1981 Dallas Cowboys season

1981 Dallas Cowboys season
Head coach	Tom Landry
General manager	Tex Schramm
Owner	Clint Murchison, Jr.
Home field	Texas Stadium
Results
Record	12–4
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Conference Championship

The 1981 Dallas Cowboys season was their 22nd in the league. The team matched their previous output of 12–4, winning their fifth division title in six years.^[1] They lost the Conference Championship game for the second straight season.

The season began with four straight victories, followed by two losses (including a surprising 45–14 blowout loss to the 49ers in week six). The Cowboys rebounded to win 8 of their 9 games to clinch the NFC East but had to settle for the conference's number two seed behind the 49ers.

The Cowboys easily defeated Tampa Bay in the divisional playoff to earn a rematch with the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. The game was much closer this time, and the Cowboys still held a 27–21 lead with less than a minute to play. However, Joe Montana led a late drive and hit Dwight Clark in the famous "Catch" to give San Francisco a 28–27 lead. On the ensuing Cowboys possession, Danny White completed a pass to Drew Pearson, and was only an arms length away from breaking free from Eric Wright and most likely scoring a touchdown. Jim Stuckey recovered a White fumble on the next play, then the 49ers ran out the clock for the win.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 6, 1981	at Washington Redskins	W 26–10	55,045
2	September 13, 1981	St. Louis Cardinals	W 30–17	63,602
3	September 21, 1981	at New England Patriots	W 35–21	60,311
4	September 27, 1981	New York Giants	W 18–10	63,449
5	October 4, 1981	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 20–17	49,477
6	October 11, 1981	at San Francisco 49ers	L 45–14	57,574
7	October 18, 1981	Los Angeles Rams	W 29–17	64,649
8	October 25, 1981	Miami Dolphins	W 28–27	64,221
9	November 1, 1981	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–14	72,111
10	November 9, 1981	Buffalo Bills	W 27–14	62,583
11	November 15, 1981	at Detroit Lions	L 27–24	79,694
12	November 22, 1981	Washington Redskins	W 24–10	64,587
13	November 26, 1981	Chicago Bears	W 10–9	63,499
14	December 6, 1981	at Baltimore Colts	W 37–13	54,871
15	December 13, 1981	Philadelphia Eagles	W 21–10	64,955
16	December 19, 1981	at New York Giants	L 13–10	73,009

Game notes

Week 10

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	7	7	0	0	14
• Cowboys	7	0	20	0	27

Date: November 9
Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Game start: 8:00 p.m.
Game attendance: 62,583
Game weather: 50°F; Wind 20
Referee: Gordon McCarter
TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell

Scoring summary

1	BUF	Jerry Butler 16 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)	BUF 7–0

1	DAL	Doug Cosbie 12 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick)	Tied 7–7

2	BUF	Curtis Brown 9 yard pass from Joe Cribbs (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)	BUF 14–7

3	DAL	Tony Dorsett 73 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick)	Tied 14–14

3	DAL	Tony Hill 37 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick)	DAL 21–14

3	DAL	Rafael Septien 47 yard field goal	DAL 24–14

3	DAL	Rafael Septien 31 yard field goal	DAL 27–14

^[2]

Week 12

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	7	3	0	10
• Cowboys	7	3	7	7	24

Date: November 22
Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Game start: 3:00 p.m.
Game attendance: 64,587
Game weather: 51°F; wind 7
TV announcers (CBS): Tom Brookshier and Roger Staubach

Scoring summary

1	DAL	Butch Johnson 28 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick)	DAL 7–0

2	DAL	Rafael Septien 25 yard field goal	DAL 10–0

2	WSH	Nick Giaquinto 7 yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick)	DAL 10–7

3	WSH	Mark Moseley 26 yard field goal	Tie 10–10

3	DAL	Doug Cosbie 10 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick)	DAL 17–10

4	DAL	Ron Springs 1 yard run (Rafael Septien kick)	DAL 24–10

^[3]

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	January 2, 1982	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 38–0	64,848
Conference	January 10, 1982	at San Francisco 49ers	L 28–27	60,525

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys⁽²⁾	12	4	0	.750	6–2	8–4	367	277	L1
Philadelphia Eagles⁽⁴⁾	10	6	0	.625	4–4	7–5	368	221	W1
New York Giants⁽⁵⁾	9	7	0	.563	5–3	8–6	295	257	W3
Washington Redskins	8	8	0	.500	3–5	6–6	347	349	W3
St. Louis Cardinals	7	9	0	.438	2–6	4–8	315	408	L2

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1981 roster

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

76 Larry Bethea DT
78 John Dutton DT
72 Ed Jones DE
79 Harvey Martin DE
77 Bruce Thornton DE
54 Randy White DT

Linebackers

53 Bob Breunig MLB
59 Guy Brown OLB
51 Anthony Dickerson OLB
58 Mike Hegman OLB
57 Angelo King MLB/OLB
50 D. D. Lewis OLB
55 Danny Spradlin MLB

Defensive Backs

31 Benny Barnes SS/CB
26 Michael Downs FS
27 Ron Fellows CB
32 Dennis Thurman CB
24 Everson Walls CB
41 Charlie Waters SS
45 Steve Wilson CB/WR

Special Teams

1 Rafael Septien K

Reserve Lists

47 Dextor Clinkscale FS (IR)
62 John Fitzgerald C (IR)
42 Randy Hughes SS (IR)
56 Bill Roe MLB (IR)
52 Robert Shaw C (IR)
75 Ron Spears DE (IR)

Rookies in italics
45 Active, 6 Inactive

References

Dallas Cowboys

Founded in 1960 Based in Arlington, Texas Headquartered in Frisco, Texas

Franchise	Franchise History Coaches Players Seasons Expansion draft Draft history Starting quarterbacks First-round draft picks The Ford Center at The Star

Stadiums	Cotton Bowl Texas Stadium AT&T Stadium

Culture	NFL on Thanksgiving Day America's Team Cheerleaders Doomsday Defense Crazy Ray Rowdy Jerry Jones Black Sunday (film) King of the Hill

Lore	Tom Landry Tex Schramm Captain Comeback Ice Bowl Hail Mary The Catch Herschel Walker trade Dirty Dozen Ring of Honor Bounty Bowl series

Rivalries	New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles Washington Redskins San Francisco 49ers Pittsburgh Steelers Houston Oilers/Texans

Division championships (22)	1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1981 1985 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1998 2007 2009 2014

Conference championships (10)	1966 1967 1970 1971 1975 1977 1978 1992 1993 1995

League Championships (5)	1971 (VI) 1977 (XII) 1992 (XXVII) 1993 (XXVIII) 1995 (XXX)

Ring of Honor	Bob Lilly Don Meredith Don Perkins Chuck Howley Mel Renfro Roger Staubach Lee Roy Jordan Tom Landry Tony Dorsett Randy White Bob Hayes Tex Schramm Cliff Harris Rayfield Wright Troy Aikman Michael Irvin Emmitt Smith Drew Pearson Charles Haley Larry Allen Darren Woodson

Media	Broadcasters Radio network KRLD-FM Brad Sham Babe Laufenberg

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: East Division

Seasons (56)	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 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

Championship seasons in bold

Dallas Cowboys seasons

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 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

Bold indicates Super Bowl victory 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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