From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1981 Cincinnati Bengals season

NFL team season

Field	Value
team	Cincinnati Bengals
year	1981
record	12–4
division_place	1st AFC Central
coach	Forrest Gregg
general_manager	Paul Brown
owner	Paul Brown
stadium	Riverfront Stadium
playoffs	Won [Divisional Playoffs](1981-82-nfl-playoffs)
(vs. [Bills](1981-buffalo-bills-season)) 28–21
Won AFC Championship
(vs. [Chargers](1981-san-diego-chargers-season)) 27–7
Lost Super Bowl XVI
(vs. [49ers](1981-san-francisco-49ers-season)) 21–26
shortnavlink	Bengals seasons

(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.

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.

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 with a wind-chill factor of -59 F, 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

Main article: 1981 NFL draft

Undrafted free agents

Player	Position	College
Ken Brown	Wide receiver	Nebraska
Jim Destefano	Linebacker	Cornell
Dennis Dunn	Safety	Yale

Personnel

Staff

Owner/General Manager – Paul Brown
President – John Sawyer
Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown
Head Coach – Forrest Gregg
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Receivers – Lindy Infante
Offensive Backfield – George Sefcik
Tight Ends – Bruce Coslet
Offensive Line – Jim McNally
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Hank Bullough
Defensive Line – Dick Modzelewski
Defensive Backfield – Dick LeBeau
Special Teams – Bruce Coslet
Strength – Kim Wood

Roster

:Source:

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Location	TV Time(EST)	TV Announcers	Attendance
1	September 6	[Seattle Seahawks](1981-seattle-seahawks-season)	W 27–21	Riverfront Stadium	NBC 1:00 pm	Mike Adamle & Rocky Bleier	41,177
2	September 13	at [New York Jets](1981-new-york-jets-season)	W 31–30	Shea Stadium	NBC 4:00pm	Charlie Jones & Len Dawson	49,454
3	September 20	[Cleveland Browns](1981-cleveland-browns-season)	L 20–17	Riverfront Stadium	NBC 1:00 pm	Bob Costas & Bob Trumpy	52,170
4	September 27	[Buffalo Bills](1981-buffalo-bills-season)	W 27–24	Riverfront Stadium	NBC 1:00 pm	Jay Randolph & Mike Haffner	46,418
5	October 4	at [Houston Oilers](1981-houston-oilers-season)	L 17–10	Astrodome	NBC 1:00 pm	Marv Albert & Jim Turner	44,350
6	October 11	at [Baltimore Colts](1981-baltimore-colts-season)	W 41–19	Memorial Stadium	NBC 1:00 pm	Bob Costas & Bob Trumpy	33,060
7	October 18	[Pittsburgh Steelers](1981-pittsburgh-steelers-season)	W 34–7	Riverfront Stadium	NBC 1:00 pm	Don Criqui & John Brodie	57,090
8	October 25	at [New Orleans Saints](1981-new-orleans-saints-season)	L 17–7	Louisiana Superdome	NBC 1:00 pm	Mike Adamle & Mike Haffner	46,336
9	November 1	Houston Oilers	W 34–21	Riverfront Stadium	NBC 1:00 pm	Bob Costas & Bob Trumpy	54,736
10	November 8	at [San Diego Chargers](1981-san-diego-chargers-season)	W 40–17	Jack Murphy Stadium	NBC 4:00 pm	Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen	51,259
11	November 15	[Los Angeles Rams](1981-los-angeles-rams-season)	W 24–10	Riverfront Stadium	CBS 1:00 pm	Vin Scully & Hank Stram	56,836
12	November 22	[Denver Broncos](1981-denver-broncos-season)	W 38–21	Riverfront Stadium	NBC 1:00 pm	Bob Costas & Gene Washington	57,207
13	November 29	at Cleveland Browns	W 41–21	Cleveland Stadium	NBC 1:00 pm	Bob Costas & Bob Trumpy	75,186
14	December 6	[San Francisco 49ers](1981-san-francisco-49ers-season)	L 21–3	Riverfront Stadium	CBS 1:00 pm	Tim Ryan & Fred Dryer	56,796
15	December 13	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–10	Three Rivers Stadium	NBC 1:00 pm	Don Criqui & John Brodie	50,623
16	December 20	at [Atlanta Falcons](1981-atlanta-falcons-season)	W 30–28	Fulton County Stadium	NBC 4:00 pm	Charlie Jones & Len Dawson	35,972

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Pete Johnson 21 Rush, 105 Yds

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Location	TV Time(EST)	TV Announcers	Attendance
Divisional	January 3, 1982	[Buffalo Bills](1981-buffalo-bills-season)	W 28–21	Riverfront Stadium	NBC 1:00pm	Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen	55,420
Conference Championship	January 10, 1982	[San Diego Chargers](1981-san-diego-chargers-season)	W 27–7	Riverfront Stadium	NBC 1:00pm	Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen	46,302
Super Bowl	January 24, 1982	N [San Francisco 49ers](1981-san-francisco-49ers-season)	L 26–21	Pontiac Silverdome	CBS 4:00pm	Pat Summerall & John Madden	81,270

Divisional

Conference Championship

Super Bowl

Standings

Awards and records

Ken Anderson, NFL MVP
Ken Anderson, Bert Bell Award
Ken Anderson, Franchise Record (since broken), Touchdown Passes, 29 Passes
Ken Anderson, Led NFL, Passer Rating, 98.4 Rating

Milestones

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

References

"1981 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
"1981 Cincinnati Bengals starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
(January 23, 1982). "Team rosters". Spokane Chronicle.
"Seattle Seahawks at Cincinnati Bengals - September 6th, 1981".
"Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns - November 29th, 1981".
''NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book'', Workman Publishing Co, New York, {{ISBN. 0-7611-2480-2, p. 400
"The Bert Bell Award". [[Maxwell Football Club]].
''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

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1981-nfl-season-by-team american-football-conference-championship-seasons cincinnati-bengals-seasons afc-central-championship-seasons 1981-in-sports-in-ohio

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1981 Cincinnati Bengals season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report