After Rykmus was fired when the Oilers started the 1961 season poorly, Houston won ten consecutive games under Wally Lemm. In one of those games, against the New York Titans, Cannon set a professional football record with 373 all-purpose yards and scored five touchdowns. His 216 rushing yards in the game also set an AFL record. At the end of the season, he was the AFL's leading rusher with 948 yards and led the league in all-purpose yards. The Oilers repeated as AFL champions and Cannon again was the game's MVP, scoring the only touchdown. "The Sporting News" named him to the 1961 AFL All-League Team and he was invited to play in the 1961 AFL All-Star Game.