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1981 Green Bay Packers season

NFL team season

Field	Value
team	Green Bay Packers
year	1981
record	8–8
division_place	3rd Central
coach	Bart Starr
stadium	Lambeau Field
Milwaukee County Stadium
playoffs	Did not qualify
shortnavlink	Packers seasons

Milwaukee County Stadium The 1981 Green Bay Packers season was their 63rd season overall and their 61st in the National Football League. The team posted an 8–8 record under coach Bart Starr, earning them a third-place finish in the NFC Central division. Led by the defense the Packers were number one in turnovers forced and number 9th overall. The offense did improve but still finished in the bottom half of the league. Needing a Giants loss or an Eagles win during the final week of the regular season (due to tiebreakers), the Packers gained control of their destiny at earning the final Wild Card spot by winning in their last regular season game but were defeated by the New York Jets 28–3. The Packers managed only 84 total yards against the Jets.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1981 NFL draft

Undrafted free agents

Player	Position	College
Craig Chrest	Wide receiver	Wisconsin–La Crosse
Bill Kazmaier	Guard	Wisconsin
Rick Kehr	Guard	Carthage
Greg Knafelc	Tight end	Notre Dame
David Petway	Safety	Northern Illinois
Randy Scott	Linebacker	Alabama
Robert Shackelford	Guard	St. Norbert
Pete Thompson	Wide receiver	Carroll (MT)

Personnel

Staff

President – Dominic Olejniczak
Vice president – Robert J. Parins
Corporate assistant to the president – Bob Harlan
Director of player personnel – Dick Corrick
Head coach – Bart Starr
Quarterbacks/offensive backs – Zeke Bratkowski
Receivers – Lew Carpenter
Offensive line – Ernie McMillan
Special assistant – Pete Kettela
Defensive coordinator – John Meyer
Defensive line – Doc Urich
Linebackers – John Marshall
Defensive backs – Ross Fichtner
Special teams – Dick Rehbein

Roster

Mike Hunt LB (Ret.) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]
Tim Smith S (Ret.) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue
1	September 6	at [Chicago Bears](1981-chicago-bears-season)	W 16–9	Soldier Field
2	September 13	[Atlanta Falcons](1981-atlanta-falcons-season)	L 31–17	Lambeau Field
3	September 20	at [Los Angeles Rams](1981-los-angeles-rams-season)	L 35–23	Anaheim Stadium
4	September 27	[Minnesota Vikings](1981-minnesota-vikings-season)	L 30–13	Milwaukee County Stadium
5	October 4	at [New York Giants](1981-new-york-giants-season)	W 27–14	Giants Stadium
6	October 11	[Tampa Bay Buccaneers](1981-tampa-bay-buccaneers-season)	L 21–10	Lambeau Field
7	October 18	[San Francisco 49ers](1981-san-francisco-49ers-season)	L 13–3	Milwaukee County Stadium
8	October 25	at [Detroit Lions](1981-detroit-lions-season)	L 31–27	Pontiac Silverdome
9	November 1	[Seattle Seahawks](1981-seattle-seahawks-season)	W 34–24	Lambeau Field
10	November 8	New York Giants	W 26–24	Milwaukee County Stadium
11	November 15	Chicago Bears	W 21–17	Lambeau Field
12	November 22	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 37–3	Tampa Stadium
13	November 29	at Minnesota Vikings	W 35–23	Metropolitan Stadium
14	December 6	Detroit Lions	W 31–17	Lambeau Field
15	December 13	at [New Orleans Saints](1981-new-orleans-saints-season)	W 35–7	Louisiana Superdome
16	December 20	at [New York Jets](1981-new-york-jets-season)	L 28–3	Shea Stadium

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 2: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Week 7: vs. San Francisco 49ers

First quarter

Second quarter

Third quarter

Fourth quarter

;Top passers

SF – Joe Montana – 23/32, 220 yards
GB – Lynn Dickey – 11/18, 156 yards ;Top rushers
SF – Johnny Davis – 16 rushes, 65 yards, 1 TD
GB – Harlan Huckleby – 10 rushes, 20 yards ;Top receivers
SF – Dwight Clark – 6 receptions, 55 yards
GB – Paul Coffman – 3 receptions, 67 yards

Week 9: vs. Seattle Seahawks

First quarter

SEA – John Harris 42-yard interception return (Efren Herrera kick), 10:47 (SEA 7–0)
GB – Paul Coffman 7-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Jan Stenerud kick), 5:57 (Tied 7–7) Second quarter
SEA – Dan Doornink 12-yard pass from Jim Zorn (Efren Herrera kick), 11:03 (SEA 14–7)
GB – David Whitehurst 1-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick), 5:19 (Tied 14–14)
GB – James Lofton 8-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Jan Stenerud kick), 4:18 (GB 21–14)
SEA – Dan Doornink 14-yard pass from Jim Zorn (Efren Herrera kick), 0:24 (Tied 21–21) Third quarter
SEA – Efren Herrera 54-yard field goal, 5:54 (SEA 24–21)
GB – James Lofton 38-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Jan Stenerud kick), 1:02 (GB 28–24) Fourth quarter
GB – Jan Stenerud 19-yard field goal, 1:58 (GB 31–24)
GB – Jan Stenerud 36-yard field goal, 0:45 (GB 34–24) Top passers
SEA – Jim Zorn: 12/23, 108 yds, 2 TD
GB – David Whitehurst: 19/31, 205 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT Top rushers
SEA – Theotis Brown: 17 car, 89 yds
GB – Gerry Ellis: 23 car, 127 yds Top receivers
SEA – Steve Largent: 3 rec, 45 yds
GB – James Lofton: 4 rec, 63 yds, 2 TD Team – pass – rush – total – to
SEA – 102 – 119 – 221 – 3
GB – 195 – 182 – 337 – 3

Week 11

Standings

References

"All Time Coaches Database". Packers.com.
[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198109060chi.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]. Retrieved 2014-Sep-14.
[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198111150gnb.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]. Retrieved 2014-Sep-14.

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.

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