1981 Pittsburgh Steelers season

1981 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coach Chuck Noll
General manager Dick Haley
Owner Art Rooney
Home field Three Rivers Stadium
Results
Record 8–8
Division place 2nd in AFC Central
Playoff finish did not qualify
Pro Bowlers CB Mel Blount
LB Jack Lambert
S Donnie Shell
C Mike Webster
AP All-Pros Mel Blount (1st team)
Jack Lambert (1st team)
Mike Webster (1st team)
Donnie Shell (2nd team)
Team MVP Jack Lambert

After enduring an injury plagued 9-7 season the previous year, and missing the playoffs for the first time since 1971, the Steelers had hoped that the 1980 season was just a small hiatus from contending for championships. However, while the Steelers had flashes of their former glory years after starting the season with 2 unimpressive losses, the 1981 season would end in a 8-8 record and eventually prove to be the beginning of the end of the Steelers great dynasty of the 70's.

Personnel

Staff

1981 Pittsburgh Steelers staff
Front office
  • Chairman of the Board – Arthur J. Rooney
  • President – Daniel M. Rooney
  • Vice President – John R. McGinley
  • Vice President – Arthur J. Rooney, Jr.
  • Controller – Dennis P. Thimons
  • Traveling Secretary – James A. Boston
  • Public Relations Director – Ed Kiely
  • Publicity Director – Joe Gordon
  • Assistant Publicity Director – John Evenson
  • Director of Ticket Sales – Geraldine Glenn
  • Director of Player Personnel – Dick Haley
  • Assistant Director of Player Personnel – William Nunn, Jr.
  • Talent Scout – West Coast – Bob Schmitz
  • Pro Talent Scout – Tom Modrak
  • College Talent Scout – Joe Krupa

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches


Strength and conditioning

  • Paul Uram
  • Physician, M.D. – Dr. David S. Huber
  • Physician, M.D. – Dr. Anthony P. Yates
  • Physician, Orthopedic – Dr. Paul Steele
  • Neurological Surgery Consultant – Dr. Joseph C. Maroon
  • Dentist – Dr. George P. Boucek
  • Ophthalmologist – Dr. Phillip Buzzelli
  • Trainer – Ralph Berlin
  • Assistant Trainer – Gary Stragar
  • Equipment Manager – Anthony Parisi
  • Field Manager – Rodgers Freyvogel
  • Film Director – Bob McCartney
  • Photographers – Harry Homa, Bill Amatucci

[1]

Roster

1981 Pittsburgh Steelers final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • 78 Joe Cugliari DT (IR)
  • 55 Rick Donnalley C-G (IR)
  • 46 Steve Fedell LB (IR)
  • 46 Bryan Hinkle LB (IR)
  • 25 Ricky Martin WR (IR)
  • 87 Frank Wilson RB/TE (IR)
  • 40 Bill Riehl CB (IR)


Practice squad [1] [2] [3]


Rookies in italics
47 Active, 7 Inactive, Practice squad

Preseason

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Game Site Time (ET) TV Result Record
1 Sat. Aug. 8 at Cleveland Browns Cleveland Municipal Stadium 7:30 p.m. WPXI W 34–31 1–0
2 Sat. Aug. 15 at Philadelphia Eagles Veterans Stadium 6:00 p.m. WPXI L 36–20 1–1
3 Sat. Aug. 22 at Dallas Cowboys Texas Stadium 9:00 p.m. NBC L 24–14 1–2
4 Sat. Aug. 29 New York Giants Three Rivers Stadium 6:00 p.m. WPXI W 31–6 2–2

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Game Site Time (ET) TV Result Record
1 Sun. Sep. 6 Kansas City Chiefs Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC L 37–33 0–1
2 Thu. Sep. 10 at Miami Dolphins Miami Orange Bowl 8:30 p.m. ABC L 30–10 0–2
3 Sun. Sep. 20 New York Jets Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 38–10 1–2
4 Sun. Sep. 27 New England Patriots Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 27–21 (OT) 2–2
5 Sun. Oct. 4 at New Orleans Saints Louisiana Superdome 2:00 p.m. NBC W 20–6 3–2
6 Sun. Oct. 11 Cleveland Browns Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 13–7 4–2
7 Sun. Oct. 18 at Cincinnati Bengals Riverfront Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC L 34–7 4–3
8 Mon. Oct. 26 Houston Oilers Three Rivers Stadium 9:00 p.m. ABC W 26–13 5–3
9 Sun. Nov. 1 San Francisco 49ers Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. CBS L 17–14 5–4
10 Sun. Nov. 8 at Seattle Seahawks Kingdome 4:00 p.m. NBC L 24–21 5–5
11 Sun. Nov. 15 at Atlanta Falcons Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 34–20 6–5
12 Sun. Nov. 22 at Cleveland Browns Cleveland Municipal Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 32–10 7–5
13 Sun. Nov. 29 Los Angeles Rams Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. CBS W 24–0 8–5
14 Mon. Dec. 7 at Oakland Raiders Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 9:00 p.m. ABC L 30–27 8–6
15 Sun. Dec. 13 Cincinnati Bengals Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC L 17–10 8–7
16 Sun. Dec. 20 at Houston Oilers Astrodome 4:00 p.m. NBC L 21–20 8–8

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday September 6, 1981): vs. Kansas City Chiefs

1 2 3 4 Total
Chiefs 10 3 10 14 37
Steelers 6 13 7 7 33

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring Drives:

Week 2 (Thursday September 10, 1981): at Miami Dolphins

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 3 7 0 0 10
Dolphins 0 13 14 3 30

at Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

Scoring Drives:

Week 3 (Sunday September 20, 1981): vs. New York Jets

1 2 3 4 Total
Jets 0 3 0 7 10
Steelers 7 10 14 7 38

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring Drives:

Week 4 (Sunday September 27, 1981): vs. New England Patriots

1 2 3 4OT Total
Patriots 0 7 0 140 21
Steelers 7 7 7 06 27

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring Drives:

Week 5 (Sunday October 4, 1981): at New Orleans Saints

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 6 0 7 20
Saints 0 3 3 0 6

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Scoring Drives:

Week 6 (Sunday October 11, 1981): vs. Cleveland Browns

1 2 3 4 Total
Browns 0 7 0 0 7
Steelers 7 3 0 3 13

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring Drives:

Week 7 (Sunday October 18, 1981): at Cincinnati Bengals

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 0 0 7 7
Bengals 10 3 14 7 34

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

Scoring Drives:

Week 8 (Monday October 26, 1981): vs. Houston Oilers

1 2 3 4 Total
Oilers 0 3 0 10 13
Steelers 10 3 0 13 26

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring Drives:

Week 9 (Sunday November 1, 1981): vs. San Francisco 49ers

1 2 3 4 Total
49ers 0 10 0 7 17
Steelers 0 0 14 0 14

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring Drives:

Week 10 (Sunday November 8, 1981): at Seattle Seahawks

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 14 0 0 21
Seahawks 3 7 0 14 24

at The Kingdome, Seattle, Washington

Scoring Drives:

Week 11 (Sunday November 15, 1981): at Atlanta Falcons

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 7 13 7 34
Falcons 0 7 3 10 20

at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Scoring Drives:

Week 12 (Sunday November 22, 1981): at Cleveland Browns

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 12 0 6 14 32
Browns 3 7 0 0 10

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Scoring Drives:

Week 13 (Sunday November 29, 1981): vs. Los Angeles Rams

1 2 3 4 Total
Rams 0 0 0 0 0
Steelers 7 14 3 0 24

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring Drives:

Week 14 (Monday December 7, 1981): at Oakland Raiders

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 7 6 7 27
Raiders 0 7 7 16 30

at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California

Scoring Drives:

Week 15 (Sunday December 13, 1981): vs. Cincinnati Bengals

1 2 3 4 Total
Bengals 0 10 7 0 17
Steelers 0 3 0 7 10

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring Drives:

Week 16 (Sunday December 20, 1981): at Houston Oilers

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 3 3 14 0 20
Oilers 7 7 0 7 21

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Scoring Drives:

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

References

1. Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide 1982

  1. 1 2 1981 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  2. 1982 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  3. "1981 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
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