1993 Houston Oilers Season

1993 Houston Oilers Season

The 1993 season Houston Oilers season was the team's 34th, and their 24th in the National Football League.

Despite their poor start (four losses in their first five games), the Oilers went on a remarkable 11-0 run to finish the 1993 season, ending up tied for the best record in the NFL, at 12-4. Houston earned the #2 seed in the playoffs, and a first round bye. The 11-game winning streak was the longest in the NFL since 1972.

Statistics site Football Outsiders calculates that the Oilers were the hottest team in the NFL heading into the playoffs at the end of the 1993 season.

The Oilers were upset by Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Astrodome during the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

The 2006 edition of Pro Football Prospectus, listed the 1993 Oilers as one of their "Heartbreak Seasons," in which teams "dominated the entire regular season only to falter in the playoffs, unable to close the deal." Said Pro Football Prospectus, "Early in 1993, the Oilers seemed unable to put behind them, dropping four of their first five games. But Houston righted the shiop and ran the table, winning its final 11 contests. ... The Oilers allowed 20 points only once during the streak, and in one game held the league-leading 49ers offense to 7 points.

"In their first playoff game," Pro Football Prospectus continued, "they faced Joe Montana's Kansas City Chiefs, a team Houston had beaten 30-0 during the regular season. The Oilers jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, but stalled; leading 13-7 in the fourth quarter, they collapsed, losing 28-20. The team that had played eight straight games while holding opponents to 20 points or less gave up 21 in the fourth quarter of a playoff game. That off-season, the team was dismantled. Warren Moon was shipped to Minnesota, and the Oilers fell to 2-14 the following year.

Late in the season, the Oilers suffered the loss of reserve defensive lineman Jeff Alm (who played 2 games earlier in season) when on December 13, 1993; Alm and his best friend, Sean P. Lynch, were in an accident when Alm's vehicle lost control of his Cadillac Eldorado; sending Lynch flying out of the car and killing him. After seeing his friend was dead; Alm then committed suicide.