1981 Cleveland Browns season

The 1981 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 32nd season with the National Football League. In a highly disappointing season filled with a number of key injuries at different stretches during the campaign, the Browns finished the year with five straight defeats, their longest losing streak since 1975, and dropped seven of their final eight games. By contrast, in 1980, the Browns enjoyed a five-game winning streak.

1981 Cleveland Browns season
OwnerArt Modell
Head coachSam Rutigliano
Home fieldCleveland Municipal Stadium
Local radioWHK
Results
Record5–11
Division place4th AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

Season summary

The Browns had a similar kind of season in 1981—eight of the games were decided by six points or less, and five were decided by three points or less. Sipe threw more interceptions (25) than TDs (17), his completion rate fell to just over 55 percent and his quarterback rating plummeted to 68.2. FB Mike Pruitt rushed for more than 1,000 yards (1,103) for the third straight year in 1981, and caught 63 passes for the second season in a row. Tight end Ozzie Newsome set a team record (since broken) for receptions with 69 and had the second-most receiving yards in Browns history at the time with 1,002.

HB Greg Pruitt established a personal best with 65 catches.[1]

Ironically, through the 2022 NFL season the 1981 Browns are the only team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to have beaten both eventual Super Bowl participants, the Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers and the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals, in the regular season while finishing with a losing record.

Offseason

NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1981 NFL Draft.

Round Overall Player Position School/Club team
122Hanford DixonDefensive backSouthern Miss
492Mike RobinsonDefensive endArizona
5134Steve CoxPunterArkansas
6160Ron SimmonsDefensive tackleFlorida State
7187Eddie JohnsonLinebackerLouisville
9244Randy SchleusenerGuardNebraska
10271Dean PraterDefensive endOklahoma State
11298Larry FridayDefensive backMississippi State
12325Kevin McGillOffensive tackleOregon

[2]

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 7 San Diego Chargers L 14–44 0–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,904 Recap
2 September 13 Houston Oilers L 3–9 0–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 79,483 Recap
3 September 20 at Cincinnati Bengals W 20–17 1–2 Riverfront Stadium 52,170 Recap
4 September 27 Atlanta Falcons W 28–17 2–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,283 Recap
5 October 4 at Los Angeles Rams L 16–27 2–3 Anaheim Stadium 63,924 Recap
6 October 11 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–13 2–4 Three Rivers Stadium 53,255 Recap
7 October 18 New Orleans Saints W 20–17 3–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 76,059 Recap
8 October 25 Baltimore Colts W 42–28 4–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,986 Recap
9 November 1 at Buffalo Bills L 13–22 4–5 Rich Stadium 78,266 Recap
10 November 8 at Denver Broncos L 20–23 (OT) 4–6 Mile High Stadium 74,859 Recap
11 November 15 at San Francisco 49ers W 15–12 5–6 Candlestick Park 52,455 Recap
12 November 22 Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–32 5–7 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 77,958 Recap
13 November 29 Cincinnati Bengals L 21–41 5–8 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 75,186 Recap
14 December 3 at Houston Oilers L 13–17 5–9 Houston Astrodome 44,502 Recap
15 December 12 New York Jets L 13–14 5–10 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 56,866 Recap
16 December 20 at Seattle Seahawks L 21–42 5–11 Kingdome 51,435 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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

Personnel

Staff / Coaches
1981 Cleveland Browns staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

Roster
1981 Cleveland Browns final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists
  • 53 Bill Cowher ILB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 68 Joel Patten T (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 , 3 practice squad

[3]

Game summaries

Week 4: vs. Atlanta
Week 4: Atlanta Falcons at Cleveland Browns – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 3 7 0717
Browns 0 21 7028

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • Date: September 27
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C), relative humidity 56%, round (wind) 17 mph (27 km/h)
  • Game attendance: 78,283
  • Referee: Jerry Markbreit
  • TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully (play–by–play) and John Madden (color commentator)
Game information

References
  1. "Season summary and statistics at Cleveland Browns.com". Archived from the original on October 25, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  2. "1981 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
  3. "1981 Cleveland Browns Starters, Roster, & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.


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