1981 Chicago Bears season

The 1981 season was the Chicago Bears' 62nd in the National Football League, and their fourth under head coach Neill Armstrong. The team failed to improve on their 7–9 record from 1980 to finish at 6–10, and failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season. At the end of the season, Neill Armstrong was fired by the Bears.

1981 Chicago Bears season
Owner	George Halas
General manager	Jim Finks
Head coach	Neill Armstrong
Home stadium	Soldier Field
Results
Record	6–10
Division place	5th NFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1980 Bears seasons 1982 →

One unusual sidelight to the season was that of the Bears' 6 victories, 4 of them were against opponents in the AFC West; including a 20–17 upset of San Diego in week 8 and a 35–24 victory that eliminated the Broncos from playoff contention on the final week of the regular season.

1981 NFL draft

Main article: 1981 NFL draft

1981 Chicago Bears draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	11	Keith Van Horne	Offensive tackle	USC
2	38	Mike Singletary * †	Linebacker	Baylor
3	67	Ken Margerum	Wide receiver	Stanford
4	65	Todd Bell *	Safety	Ohio State
6	150	Reuben Henderson	Cornerback	San Diego State
7	177	Jeff Fisher	Cornerback	USC
8	205	Scott Zettek	Wide receiver	Notre Dame
9	232	Frank Ditta	Offensive guard	Baylor
10	260	Tim Clifford	Quarterback	Indiana
11	287	Lonnie Johnson	Running back	Indiana
12	316	Bob Shupryt	Linebacker	New Mexico
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Free Agent Signings

After the draft, the Bears signed multiple undrafted free agents, 3 of whom made the team when preseason ended: Tulane wide receiver Marcus Anderson, Alcorn State cornerback Leslie Frazier and Iowa center Jay Hilgenberg.^[1]

1981 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Scott McGhee	Wide receiver	Eastern Illinois
Todd Sheets	Wide receiver	Northwestern

Roster

1981 Chicago Bears roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 Bob Avellini  8 Vince Evans Running backs (RB) 35 Roland Harper 37 Willie McClendon 34 Walter Payton 30 John Skibinski 26 Matt Suhey Wide receivers (WR) 88 Marcus Anderson 84 Brian Baschnagel 89 Ken Margerum 43 Emery Moorehead 80 Rickey Watts Tight ends (TE) 87 Mike Cobb 81 Robin Earl 85 Bob Fisher 83 Brooks Williams

Offensive linemen (OL) 64 Ted Albrecht T 63 Jay Hilgenberg C 65 Noah Jackson G 62 Dan Jiggetts T 52 Dan Neal C 69 Revie Sorey G 78 Keith Van Horne T 79 Emanuel Zanders G Defensive linemen (DL) 99 Dan Hampton DE 90 Al Harris DE 73 Mike Hartenstine DE 76 Steve McMichael DT 68 Jim Osborne DT 82 Alan Page DT

Linebackers (LB) 59 Gary Campbell OLB 54 Brian Cabral OLB 51 Bruce Herron OLB 57 Lee Kunz MLB 50 Mike Singletary MLB 55 Otis Wilson OLB Defensive backs (DB) 25 Todd Bell SS 45 Gary Fencik SS 24 Jeff Fisher CB 21 Leslie Frazier CB 20 Reuben Henderson CB 46 Doug Plank FS 44 Terry Schmidt CB Special teams (ST) 86 Bob Parsons P  9 John Roveto K

Reserve 14 Tim Clifford QB (IR) 97 T. K. Ehlebracht WR (IR) 82 Kris Haines WR (IR) 70 Dennis Lick T (IR) 58 Jerry Muckensturm LB (IR) 15 Mike Phipps QB (IR) 72 Brad Shearer DT (IR) 91 Todd Sheets WR (IR) 53 Paul Tabor G (IR) 16 Bob Thomas K (IR) 23 Len Walterscheid S (IR) 22 Dave Williams RB (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 6	Green Bay Packers	L 9–16	0–1	Soldier Field	62,411
2	September 13	at San Francisco 49ers	L 17–28	0–2	Candlestick Park	49,520
3	September 20	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 28–17	1–2	Soldier Field	60,130
4	September 28	Los Angeles Rams	L 7–24	1–3	Soldier Field	62,461
5	October 4	at Minnesota Vikings	L 21–24	1–4	Metropolitan Stadium	43,827
6	October 11	Washington Redskins	L 7–24	1–5	Soldier Field	57,683
7	October 19	at Detroit Lions	L 17–48	1–6	Pontiac Silverdome	71,273
8	October 25	San Diego Chargers	W 20–17 (OT)	2–6	Soldier Field	52,906
9	November 1	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 10–20	2–7	Tampa Stadium	63,688
10	November 8	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 16–13 (OT)	3–7	Arrowhead Stadium	60,605
11	November 15	at Green Bay Packers	L 17–21	3–8	Lambeau Field	55,338
12	November 22	Detroit Lions	L 7–23	3–9	Soldier Field	50,082
13	November 26	at Dallas Cowboys	L 9–10	3–10	Texas Stadium	63,499
14	December 6	Minnesota Vikings	W 10–9	4–10	Soldier Field	50,766
15	December 13	at Oakland Raiders	W 23–6	5–10	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	40,384
16	December 20	Denver Broncos	W 35–24	6–10	Soldier Field	40,125
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	7	0	7	3	17
• Bears	0	14	7	7	28

• Date: September 20
• Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
• Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C); wind 8 mph (13 km/h)

Scoring summary

Q1		TB	Washington 29 yard interception return (Yepremian kick)	TB 7–0
Q2		CHI	Suhey 1 yard run (Nielsen kick)	Tie 7–7
Q2		CHI	Fisher 88 yard interception return (Nielsen kick)	CHI 14–7
Q3		TB	House 11 yard pass from Williams (Yepremian kick)	Tie 14–14
Q3		CHI	Evans 8 yard run (Nielsen kick)	CHI 21–14
Q4		TB	Yepremian 32 yard field goal	CHI 21–17
Q4		CHI	Williams 18 yard pass from Evans (Nielsen kick)	CHI 28–17

^[2]

Week 8

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Chargers	0	3	0	14	0	17
• Bears	7	3	0	7	3	20

• Date: October 25
• Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
• Game start: 4:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 39 °F (4 °C); wind 9 mph (14 km/h)
• Referee: Gordon McCarter
• Television network: NBC

Scoring summary

Q1		CHI	Suhey 7 yard run (Roveto kick)	CHI 7–0
Q2		SD	Benirschke 18 yard field goal	CHI 7–3
Q2		CHI	Roveto 31 yard field goal	CHI 10–3
Q4		SD	Joiner 22 yard pass from Fouts (Benirschke kick)	Tie 10–10
Q4		CHI	Payton 2 yard run (Roveto kick)	CHI 17–10
Q4		SD	Chandler 39 yard pass from Fouts (Benirschke kick)	Tie 17–17
OT		CHI	Roveto 26 yard field goal	CHI 20–17

^[3]

Week 15

See also: 1981 Oakland Raiders season

Chicago Bears (4–10) at Oakland Raiders (7–7)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	0	14	2	23
Raiders	6	0	0	0	6

at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum • Oakland, California

• Date: December 13
• Game time: 4:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C); wind 7 mph (11 km/h)
• Referee: Fred Silva
• TV: CBS
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Bears Vince Evans 15/32, 240 Yds, 3 TD, INT Roland Harper 15 Rush, 49 Yds Rickey Watts 5 Rec, 90 Yds, 2 TD Raiders Marc Wilson 17/38, 240 Yds, TD, INT Arthur Whittington 9 Rush, 32 Yds Bob Chandler 4 Rec, 73 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP CHI OAK 1 Bears Watts 42-yard touchdown reception from Evans, Roveto kick good 7 0 1 Raiders Chandler 27-yard touchdown reception from Wilson, Bahr kick no good 7 6 3 Bears Watts 3-yard touchdown reception from Evans, Roveto kick good 14 6 3 Bears Margerum 22-yard touchdown reception from Evans, Roveto kick good 21 6 4 Bears Wilson tackled in end zone for a safety by Plank 23 6 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 23 6

Week 16

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	3	0	14	7	24
• Bears	0	14	14	7	35

• Date: December 20
• Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
• Game start: 12:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 6 °F (−14 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
• Referee: Gordon McCarter
• TV announcers (NBC): Bob Costas and Bob Trumpy

Scoring summary

1		DEN	Fred Steinfort 46 yard field goal	Broncos 3–0
2		CHI	Walter Payton 19 yard pass from Vince Evans (John Roveto kick)	Bears 7–3
2		CHI	Roland Harper 4 yard run (John Roveto kick)	Bears 14–3
3		CHI	Gary Fencik 69 yard interception return (John Roveto kick)	Bears 21–3
3		DEN	Riley Odoms 6 yard pass from Craig Morton (Fred Steinfort kick)	Bears 21–10
3		CHI	Al Harris 44 yard interception return (John Roveto kick)	Bears 28–10
3		DEN	Rick Upchurch 25 yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Fred Steinfort kick)	Bears 28–17
4		CHI	Walter Payton 7 yard pass from Vince Evans (John Roveto kick)	Bears 35–17
4		DEN	Rick Upchurch 39 yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Fred Steinfort kick)	Bears 35–24

^[4]

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Tampa Bay Buccaneers(3)	9	7	0	.563	6–2	9–3	315	268	W1
Detroit Lions	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–6	397	322	L1
Green Bay Packers	8	8	0	.500	4–4	7–7	324	361	L1
Minnesota Vikings	7	9	0	.438	4–4	6–6	325	369	L5
Chicago Bears	6	10	0	.375	2–6	2–10	253	324	W3