1981 Cincinnati Bengals season

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1981 Cincinnati Bengals season
Cincinnati Bengals wordmark (1971-1996).png
OwnerPaul Brown
General manager Paul Brown
Head coach Forrest Gregg
Home field Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record12–4
Division place1st AFC Central
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Bills) 28–21
Won AFC Championship
(vs. Chargers) 27–7
Lost Super Bowl XVI
(vs. 49ers) 21–26
The Bengals playing against the 49ers in Super Bowl XVI. 1986 Jeno's Pizza - 27 - Dan Bunz (cropped).jpg
The Bengals playing against the 49ers in Super Bowl XVI.

The 1981 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 12th season in the National Football League (NFL), and the 14th overall. The team won their first AFC Championship, but lost Super Bowl XVI to San Francisco.

Contents

Cincinnati had at least a share of the AFC Central lead the entire season. On December 13, quarterback Ken Anderson threw two touchdown passes as the Bengals clinched the division with a 17–10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals' only other rival for the division title by that point in the season.

Ken Anderson led the NFL in passing in 1981 with a 98.5 rating.

On January 3, 1982, the Bengals beat Buffalo, 28–21, in an AFC divisional playoff game. A week later, playing in their first AFC Championship Game in brutally cold weather, the Bengals defeated San Diego 27–7 at Riverfront Stadium. In a temperature of −9 °F (−23 °C) with a wind-chill factor of −59 °F (−51 °C), this game is referred to as the Freezer Bowl.

In Super Bowl XVI on January 24, 1982, in Pontiac, Michigan, the Bengals trailed 20–0 at halftime and lost to San Francisco, 26–21.

Offseason

Before the season, the Bengals unveiled new uniforms with tiger-striped helmets, jerseys and pants.

NFL Draft

1981 Cincinnati Bengals draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
110 David Verser   Wide receiver Kansas
237 Cris Collinsworth  * Wide receiver Florida
364 John Simmons   Defensive back SMU
493 Guy Frazier   Linebacker Wyoming
5120Benjie Pryor  Tight end Pittsburgh
6146 Rex Robinson   Placekicker Georgia
7176 Jeff Schuh  Linebacker Minnesota
8202 Bobby Kemp  Defensive back Cal State Fullerton
9229 Jim Hannula   Offensive tackle Northern Illinois
9230Samoa Samoa  Running back Washington State
10258Hubert Simpson Running back Tennessee
11285 Robert Jackson  Defensive back Central Michigan
12312Mark O'Connell  Quarterback Ball State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Undrafted free agents

1981 Undrafted Free Agents of note
PlayerPositionCollege
Ken BrownWide receiver Nebraska
Jim DestefanoLinebacker Cornell
Dennis DunnSafety Yale

Personnel

Staff

1981 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office

  • Owner/General Manager – Paul Brown
  • President – John Sawyer
  • Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Bruce Coslet

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength – Kim Wood


Roster

1981 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Source: [2] [3]

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultLocationTV Time(EST)TV AnnouncersAttendance
1September 6 Seattle Seahawks W 27–21 Riverfront Stadium NBC 1:00 pm Mike Adamle & Rocky Bleier 41,177
2September 13at New York Jets W 31–30 Shea Stadium NBC 4:00pm Charlie Jones & Len Dawson 49,454
3September 20 Cleveland Browns L 20–17Riverfront StadiumNBC 1:00 pm Bob Costas & Bob Trumpy 52,170
4September 27 Buffalo Bills W 27–24Riverfront StadiumNBC 1:00 pm Jay Randolph & Mike Haffner 46,418
5October 4at Houston Oilers L 17–10 Astrodome NBC 1:00 pm Marv Albert & Jim Turner 44,350
6October 11at Baltimore Colts W 41–19 Memorial Stadium NBC 1:00 pmBob Costas & Bob Trumpy33,060
7October 18 Pittsburgh Steelers W 34–7Riverfront StadiumNBC 1:00 pm Don Criqui & John Brodie 57,090
8October 25at New Orleans Saints L 17–7 Louisiana Superdome NBC 1:00 pmMike Adamle & Mike Haffner46,336
9November 1Houston OilersW 34–21Riverfront StadiumNBC 1:00 pmBob Costas & Bob Trumpy54,736
10November 8at San Diego Chargers W 40–17 Jack Murphy Stadium NBC 4:00 pm Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen 51,259
11November 15 Los Angeles Rams W 24–10Riverfront Stadium CBS 1:00 pm Vin Scully & Hank Stram 56,836
12November 22 Denver Broncos W 38–21Riverfront StadiumNBC 1:00 pmBob Costas & Gene Washington 57,207
13November 29at Cleveland BrownsW 41–21 Cleveland Stadium NBC 1:00 pmBob Costas & Bob Trumpy75,186
14December 6 San Francisco 49ers L 21–3Riverfront StadiumCBS 1:00 pm Tim Ryan & Fred Dryer 56,796
15December 13at Pittsburgh SteelersW 17–10 Three Rivers Stadium NBC 1:00 pmDon Criqui & John Brodie50,623
16December 20at Atlanta Falcons W 30–28 Fulton County Stadium NBC 4:00 pmCharlie Jones & Len Dawson35,972

Game summaries

Week 1

1234Total
Seahawks2100021
• Bengals01010727
  • Date: September 6
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 41,177
  • Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C); wind 8 mph (13 km/h)
  • Referee: Bob Frederic
  • Television network: NBC
Scoring summary
Q1SEAHarris 29 yard interception return (Herrera kick)SEA 7–0
Q1SEA Largent 36 yard pass from Zorn (Herrera kick)SEA 14–0
Q1SEA Jodat 1 yard run (Herrera kick)SEA 21–0
Q2CIN Breech 25 yard field goalSEA 21–3
Q2CIN Johnson 3 yard run (Breech kick)SEA 21–10
Q3CINBreech 40 yard field goalSEA 21–13
Q3CIN Griffin 3 yard run (Breech kick)SEA 21–20
Q4CINJohnson 2 yard run (Breech kick)CIN 27–21

[4]

Week 2

1234Total
• Bengals01071431
Jets01731030

Week 3

1234Total
• Browns3100720
Bengals0031417
  • Date: September 20
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium
  • Referee: Red Cashion
  • Television network: NBC

Week 4

1234OTTotal
Bills014010024
• Bengals010014327
  • Date: September 27
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium

Week 5

1234Total
Bengals307010
• Oilers077317
  • Date: October 4
  • Location: Astrodome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)

Week 6

1234Total
• Bengals31471741
Colts0501419

Week 7

1234Total
Steelers00077
• Bengals10314734
  • Date: October 18
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium
  • Referee: Jerry Markbreit
  • TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and John Brodie

Week 8

1234Total
Bengals00077
• Saints0071017

Week 9

1234Total
Oilers7001421
• Bengals0243734
  • Date: November 1
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium

Week 10

1234Total
• Bengals10210940
Chargers0100717

Week 11

1234Total
Rams030710
• Bengals10001424
  • Date: November 15
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium
  • Referee: Bob McElwee
  • TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and Hank Stram

Week 12

1234Total
Broncos0701421
• Bengals141401038

Week 13

1234Total
• Bengals141401341
Browns0701421
  • Date: November 29
  • Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium
  • Game start: 12:00 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: 36 °F (2 °C); wind 10 mph (16 km/h)
  • Referee: Jim Tunney
  • TV announcers (NBC): Bob Costas and Bob Trumpy
Scoring summary
Q1CIN Johnson 5 yard pass from Anderson (Breech kick)CIN 7–0
Q1CIN Collinsworth 39 yard pass from Anderson (Breech kick)CIN 14–0
Q2CINCollinsworth 7 yard pass from Anderson (Breech kick)CIN 21–0
Q2CLE Feacher 30 yard pass from Sipe (Bahr kick)CIN 21–7
Q2CIN Harris 2 yard pass from Anderson (Breech kick)CIN 28–7
Q4CLE Pruitt 1 yard run (Bahr kick)CIN 28–14
Q4CINJohnson 11 yard run (Breech kick)CIN 35–14
Q4CINJohnson 1 yard run (Breech kick)CIN 42–14
Q4CLEPruitt 7 yard pass from McDonald (Bahr kick)CIN 42–21

[5]

Week 14

1234Total
• 49ers770721
Bengals03003
  • Date: December 6
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium
  • Referee: Jerry Seeman
  • TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Fred Dryer

Week 15

1234Total
• Bengals0107017
Steelers030710
  • Date: December 13
  • Location: Three Rivers Stadium
  • Referee: Red Cashion
  • TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and John Brodie

Week 16

1234Total
• Bengals10170330
Falcons0210728

Playoffs

WeekDateOpponentResultLocationTV Time(EST)TV AnnouncersAttendance
DivisionalJanuary 3, 1982 Buffalo Bills W 28–21 Riverfront Stadium NBC 1:00pm Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen 55,420
Conference ChampionshipJanuary 10, 1982 San Diego Chargers W 27–7 Riverfront Stadium NBC 1:00pm Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen 46,302
Super Bowl January 24, 1982N San Francisco 49ers L 26–21 Pontiac Silverdome CBS 4:00pm Pat Summerall & John Madden 81,270

Divisional

1234Total
Bills077721
• Bengals1407728
  • Date: January 3
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

Conference Championship

1234Total
Chargers07007
• Bengals1073727
  • Date: January 10
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium
  • Referee: Fred Silva
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

Super Bowl

1234Total
• 49ers7130626
Bengals0071421
  • Date: January 24
  • Location: Pontiac Silverdome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty
  • TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Standings

AFC Central
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Cincinnati Bengals (1)1240.7504–210–2421304W2
Pittsburgh Steelers 880.5003–35–7356297L3
Houston Oilers 790.4384–26–6281355W1
Cleveland Browns 5110.3131–52–10276375L5

Awards and records

Milestones

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References

  1. ↑ "1981 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  2. ↑ "1981 Cincinnati Bengals starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Team rosters". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). January 23, 1982. p. 12.
  4. ↑ "Seattle Seahawks at Cincinnati Bengals - September 6th, 1981". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns - November 29th, 1981". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  6. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 400
  7. ↑ "The Bert Bell Award". Maxwell Football Club . Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  8. 1 2 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 37
  9. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 447
  10. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 442
  11. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 437
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