Wild Card Round: New York Jets at Houston Oilers (Houston Astrodome), the bracket opens here. Kickoff: Sun December 29, 1991 at 4:00pm. Winner advances to the divisional round. Loser starts the offseason early.[1][2]
Wild card weekend is the most chaotic football the calendar produces. New York Jets at Houston Oilers at Houston Astrodome is the kind of game that decides whether a season was a long buildup or a quick exit. These are the games where the second-tier playoff teams have to prove they belong. Most don't. The few who do define the rest of January.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. New York Jets and Houston Oilers are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Houston Astrodome shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
New York Jets versus Houston Oilers in the Wild Card Round. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of New York Jets-Houston Oilers cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Houston Oilers | 11-5 | L1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7-9 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 6-10 | L3 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3-13 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | 13-3 | L1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8-8 | L2 |
| New York Jets | 8-8 | W1 |
| New England Patriots | 6-10 | L1 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 1-15 | L6 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Denver Broncos | 12-4 | W4 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 10-6 | W1 |
| Los Angeles Raiders | 9-7 | L3 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 7-9 | W1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 4-12 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| New Orleans Saints | 11-5 | W2 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 10-6 | L1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 10-6 | W6 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 3-13 | L10 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lions | 12-4 | W6 |
| Chicago Bears | 11-5 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 8-8 | L1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 4-12 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3-13 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Redskins | 14-2 | L1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 11-5 | W5 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 10-6 | W1 |
| New York Giants | 8-8 | W1 |
| Phoenix Cardinals | 4-12 | L8 |
New York Jets None, Houston Oilers None
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Jets | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 010101010 |
| Houston Oilers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 714141717 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Oilers | Ernest Givins 5 yard pass from Warren Moon ( Al Del Greco kick) | 0-7 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Jets | Al Toon 10 yard pass from Ken O'Brien ( Raul Allegre kick) | 7-7 |
| Oilers | Ernest Givins 20 yard pass from Warren Moon ( Al Del Greco kick) | 7-14 |
| Jets | Raul Allegre 33 yard field goal | 10-14 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Oilers | Al Del Greco 53 yard field goal | 10-17 |
Houston Oilers defeated New York Jets 17-10 at Houston Astrodome in the Wild Card Round. The final scoring play was Oilers: Al Del Greco 53 yard field goal. Top line of the day: Warren Moon: 271 pass yards on 28-of-40, 2 TD, 1 INT. Houston Oilers advance to the divisional round.[1][2]
Houston Oilers walked out of Houston Astrodome as the team that survived a Wild Card Round New York Jets will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 17-10. A one-score game throughout. The decisive points came on the fewest possible margin, which is how these matchups usually resolve. The final scoring play came from Oilers: Al Del Greco 53 yard field goal. Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Houston Oilers advance to the divisional round.
Houston Oilers 17, New York Jets 10. Round: Wild Card Round. Q1: 1 scoring play. Q2: 3 scoring plays. Q4: 1 scoring play. Top performers:
- Warren Moon: 271 pass yards on 28-of-40, 2 TD, 1 INT
- Lorenzo White: 65 rush yards on 17 carries
- Al Toon: 8 catches for 96 yards
Wild Card Round, played at Houston Astrodome. Final: New York Jets 10, Houston Oilers 17, with Houston Oilers taking the result by 7. **First quarter**
- Oilers: Ernest Givins 5 yard pass from Warren Moon ( Al Del Greco kick)
Second quarter
- Jets: Al Toon 10 yard pass from Ken O'Brien ( Raul Allegre kick)
- Oilers: Ernest Givins 20 yard pass from Warren Moon ( Al Del Greco kick)
- Jets: Raul Allegre 33 yard field goal
Fourth quarter
- Oilers: Al Del Greco 53 yard field goal
Top performers
- Warren Moon: 271 pass yards on 28-of-40, 2 TD, 1 INT
- Lorenzo White: 65 rush yards on 17 carries
- Al Toon: 8 catches for 96 yards
| Jets | Oilers | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 18 | 21 |
| Total Yards | 285 | 303 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 2 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 21/31 | 28/40 |
| Pass yards | 221 | 271 |
| Pass TD | 1 | 2 |
| Interceptions | 3 | 1 |
| Sacks taken | 1 | 4 |
| Sack yards lost | 7 | 39 |
| Net pass yards | 214 | 232 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 23 | 20 |
| Rush yards | 71 | 71 |
| Rush TD | 0 | 0 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 0 | 3 |
| Fumbles lost | 0 | 1 |
| Penalties | 5 | 8 |
| Penalty yards | 45 | 55 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYJ | |||||
| Ken O'Brien | 21/31 | 221 | 1 | 3 | |
| HOU | |||||
| Warren Moon | 28/40 | 271 | 2 | 1 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYJ | ||||
| Johnny Hector | 11 | 43 | 0 | 8 |
| Brad Baxter | 5 | 14 | 0 | 5 |
| Ken O'Brien | 2 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
| Freeman McNeil | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| HOU | ||||
| Lorenzo White | 17 | 65 | 0 | 12 |
| Warren Moon | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYJ | ||||
| Al Toon | 8 | 96 | 1 | 22 |
| Rob Moore | 4 | 70 | 0 | 31 |
| Freeman McNeil | 4 | 23 | 0 | 10 |
| Mark Boyer | 3 | 20 | 0 | 11 |
| Terance Mathis | 2 | 12 | 0 | 6 |
| HOU | ||||
| Ernest Givins | 6 | 83 | 2 | 35 |
| Drew Hill | 9 | 77 | 0 | 20 |
| Haywood Jeffires | 4 | 49 | 0 | 24 |
| Lorenzo White | 4 | 31 | 0 | 17 |
| Curtis Duncan | 4 | 24 | 0 | 8 |
| Leonard Harris | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
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