven at
Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

Future Vikings quarterback Moon rallied Houston from down 10–3 on a touchdown to

Ernest Givins Ernest Pastell Givins Jr. (born September 3, 1964), is a former professional American football player from St. Petersburg, Florida. He played ten seasons as a wide receiver with the National Football League (NFL), mostly with the Houston Oilers ...

and a drive ending in a field goal and the 17–13 Houston win.

Week Twelve at
Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

The Oilers under

Jack Pardee John Perry Pardee (April 19, 1936 – April 1, 2013) was an American football linebacker and the only head coach to helm a team in college football, the National Football League (NFL), the United States Football League (USFL), the World Footbal ...

had blown leads with noticeable frequency and it happened again after leading 13–3 in the second quarter. The Oilers were held scoreless in the fourth in losing 19–16.

Week Thirteen at
Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

With

now out with injury until the end of the season

started and the game lead changed five times in the second half.

Lorenzo White Lorenzo Maurice White (born April 12, 1966) is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Houston Oilers in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1988 NFL Draft. He attended Dillard High School in Ft. Lauderdale in Fl ...

’s score was the winner in the 24-21 contest.

Week Fourteen vs.
Bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

The Oilers reached eight wins 24-7 while the Bears were approaching the end of

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

’s time as head coach. The opposing quarterbacks Carlson and

Peter Tom Willis Peter Tom Willis (born January 4, 1967) is a former college and professional American football quarterback. From 1998 to 2008 he served as the radio color commentator for the Florida State University Seminoles, where he played his collegiate foo ...

combined for just 363 yards passing.

Week Fifteen vs.
Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the thi ...

Two

interceptions and two Oilers fumbles hurt Houston in a 16-14 loss to the Packers despite holding Green Bay to less than 230 yards.

Week Sixteen at Browns

Carlson rallied the Oilers from down 14-3, overcoming two interceptions to toss two touchdowns and win 17-14. The Oilers defense picked off

Bernie Kosar Bernard Joseph Kosar Jr. (born November 25, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played collegiately at the University of Miami where he led the team to a national championship in 1983. He subsequently played professionally in ...

three times.

Week Seventeen vs. Bills

After a Steve Christie field goal the Bills were crushed by 27 straight Oilers points.

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

was knocked out of the game and for Buffalo’s ensuing playoff game. Cody Carlson had a touchdown then gave way to

who had a touchdown and despite completing less than half his passes (6 of 13) had a higher passer rating (91.8 to Carlson’s 73.4); Bills quarterbacks had only a 27 passer rating.

Standings

Playoffs

AFC Wildcard

The Oilers held a 35–3 lead on the

. Bills backup quarterback

Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich Jr. (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Maryland a ...

led the Bills on a 38–3 run in the second half and overtime against the Oilers defense en route to a 41–38 overtime victory. The game is the largest comeback in NFL history, regular or postseason. Houston, whose 1992 team some believed gave them their best chance to win the Super Bowl, made several sweeping changes in the offseason. Defensive coordinator

Jim Eddy James Franklin Eddy (May 2, 1936 – October 27, 2016) was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at New Mexico State University. Early years Eddy attended ...

was fired shortly after the game. Oilers

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

Cris Dishman Cris Edward Dishman (born August 13, 1965) is an American football coach and former cornerback who is the defensive coordinator for the Vegas Vipers of the XFL (2020), XFL. He played for the Houston Oilers, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Minnesota V ...

called it "the biggest choke in history." According to statistics site Football Outsiders, who does play-by-play analyses of each team each season, the Oilers were the best team in the AFC at the end of the 1992 season. "So if you are a Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans fan," says the site, "who agonizes over the

comeback game blowing your franchise's best shot at a Super Bowl title, well, here's another opportunity to feel sad."

Awards and records

* Warren Moon, AFC Passing Leader (Passer Rating 89.3)NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 450

References

External links

1992 Houston Oilers
at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

* Week 16
Oilers Beat Clock, Browns : AFC: Houston scores two touchdowns in final three minutes to win at Cleveland, 17-14
''Los Angeles Times'' (Associated Press), Dec. 21, 1992. {{DEFAULTSORT:1992 Houston Oilers Season

Houston Oilers seasons

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...