1981 Pittsburgh Steelers season

The 1981 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 49th in the National Football League. 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 an 8–8 record and eventually prove the end of the Steelers great dynasty of the 1970s. The Steelers had a chance to make the playoffs with an 8–5 start to the year but lost all of their last three games to miss the playoffs.

Offseason

NFL draft

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Schedule

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
Game weather: 67 °F or 19.4 °C, wind 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h; 4.3 kn)
Game attendance: 53,305
Referee: Jim Tunney
TV announcers: (NBC) Bob Costas (play by play), Bob Trumpy (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Swann 18 pass from Bradshaw (kick failed)
Kansas City – Marshall 48 pass from Kenney (Lowery kick)
Kansas City – FG Lowery 35
Pittsburgh – Harris 7 run (kick failed)
Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Trout kick)
Kansas City – FG Lowery 40
Kansas City – Carson 53 pass from Kenney (Lowery kick)
Pittsburgh – Hawthorne 1 run (Trout kick)
Kansas City – FG Lowery 42
Kansas City – McKnight 3 run (Lowery kick)
Pittsburgh – Smith 41 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Kansas City – Howard 65 fumble return (Lowery kick)

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

at Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

Game time: 8:30 pm EDT
Game weather: 81 °F or 27.2 °C, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
Game attendance: 74,190
Referee: Red Cashion
TV announcers: (ABC) Frank Gifford (play by play), Fran Tarkenton & Howard Cosell (color commentators)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – FG Trout 23
Miami – Woodley 1 run (kick failed)
Miami – Franklin 1 run (von Schamann kick)
Pittsburgh – Smith 32 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Miami – Nathan 13 pass from Woodley (von Schamann kick)
Miami – Vigorito 87 punt return (von Schamann kick)
Miami – FG von Schamann 32

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

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
Game weather: 59 °F or 15 °C, wind 17 miles per hour (27 km/h; 15 kn)
Game attendance: 52,973
Referee: Gordon McCarter
TV announcers: (NBC) Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Davis 9 run (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Trout 25
Pittsburgh – Pollard 23 run (Trout kick)
New York Jets – FG Leahy 47
Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 1 run (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – Pollard 1 run (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – Thornton 1 run (Trout kick)
New York Jets – McNeil 17 pass from Ryan (Leahy kick)

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

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
Game weather: 68 °F or 20 °C, wind 17 miles per hour (27 km/h; 15 kn)
Game attendance: 53,344
Referee: Gene Barth
TV announcers: (NBC) Bob Costas (play by play), Bob Trumpy (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – Cunningham 1 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
New England – Cavanaugh 1 run (Smith kick)
Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Trout kick)
New England – Collins 10 run (Smith kick)
New England – Morgan 12 pass from Cavanaugh (Smith kick)
Pittsburgh – Swann 24 pass from Bradshaw

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

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Game time: 2:00 pm EDT
Game weather: Dome
Game attendance: 64,578
Referee: Jerry Seeman
TV announcers: (NBC) Sam Nover (play by play), Harmon Wages (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Swann 16 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Trout 25
New Orleans – FG Ricardo 26
Pittsburgh – FG Trout 43
New Orleans – FG Ricardo 33
Pittsburgh – Stallworth 47 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)

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

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
Game weather: 51 °F or 10.6 °C, wind 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn)
Game attendance: 53,255
Referee: Ben Dreith
TV announcers: (NBC) Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Stallworth 9 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Trout 19
Cleveland – Newsome 29 pass from Sipe (Bahr kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Trout 23

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

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
Game weather: 57 °F or 13.9 °C, wind 20 miles per hour (32 km/h; 17 kn)
Game attendance: 57,090
Referee: Jerry Markbreit
TV announcers: (NBC) Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Cincinnati – FG Breech 27
Cincinnati – Johnson 3 run (Breech kick)
Cincinnati – FG Breech 23
Cincinnati – Verser 73 pass from Ken Anderson (Breech kick)
Cincinnati – Alexander 3 run (Breech kick)
Cincinnati – Johnson 5 pass from Ken Anderson (Breech kick)
Pittsburgh – Smith 17 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)

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

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time: 9:00 pm EST
Game weather: 53 °F or 11.7 °C, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
Game attendance: 52,732
Referee: Fred Silva
TV announcers: (ABC) Frank Gifford (play by play), Don Meredith & Fran Tarkenton (color commentators)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – FG Trout 19
Pittsburgh – Smith 46 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Houston – FG Fritsch 34
Pittsburgh – FG Trout 19
Houston – Casper 52 pass from Stabler (Fritsch kick)
Houston – FG Fritsch 44
Pittsburgh – Stallworth 6 pass from Bradshaw (kick failed)
Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Trout kick)

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

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time: 1:00 pm EST
Game weather: 50 °F or 10 °C, wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
Game attendance: 52,878
Referee: Bob Frederic
TV announcers: (CBS) Vin Scully (play by play), Hank Stram (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

San Francisco – Young 5 pass from Montana (Wersching kick)
San Francisco – FG Wersching 45
Pittsburgh – Blount 50 interception return (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – Smith 22 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
San Francisco – Easley 1 run (Wersching kick)

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

at The Kingdome, Seattle, Washington

Game time: 4:00 pm EST
Game weather: Dome
Game attendance: 59,058
Referee: Dick Jorgensen
TV announcers: (NBC) Jay Randolph (play by play), Rocky Bleier (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Harris 6 run (Trout kick)
Seattle – FG Herrera 37
Pittsburgh – Malone 90 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – Thornton 4 run (Trout kick)
Seattle – Doornink 44 pass from Zorn (Herrera kick)
Seattle – T. Brown 1 run (Herrera kick)
Seattle – T. Brown 1 run (Herrera kick)

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

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Game time: 1:00 pm EST
Game weather: 53 °F or 11.7 °C, wind 11 miles per hour (18 km/h; 9.6 kn)
Game attendance: 57,485
Referee: Pat Haggerty
TV announcers: (NBC) Bob Costas (play by play), Bob Trumpy (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Cunningham 18 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – Stallworth 6 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Atlanta – Jackson 35 pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick)
Pittsburgh – Stallworth 19 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Atlanta – FG Luckhurst 43
Pittsburgh – Grossman 14 pass from Bradshaw (kick blocked)
Atlanta – Jenkins 30 pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick)
Pittsburgh – Swann 22 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Atlanta – FG Luckhurst 22

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

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Game time: 1:00 pm EST
Game weather: 30 °F or −1.1 °C, wind 15 miles per hour (24 km/h; 13 kn)
Game attendance: 77,958
Referee: Gene Barth
TV announcers: (NBC) Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Cleveland – FG Bahr 33
Pittsburgh – Hawthorne 1 run (kick failed)
Pittsburgh – Thornton 3 run (kick failed)
Cleveland – Logan 13 pass from Sipe (Bahr kick)
Pittsburgh – Harris 2 run (kick failed)
Pittsburgh – Pinney 1 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – Moser 5 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)

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

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time: 1:00 pm EST
Game weather: 33 °F or 0.6 °C, wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
Game attendance: 51,854
Referee: Tom Dooley
TV announcers: (CBS) Vin Scully (play by play), Hank Stram (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – Swann 9 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 1 run (Trout kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Trout 21

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

at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California

Game time: 9:00 pm EST
Game weather: 56 °F or 13.3 °C, wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)
Game attendance: 51,769
Referee: Jim Tunney
TV announcers: (ABC) Frank Gifford (play by play), Don Meredith & Howard Cosell (color commentators)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Cunningham 5 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
Oakland – Ramsey 25 pass from Wilson (Bahr kick)
Pittsburgh – Smith 19 pass from Malone (Trout kick)
Oakland – Whittington 17 pass from Wilson (Bahr kick)
Pittsburgh – Malone 11 run (kick failed)
Oakland – Chandler 36 pass from Wilson (kick failed)
Oakland – Watts 53 punt return (Bahr kick)
Oakland – FG Bahr 29
Pittsburgh – Smith 17 pass from Malone (Trout kick)

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

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time: 1:00 pm EST
Game weather: 27 °F or −2.8 °C, wind 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h; 4.3 kn)
Game attendance: 50,623
Referee: Red Cashion
TV announcers: (NBC) Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – FG Trout 48
Cincinnati – FG Breech 38
Cincinnati – Curtis 2 pass from Ken Anderson (Breech kick)
Cincinnati – Kreider 22 pass from Ken Anderson (Breech kick)
Pittsburgh – Harris 2 pass from Malone (Trout kick)

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

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Game time: 4:00 pm EST
Game weather: Dome
Game attendance: 41,056
Referee: Bob McElwee
TV announcers: (NBC) Phil Stone (play by play), Gene Washington (color commentator)

Scoring drives: