1981 BC Lions season

The 1981 BC Lions finished in third place in the West Division with a 10–6 record.

1981 BC Lions season
Head coachVic Rapp
Home fieldEmpire Stadium
Results
Record10–6
Division place3rd, West
Playoff finishLost West Final

Joe Paopao had an excellent season with 3777 yards passing and 28 passing touchdowns and running back Larry Key had 19 touchdowns in a bounceback season after missing most of the 1980 season due to injury. Wideout Ty Gray had a breakout season with 1428 yards receiving.

The Lions beat Winnipeg in the West Semi-Final, but fell to the Eskimos 22-16 in the Western Final when Warren Moon hit Brian Kelly for a late 4th quarter touchdown. The Western Final included a game changing officiating error involving a Devon Ford kickoff return for a Lions touchdown when the officials incorrectly stated he stepped out-of-bounds. Television replays showed he clearly did not step out-of-bounds (video replay was instituted 25 years later in 2006).

Running back Larry Key and centre Al Wilson made the CFL all-star team.

This season marked the first time in Lions history that every regular season (16 in all) and playoff game (2) was televised.

Offseason

CFL Draft
Rd Pick Player Position School

Preseason
Date Opponent Score Result

Regular season

Season standings
West Division
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Edmonton Eskimos16141157627729
Winnipeg Blue Bombers16115051729922
BC Lions16106043837720
Saskatchewan Roughriders1697043137118
Calgary Stampeders16610030636712

[1]

Season schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record
1 July 4 vs. Montreal Alouettes W 48–8 1–0
2 Bye
3 July 16 at Toronto Argonauts W 32–28 2–0
4 July 25 vs. Ottawa Rough Riders W 31–17 3–0
5 July 31 at Calgary Stampeders W 52–29 4–0
6 Aug 9 at Saskatchewan Roughriders W 28–24 5–0
7 Aug 16 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 23–37 5–1
8 Aug 23 at Montreal Alouettes W 29–14 6–1
9 Aug 29 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 31–21 7–1
10 Sept 4 at Ottawa Rough Riders L 7–17 7–2
11 Sept 13 at Edmonton Eskimos L 21–38 7–3
12 Sept 19 vs. Toronto Argonauts W 45–14 8–3
13 Sept 27 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 10–46 8–4
14 Oct 3 vs. Edmonton Eskimos L 12–22 8–5
15 Bye
16 Oct 17 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 22–49 8–6
17 Oct 25 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 34–7 9–6
18 Oct 31 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders W 13–5 10–6

[2]

Playoffs

West Semi-Final
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4Total
BC Lions0113115
Winnipeg Blue Bombers710311

West Final
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4Total
BC Lions3130016
Edmonton Eskimos636722


Offensive leaders
PlayerPassing ydsRushing ydsReceiving ydsTD
Joe Paopao37772500
Larry Key109823719
John Henry White4823861
Tyrone Gray1014289
Ricky Ellis135944
Al Charuk05825
Harry Holt43672

Awards and records

1981 CFL All-Stars

1981 CFL Western All-Stars
  • RB – Larry Key, CFL Western All-Star
  • WR – Tyrone Grey, CFL All-Star
  • C – Al Wilson, CFL Western All-Star

References
  1. "CFL.ca". Archived from the original on 2009-07-14. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  2. "British Columbia Lions All-Time Canadian Football League (CFL) Records". Archived from the original on 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-08.


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