1981 Cincinnati Bengals season

1981 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Forrest Gregg
General manager	Paul Brown
Owner	Paul Brown
Home field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	12–4
Division place	1st AFC Central
Playoff finish	Won AFC Divisional Playoff (Bills) 28-21 Won AFC Championship Game (Chargers) 27-7 Lost Super Bowl XVI (49ers) 26-21

The Bengals playing against the 49ers in Super Bowl XVI.

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

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 Steelers.

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, the Bengals defeated San Diego, 27–7, at Riverfront Stadium in a temperature of nine degrees below zero with a wind-chill factor of minus-59.

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

Main article: 1981 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1981 Cincinnati Bengals draft
1	10	David Verser	Wide receiver	Kansas
2	37	Cris Collinsworth *	Wide receiver	Florida
3	64	John Simmons	Defensive back	SMU
4	93	Guy Frazier	Linebacker	Wyoming
5	120	Benjie Pryor	Tight end	Pittsburgh
6	146	Rex Robinson	Placekicker	Georgia
7	176	Jeff Schuh	Linebacker	Minnesota
8	202	Bobby Kemp	Defensive back	Cal State Fullerton
9	229	Jim Hannula	Offensive tackle	Northern Illinois
9	230	Samoa Samoa	Running back	Washington State
10	258	Hubert Simpson	Running back	Tennessee
11	285	Robert Jackson	Defensive back	Central Michigan
12	312	Mark O'Connell	Quarterback	Ball State
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[1]

Personnel

Staff

1981 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office

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

Head coaches

Head Coach – Forrest Gregg

Offensive coaches

Quarterbacks/Receivers – Lindy Infante
Offensive Backfield – George Sefcik
Tight Ends – Bruce Coslet
Offensive Line – Jim McNally

Defensive coaches

Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Hank Bullough
Defensive Line – Dick Modzelewski
Defensive Backfield – Dick LeBeau

Special teams coaches

Special Teams – Bruce Coslet

Strength and conditioning

Strength – Kim Wood

Roster

1981 Cincinnati Bengals roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

83 M. L. Harris
89 Dan Ross (American football)

Offensive linemen

74 Glenn Bujnoch G
58 Blair Bush C
62 Dave Lapham G
65 Max Montoya G
60 Blake Moore C
78 Anthony Muñoz T
76 Brad Oates T
68 Mike Obrovac T
70 Bobby Whitten T
77 Mike Wilson T

Defensive linemen

79 Ross Browner DE
67 Gary Burley DE
73 Eddie Edwards DE
71 Rod Horn NT
72 Mike St. Clair DE
75 Wilson Whitley DT

Linebackers

Defensive backs

34 Louis Breeden CB
47 Greg Bright S
24 Clarence Chapman CB
21 Oliver Davis CB
42 Mike Fuller S
44 Ray Griffin CB
27 Bryan Hicks S
26 Bobby Kemp S
13 Ken Riley CB
25 John Simmons CB

Special teams

10 Jim Breech K
87 Pat McInally P

Rookies in italics

^[2]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 6, 1981	Seattle Seahawks	W 27–21	41,177
2	September 13, 1981	at New York Jets	W 31–30	49,454
3	September 20, 1981	Cleveland Browns	L 20–17	52,170
4	September 27, 1981	Buffalo Bills	W 27–24	46,418
5	October 4, 1981	at Houston Oilers	L 17–10	44,350
6	October 11, 1981	at Baltimore Colts	W 41–19	33,060
7	October 18, 1981	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 34–7	57,090
8	October 25, 1981	at New Orleans Saints	L 17–7	46,336
9	November 1, 1981	Houston Oilers	W 34–21	54,736
10	November 8, 1981	at San Diego Chargers	W 40–17	51,259
11	November 15, 1981	Los Angeles Rams	W 24–10	56,836
12	November 22, 1981	Denver Broncos	W 38–21	57,207
13	November 29, 1981	at Cleveland Browns	W 41–21	75,186
14	December 6, 1981	San Francisco 49ers	L 21–3	56,796
15	December 13, 1981	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–10	50,623
16	December 20, 1981	at Atlanta Falcons	W 30–28	35,972

Game summaries

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seahawks	21	0	0	0	21
• Bengals	0	10	10	7	27

Date: September 6
Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game attendance: 41,177
Game weather: 69°F; wind 8
Referee: Bob Frederic
Television network: NBC

Scoring summary

Q1	SEA	Harris 29 yard interception return (Herrera kick)	SEA 7–0

Q1	SEA	Largent 36 yard pass from Zorn (Herrera kick)	SEA 14–0

Q1	SEA	Jodat 1 yard run (Herrera kick)	SEA 21–0

Q2	CIN	Breech 25 yard field goal	SEA 21–3

Q2	CIN	Johnson 3 yard run (Breech kick)	SEA 21–10

Q3	CIN	Breech 40 yard field goal	SEA 21–13

Q3	CIN	Griffin 3 yard run (Breech kick)	SEA 21–20

Q4	CIN	Johnson 2 yard run (Breech kick)	CIN 27–21

^[3]

Week 13

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	14	14	0	13	41
Browns	0	7	0	14	21

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Date: November 29
Game time: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 36°F, wind 10 mph
Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First Quarter

CIN – Pete Johnson 5 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Jim Breech kick) – Bengals 7–0
CIN – Cris Collinsworth 39 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Jim Breech kick) – Bengals 14–0

Second Quarter

CIN – Cris Collinsworth 7 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Jim Breech kick) – Bengals 21–0
CLE – Ricky Feacher 30 yard pass from Brian Sipe (Matt Bahr kick) – Bengals 21–7
CIN – M.L. Harris 2 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Jim Breech kick) – Bengals 28–7

Fourth Quarter

CLE – Mike Pruitt 1 yard run (Matt Bahr kick) – Bengals 28–14
CIN – Pete Johnson 11 yard run (Jim Breech kick) – Bengals 35–14
CIN – Pete Johnson 1 yard run (Jim Breech kick) – Bengals 42–14
CLE – Greg Pruitt 7 yard pass from Paul McDonald (Matt Bahr kick) – Bengals 42–21

Bengals

Ken Anderson
26/32, 235 Yds, 4 TD
Pete Johnson
21 Rush, 105 Yds, 2 TD
Cris Collinsworth
5 Rec, 76 Yds, 2 TD

Browns

Brian Sipe
19/28, 217 Yds, TD
Mike Pruitt
21 Rush, 83 Yds, TD
Ricky Feacher
3 Rec, 98 Yds, TD

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	January 3, 1982	Buffalo Bills	W 28–21	55,420
Conference Championship	January 10, 1982	San Diego Chargers	W 27–7	46,302
Super Bowl	January 24, 1982	N San Francisco 49ers	L 26–21	81,270

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cincinnati Bengals⁽¹⁾	12	4	0	.750	4–2	10–2	421	304	W2
Pittsburgh Steelers	8	8	0	.500	3–3	5–7	356	297	L3
Houston Oilers	7	9	0	.438	4–2	6–6	281	355	W1
Cleveland Browns	5	11	0	.313	1–5	2–10	276	375	L5

Playoffs

AFC Divisional Playoff

January 3 Buffalo W 28–21 55,420 Riverfront

AFC Championship Game

Freezer Bowl January 10 San Diego W 27–7 46,302 Riverfront

Super Bowl

Super Bowl XVI January 24 San Francisco L 21–26 81,270 Pontiac Silverdome

Awards and records

Ken Anderson, NFL MVP ^[4]
Ken Anderson, Bert Bell Award^[5]
Ken Anderson, Franchise Record (since broken), Touchdown Passes, 29 Passes ^[6]
Ken Anderson, Led NFL, Passer Rating, 98.4 Rating ^[7]

Milestones

Ken Anderson, Franchise Record (since broken), Most Touchdown Passes in One Season, 29 Passes ^[6]
Cris Collinsworth, 1st 1,000 Yard Receiving Season (1,009 yards) ^[8]
Pete Johnson, 1,000 Yard Rushing Season (1,077 yards) ^[9]

References

↑ "1981 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
↑ "1981 Cincinnati Bengals starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jul-03.
↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 400
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
1 2 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 37
↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 447
↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 442
↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 437

External links

1981 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com

Cincinnati Bengals

Founded in 1968 Based and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio

Franchise	Franchise History Seasons Coaches Players First-round draft picks Draft history Starting quarterbacks

Stadiums	Nippert Stadium Riverfront Stadium Paul Brown Stadium

Rivalries	Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers

Culture and lore	Freezer Bowl Ickey Shuffle "Welcome to the Jungle" Ben–Gals Bengalized Laura Vikmanis

Division championships (9)	1970 1973 1981 1988 1990 2005 2009 2013 2015

Conference championships (2)	1981 1988

Retired numbers	54

Media	WCKY WEBN WLW Radio network WKRC-TV

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: North Division

Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1968–1969)

Seasons (48)	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Cincinnati Bengals seasons

1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

1981 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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