Transitioning into Respectability

 By Joe Zagorski 

Elvin Bethea, Steve Kiner and Curley Culp

Pro football is filled with numerous stories of teams that have gone from a losing record in one season, then earning a winning record in the next season. Some of those teams have accomplished this feat in a highly publicized way. The 1975 Baltimore Colts certainly come to mind. They won two games in 1974.  Then in the following season, they won 10 games and the championship of the American Football Conference’s Eastern Division.

But for some teams, even though a winning record might escape them, a record of solid improvement is often enough to earn a good dose of respectability throughout the NFL. In 1972 and again in 1973, the Houston Oilers were regarded by everyone as the worst team in pro football. They could only manage to win one game in each of those seasons. 

Team owner Bud Adams finally had enough of that. He asked veteran coach Sid Gillman to move down from the team’s front office and take over the club on the sidelines in the sixth week of the 1973 season, replacing fired head coach Bill Peterson. Then in 1974, with Gillman remaining as the Houston head coach, the seeds for an increasing number of victories began to sprout and flourish. The Oilers won six of their final eight games to post a 7-7 record in 1974.

Sid Gillman

How did Gillman bring about more victories that year?  He still worked as the team’s general manager while calling plays on the sidelines. It was likely his decisions on front-office matters which aided in the production of the increased win totals. Like all coaches and front office people in 1974, Gillman had to contend with the specter of the World Football League showing up on the scene in 1974, as well as with troublesome players strike during the preseason.  

The foundation to produce progress certainly did not look good for the Oilers to begin the year. Moreover, it took time for Gillman to make enough good decisions to observe a positive impact. Houston began the 1974 season with a 1-5 record, and their future once again looked as bleak as it did back in 1972 and 1973.

But Gillman had faith in his players, and he had faith in his system and in his roster evaluations. He traded a very good defensive lineman in John Matuszak for a great defensive lineman in Curley Culp.  Matuszak went to Kansas City, where he did not accomplish all that much. 

As soon as Culp came to Houston, however, the Oilers defense immediately saw a marked improvement. Culp was listed as a defensive tackle, but he spent most of his time as a nose guard in the team’s new 3-4 defensive alignment. He quickly became a force for the opposing offenses to reckon with, as he disrupted numerous plays and game plans all throughout the remainder of the 1974 season.

Houston looked like a whole new team in the seventh week, as they destroyed a formidable Bengals team in Cincinnati, 34-21. The defense caused six timely turnovers in the win, while Gillman’s offense did not commit one.  A winning attitude pervaded the team’s mindset with the victory over the Bengals, and some more big triumphs were awaiting the Houston squad. 

The Oilers defense benefitted greatly with Culp’s addition. They began halting opposing running backs by surrendering less ground yardage during the second half of the 1974 season. In weeks eight through 14, Houston permitted just 973 total rushing yards, compared to the 1,077 total rushing yards that they gave up during the first seven weeks of the season. Boosting that statistic was the number of opposing first downs permitted. The Oilers allowed 150 first downs during the first half of the year. In the second half of the year, the opposing chains advanced downfield only 118 times.  

But it was in the category of passing yardage allowed where the addition of Curley Culp to the defensive lineup really paid handsome dividends for Houston. From weeks one through seven, the Oilers surrendered 1,496 overall passing yards. From weeks eight through 14, that number shrunk to 879 overall passing yards. 

That number included a season-low of just nine net passing yards given up to the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Yes, those Steelers, the same team that was destined to win the Super Bowl a couple of months later. Houston’s defense was thus limiting the amount of time that passers had to sit in their pockets and locate their receivers.  Indeed, Culp was finding his way into the opposing offensive backfield with a force that was just not visible by anyone on the team’s defensive line in the first half of 1974.  

Gillman’s offense began improving as well during the second part of the year. In contrast to the defense, no new players found their way into the starting lineup on offense from weeks eight through 14. Rather, it was just that the team’s defense was giving their counterparts on offense more chances with the ball. That extra time owning the pigskin equated to more yards, more first downs, more scoring opportunities, and ultimately, more victories. 

The Oilers scored only 113 points throughout the first half of the season. In the second half, however, they put 123 points on the scoreboard. Houston as a result managed to pull out some contests that they would have easily lost in the previous two years.  

“We’ve always had some talent,” said Houston quarterback Dan Pastorini as the 1974 season wore on, “but this year we seem to have more of a purpose. Don’t ask me to explain it.  All I know is that I’m enjoying this game again.”

Pastorini’s enjoyment came during a four-game winning streak, which was just what Gillman and his players needed during the second half of the 1974 season. The Oilers managed to sweep the division-rival Bengals. They also claimed victories over the New York Jets and the AFC’s wild-card team, the Buffalo Bills. Houston took a 5-5 record into the Battle of Texas when they faced the Dallas Cowboys inside the Astrodome on November 24.  Unfortunately for the Oilers, Dallas’ Doomsday Defense proved to be too much for the Houston offense, and the Cowboys prevailed, 10-0. In past seasons, the local fans would have seen and would have expected to see the Oilers fold up their tents after taking such a loss. But this 1974 version of the Houston team was not willing to give up that easily.  They still had three games left on their schedule, and if they were able to win two of those contests, they would claim a break-even record for the year, and their best record since 1968.  

Such a task would not be easy, but it would be possible. First up would be a trip to Three Rivers Stadium to take on the Steelers on December 1.  he Oilers would shut out their division rivals in the second half and post a 13-10 victory.  It was undoubtedly the most impressive triumph of the 1974 season for Houston. Then came a trip to Mile High Stadium to face the Denver Broncos.  This could have been labeled as the most depressing loss of the year, as the Oilers fell, 37-14. It was a flop.  Denver had six wins going into that game, just like Houston. But the Broncos proved to be much stronger, as the final score indicates.

There was now one game remaining on the Oilers’ 1974 schedule. It would be at home against another division foe, the Cleveland Browns, a team that was having its worst season ever up to that time.  Cleveland had won only four games in this forlorn season, and as luck would have it, their win total would not change as the final gun sounded and Sid Gillman was being carried off the field following Houston’s 28-24 victory over the Browns.  

“I’ve been in this business for a long time,” proclaimed Sid Gillman following his team’s win over Cleveland, “but this is the most satisfying season I’ve ever been through.” Dan Pastorini added that “…the Houston Oilers are a respectable team now. I think everybody in the league will attest to that.”

The Oilers indeed had devoted enough of themselves in all their efforts to produce a 7-7 record in 1974. It was a mark that practically no prognosticator would have predicted when the season began. Their players who were unable to make big plays and produce constructive efforts in 1972 and 1973 did so in abundance in 1974. It was a year where a perennial loser made a transition into much-deserved respectability.

Sources:
Boss, David.  Prolog, The Official National Football League Annual for 1975.  NFL Properties,
1975.
Robinson, Barry.  “Oilers stop Browns, finish with 7-7 mark.”  San Antonio Express, December
16, 1974, 40.

Joe Zagorski is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Pro Football Researchers Association. His upcoming book on the 1973 Buffalo Bills entitled The 2,003-Yard Odyssey: The Juice, The Electric Company, and an Epic Run For a Record, will be released by Austin-Macauley publishers later in 2023.  He is currently working on a biography of former Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame offensive guard Larry Little.