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

1981 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
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 14 Ken Anderson 15 Turk Schonert 12 Jack Thompson Running backs 40 Charles Alexander 45 Archie Griffin 36 Jim Hargrove 46 Pete Johnson FB 20 Elvis Peacock Wide receivers 84 Don Bass 80 Cris Collinsworth 85 Isaac Curtis 86 Steve Kreider 81 David Verser		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 50 Glenn Cameron 52 Tom Dinkel 49 Guy Frazier 53 Bo Harris 55 Jim LeClair 51 Rick Razzano 59 Jeff Schuh 57 Reggie Williams		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

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. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jul-03.
4. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 400
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
6. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 37
7. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 447
8. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 442
9. 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