"Houston '93"

NFL Network continues it's excellent "A Football Life" series tonight with "Houston '93." With the creative genius of NFL Films, every episode of this series is a keeper. This one, in particular, intrigues me as the 1993 Houston Oilers were one of those football teams that makes you wonder what might have been. After a shaky start, losing four of their first five games, the Oilers dominated. They won their next eleven games and most of the games weren't even close. Then Cleveland Browns head coach Bill Belichick said that this Oilers team was "one of the best, most talented teams I've ever faced in the National Football League." Despite being the hottest team in the league, the Oilers were stunned by the Joe Montana-led Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Warren Moon was fantastic his entire career in Houston. The team peaked around him in 1993. Unfortunately for Oilers fans, the team was pretty much dismantled the following offseason. Moon was traded to Minnesota and the 1994 Oilers finished 2-14.

As a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, I am far too familiar with great football teams that couldn't quite finish the deal. Four Super Bowls. Three of those in the span of four years. No Super Bowl wins. The 1998 Vikings were one of the most explosive teams in league history. That team lost in the NFC Championship game. Personally, I think that the Brett Favre-led Vikings of 2009 was a better all-around team than the 1998 team. That team also couldn't make it to the Super Bowl. There are so many teams like the Vikings and the '93 Oilers. Great teams that are sometimes forgotten because they didn't win it all. The Detroit Lions of the early 1960s couldn't get through Lombardi's Packers. The New York Giants of the same era went to three straight NFL title games and lost all three. The Cleveland Browns of the late 1980s  couldn't get past John Elway. Much like the Giants of the '60s, the Buffalo Bills of the early 1990s went to four straight Super Bowls without a single win. Some of these teams are among the best in league history but couldn't find a way to win a game when it was win or go home. Some didn't even make it to the biggest game.

The 1993 Houston Oilers are a very memorable team. I'm glad that NFL Films is putting their art to that legacy.