Elements Change, but Bottom Line Is the Same--Another Loss for Oilers

Only the faces are different for the Oilers.

And the offense.

But not the result.

David Treadwell kicked a 37-yard field goal with two seconds to play Monday night to help the New York Giants snap a seven-game losing streak with a 13-10 victory over Houston, which lost for the seventh consecutive time.

It was the third time in a row and sixth time this season that the Oilers have lost by three points. The previous times, Jack Pardee was their coach. This time, Jeff Fisher found out what it was like.

“It’s frustration for the entire coaching staff to lose a game like this after the way we played today,” Fisher said. “We played good enough to win, but we made a few mistakes and beat ourselves.”

Fisher, who replaced Jack Pardee last Monday, ditched Houston’s run-and-shoot offense. The result was a plodding running attack and a less-than-explosive game between two teams having all sorts of problems.

“It’s not the way I wanted to start off,” Fisher said.

It’s the way the Giants wanted to finish.

“It’s nice to see them get some reward for all the hard work they’ve put in,” Coach Dan Reeves said. The Giants ended their longest losing streak since 1980.

Kent Graham, who replaced Dave Brown at quarterback in the second quarter after the Giants’ starter sustained a concussion, rallied the Giants after a scoreless first half and gave New York a 5-0 all-time record against the Oilers.

Graham threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Mike Sherrard and set up Treadwell’s first field goal, a 26-yarder, with a 55-yard pass to Sherrard.

“We were just throwing the ball up high, giving him a chance to come down with it,” Graham said. “It was frustrating early on. I just want to keep getting better every week.”

New York led, 10-7, with 8:19 to play, but the Oilers tied it with 4:08 left on Al Del Greco’s 42-yard field goal.

Fisher turned the play-calling over to offensive coordinator Dick Coury, but the Oilers didn’t get into the end zone until 4:44 remained in the third quarter on Billy Joe Tolliver’s one-yard keeper.

The score came one play after Tolliver completed a 41-yard screen pass to Lorenzo White, who was knocked out of bounds at the one by Jesse Campbell.

The Giants responded on their next series, capped by Graham’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Sherrard.

The Oilers, who ranked among the top offensive teams in the NFL in recent years with the run-and-shoot, didn’t use it in the first half.

Instead, they gave the ball to White, who had eight carries for 40 yards in the first quarter and 116 yards by halftime.

He finished with a career-high 156 yards.

Fisher showed he wasn’t afraid to take chances on offense, going for a first down on fourth-and-one at the Giants’ 40 in the second quarter.

The try failed, and the Giants ran out the clock to end the half.