1985 Houston Oilers season

The 1985 Houston Oilers season was the 26th season overall and 16th with the National Football League. The team improved upon their previous season's output of 3–13, winning five games, but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.

1985 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
General manager	Ladd Herzeg
Head coach	Hugh Campbell (weeks 1-14) Jerry Glanville (weeks 15-16)
Home field	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1985 NFL draft

1985 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	3	Ray Childress *	Defensive tackle	Texas A&M
1	11	Richard Johnson	Defensive back	Wisconsin
2	36	Richard Byrd	Defensive end	Southern Miss
3	82	Mike Kelley	Center	Notre Dame
4	87	Tom Briehl	Linebacker	Stanford
5	133	Frank Bush	Linebacker	NC State
5	138	Lee Johnson	Punter	BYU
6	153	Joe Krakoski	Linebacker	Washington
7	170	Mike Akiu	Wide receiver	Hawaii
8	199	Chuck Thomas	Center	Oklahoma
9	226	Steve Tasker *	Wide receiver	Northwestern
10	255	Mike Golic	Defensive tackle	Notre Dame
11	281	Willie Drewrey	Wide receiver	West Virginia
12	311	Mark Vonder Haar	Defensive tackle	Minnesota
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

1985 Undrafted Free Agents of note

Player	Position	College
Donnie Campbell	Quarterback	Kansas State
Jack Weil	Punter	Wyoming

Personnel

Staff

1985 Houston Oilers staff

Front office Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams Executive Vice President/General Manager – Ladd Herzeg Head coaches Head Coach – Hugh Campbell Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Joe Faragalli Offensive Backs – Al Roberts Receivers – Bruce Lemmerman Offensive Line – Bill Walsh

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Jerry Glanville Defensive Line – Bob Padilla Inside Linebackers – John Devlin Outside Linebackers – Gene Gaines Defensive Backs – Ken Houston Special teams coaches Special Teams – Gene Gaines Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Bill Allerheiligen

Roster

1985 Houston Oilers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Oliver Luck  1 Warren Moon 16 Mike Moroski 12 Brian Ransom Running backs (RB) 32 Stan Edwards 30 Larry Moriarty 33 Mike Rozier 40 Butch Woolfolk Wide receivers (WR) 86 Mike Akiu 81 Steve Bryant 15/82 Willie Drewrey 85 Drew Hill 84 Mike Holston 83 Tim Smith 80 Steve Tasker 84 Herkie Walls Tight ends (TE) 88 Chris Dressel 89 Mike McCloskey 87 Jamie Williams

Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Pat Howell G 58 Mike Kelley C 74 Bruce Matthews G 76 Eric Moran T 63 Mike Munchak G 55 Jim Romano C 73 Harvey Salem T 62 John Schuhmacher G 70 Dean Steinkuhler T Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Jesse Baker DE 71 Richard Byrd DE 79 Ray Childress DT 72 Brian Sochia DT 99 Doug Smith DT 67 Mike Stensrud NT

Linebackers (LB) 56 Robert Abraham 94 Frank Bush 92 Tom Briehl 59 John Grimsley 93 Robert Lyles 91 Johnny Meads OLB 53 Avon Riley OLB Defensive backs (DB) 29 Patrick Allen CB 25 Keith Bostic SS 24 Steve Brown CB 31 Jeff Donaldson S 21 Bo Eason FS 23 Richard Johnson CB 37 Rod Kush 28 Allen Lyday 26 Audray McMillian Special teams 11 Lee Johnson P  7 Tony Zendejas K

Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 8	Miami Dolphins	W 26–23	1–0	Astrodome	47,656
2	September 15	at Washington Redskins	L 16–13	1–1	RFK Stadium	53,553
3	September 22	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 0–20	1–2	Three Rivers Stadium	58,752
4	September 29	Dallas Cowboys	L 10–17	1–3	Astrodome	49,686
5	October 6	at Denver Broncos	L 20–31	1–4	Mile High Stadium	74,699
6	October 13	Cleveland Browns	L 6–21	1–5	Astrodome	38,386
7	October 20	Cincinnati Bengals	W 44–27	2–5	Astrodome	35,590
8	October 27	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 20–10	3–5	Busch Memorial Stadium	43,190
9	November 3	Kansas City Chiefs	W 23–20	4–5	Astrodome	41,238
10	November 10	at Buffalo Bills	L 0–20	4–6	Rich Stadium	21,881
11	November 17	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 7–30	4–7	Astrodome	45,977
12	November 24	San Diego Chargers	W 37–35	5–7	Astrodome	34,336
13	December 1	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 27–45	5–8	Riverfront Stadium	46,140
14	December 8	New York Giants	L 14–35	5–9	Astrodome	36,576
15	December 15	at Cleveland Browns	L 21–28	5–10	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	50,793
16	December 22	at Indianapolis Colts	L 16–34	5–11	Hoosier Dome	55,818

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns(3)	8	8	0	.500	4–2	7–5	287	294	L1
Cincinnati Bengals	7	9	0	.438	4–2	5–7	441	437	L2
Pittsburgh Steelers	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	379	355	L1
Houston Oilers	5	11	0	.313	1–5	4–8	284	412	L4