Before the season began, owner Bud Adams told the team that unless the Oilers made the Super Bowl, they can expect to see a massive overhaul next year due to the impending salary cap.
[2] 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.
[3] Despite the winning streak, first-round bye and playing in front of a home crowd, the Oilers were upset by Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs at the Astrodome during the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
"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.
Williams was fined $111,111 by the Oilers for missing the game and criticized by owner Bud Adams for "misplaced priorities", a move that led to intense criticism of the Oilers from fans, players such as defensive end Sean Jones, and news media and talk shows across the United States.
At the end of the first half in the final game of the season, a national broadcast against the New York Jets, Gilbride called a pass play, and when Cody Carlson was sacked and fumbled, Ryan started yelling at Gilbride, who started walking towards Ryan, yelling back.
[9] Gilbride wanted to physically pay Buddy back for the cheap shot but several players on both offense and defense begged him to not do so because they were winning a key game.
It confirmed a rumor that had been hinted since that season, but had never been confirmed; had the rumours been proven in 1993, during an era of heightened stigma in the United States towards the HIV/AIDS epidemic compared to today and a mere two years after NBA superstar Magic Johnson's high-profile retirement upon being diagnosed with the disease, it would have almost certainly been the most controversial story of an already turbulent season for the Oilers.
[12] In memory of Alm, his number was worn as a decal on his teammates' helmets and his locker remained untouched for the rest of the season.
Starting quarterback Warren Moon would eventually be benched in favor of Cody Carlson, with the latter breaking Houston's scoring drought with a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The Houston defense forced five turnovers, picking off Kansas City quarterback Dave Krieg twice, and cornerback Cris Dishman returning a fumble 58 yards for a touchdown.
Stan Humphries started at quarterback for San Diego, but was benched after completing just 27% of his passes for 73 yards and an interception in favor of John Friesz.
The Chargers failed to score a single touchdown, but kicker John Carney made six field goals to give San Diego the one-point victory.
Coming out of their first bye, the Oilers' offense continued to struggle with Warren Moon throwing three interceptions before being benched for backup Cody Carlson for the third time of the season.
Things boiled over in the second quarter when Gilbride called a pass play that resulted in a sack and fumble by quarterback Cody Carlson.
The Oilers jumped to a 10–0 lead in the first quarter with kicker Al Del Greco's 49-yard field goal and running back Gary Brown's 2-yard touchdown.
But aided by a 38-yard pass interference penalty, the Chiefs advanced 71 yards to score on wide receiver J. J. Birden's 11-yard touchdown reception from Montana.
On the Oilers' next possession, Kansas City defensive lineman Dan Saleaumua recovered a fumble by Houston quarterback Warren Moon, setting up Montana's 18-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Willie Davis.