The 1983 Houston Oilers season was the 24th season overall and 14th with the National Football League (NFL). After a strike-shorted 1–8 season, the Oilers traded their second draft choice to the Los Angeles Rams, probably fearing that Eric Dickerson, the player they desired to pick with that second choice, would join the Los Angeles Express of the USFL. Dickerson was cool about playing for the Oilers, while his family was firmly opposed.

The Oilers ultimately made a marginal improvement, winning two games, but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season. The 460 points allowed by the team are the most given up by the team in franchise history.

The week 13 game against Tampa Bay, before which both teams had 1–11 records, was nicknamed the "Repus Bowl". Steve Wulf wrote of the game, "Yes, this was the Small One, the battle of the beatens, the movable object meeting the resistible force. There were only tomorrows. When these two teams get together, nothing can happen. This game was for a marble." Tampa Bay won the game 33–24.

The last remaining active member of the 1983 Houston Oilers was offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, who retired after the 2001 season.

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 4 Green Bay Packers L 38–41 0–1AstrodomeRecap 2 September 11 at Los Angeles Raiders L 6–20 0–2Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumRecap 3 September 18 Pittsburgh Steelers L 28–40 0–3 AstrodomeRecap 4 September 25 at Buffalo Bills L 13–30 0–4Rich Stadium Recap 5 October 2 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–17 0–5Three Rivers Stadium Recap 6 October 9 Denver Broncos L 14–26 0–6 Astrodome Recap 7 October 16 at Minnesota Vikings L 14–34 0–7Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Recap 8 October 23 Kansas City Chiefs L 10–13 0–8 AstrodomeRecap 9 October 30 at Cleveland Browns L 19–25 0–9 Cleveland StadiumRecap 10 November 6 Cincinnati Bengals L 14–55 0–10 AstrodomeRecap 11 November 13 Detroit Lions W 27–17 1–10 Astrodome Recap 12 November 20 at Cincinnati Bengals L 10–38 1–11Riverfront StadiumRecap 13 November 27 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 24–33 1–12Tampa StadiumRecap 14 December 4 Miami Dolphins L 17–24 1–13 AstrodomeRecap 15 December 11 Cleveland Browns W 34–27 2–13 AstrodomeRecap 16 December 18 at Baltimore ColtsL 10–20 2–14Memorial StadiumRecap

Season summary Week 1 vs Packers

Week 11 vs Lions

Standings

References