1981 Washington Redskins season

The 1981 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 50th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 44th in Washington, D.C. The team improved on their 6–10 record from 1980 and finished with an 8–8 record, but missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. This was Joe Gibbs' first season as head coach. The team slumped early, losing its first 5 games before upsetting the Chicago Bears 24-7 in Chicago before losing to the Dolphins to sit at 1-6. The Redskins would do better in the second half, as they would win their next 4 games to sit at 5-6 and looking like they were going to reach the playoffs. However, losses to the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills eliminated the Redskins from any hopes at reaching the playoffs. The team would win its final 3 games of the season to end the season 8-8. Among these three wins was a close victory at RFK Stadium against the defending Super Bowl finalist Eagles, 15-13.

1981 Washington Redskins season
OwnerJack Kent Cooke
General managerBobby Beathard
Head coachJoe Gibbs
Home fieldRFK Stadium
Results
Record8–8
Division place4th NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Offseason

NFL draft
Main article: 1981 NFL draft
1981 Washington Redskins draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 20 Mark May *  Guard Pittsburgh
3 69 Russ Grimm * †  Guard Pittsburgh
4 90 Tom Flick  Quarterback Washington
5 119 Dexter Manley *  Defensive end Oklahoma State
5 132 Gary Sayre  Guard Cameron
6 148 Larry Kubin  Linebacker Penn State
8 201 Charlie Brown *  Wide receiver South Carolina State
9 231 Darryl Grant  Guard Rice
10 257 Phil Kessel  Quarterback Northern Michigan
10 267 Allan Kennedy  Offensive tackle Washington State
11 284 Jerry Hill  Wide receiver North Alabama
12 314 Clint Didier  Tight end Portland State
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff
1981 Washington Redskins staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Wayne Sevier


[2]

Roster
1981 Washington Redskins roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists
  • 86 Clint Didier TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

[3]

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 6 Dallas Cowboys L 10–26 0–1 RFK Stadium 55,045 Recap
2 September 13 New York Giants L 7–17 0–2 RFK Stadium 53,343 Recap
3 September 20 at St. Louis Cardinals L 30–40 0–3 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,592 Recap
4 September 27 at Philadelphia Eagles L 13–36 0–4 Veterans Stadium 70,664 Recap
5 October 4 San Francisco 49ers L 17–30 0–5 RFK Stadium 51,843 Recap
6 October 11 at Chicago Bears W 24–7 1–5 Soldier Field 57,683 Recap
7 October 18 at Miami Dolphins L 10–13 1–6 Miami Orange Bowl 47,367 Recap
8 October 25 New England Patriots W 24–22 2–6 RFK Stadium 50,394 Recap
9 November 1 St. Louis Cardinals W 42–21 3–6 RFK Stadium 50,643 Recap
10 November 8 Detroit Lions W 33–31 4–6 RFK Stadium 52,096 Recap
11 November 15 at New York Giants W 30–27 (OT) 5–6 Giants Stadium 63,133 Recap
12 November 22 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–24 5–7 Texas Stadium 64,587 Recap
13 November 29 at Buffalo Bills L 14–21 5–8 Rich Stadium 59,624 Recap
14 December 6 Philadelphia Eagles W 15–13 6–8 RFK Stadium 52,206 Recap
15 December 13 Baltimore Colts W 38–14 7–8 RFK Stadium 46,706 Recap
16 December 20 at Los Angeles Rams W 30–7 8–8 Anaheim Stadium 52,224 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings
NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Dallas Cowboys(2) 12 4 0 .750 6–2 8–4 367 277 L1
Philadelphia Eagles(4) 10 6 0 .625 4–4 7–5 368 221 W1
New York Giants(5) 9 7 0 .563 5–3 8–6 295 257 W3
Washington Redskins 8 8 0 .500 3–5 6–6 347 349 W3
St. Louis Cardinals 7 9 0 .438 2–6 4–8 315 408 L2

References
  1. "1981 Washington Redskins draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  2. Washington Redskins 1981 Press Guide. pp. 2–21.
  3. "1981 Washington Redskins starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
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