# 1981 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1981 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 12th season in the National Football League (NFL), and the 14th overall. The team won their first AFC Championship, but lost Super Bowl XVI to San Francisco.
Cincinnati had at least a share of the AFC Central lead the entire season. On December 13, quarterback Ken Anderson threw two touchdown passes as the Bengals clinched the division with a 17–10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals' only other rival for the division title by that point in the season.
Ken Anderson led the NFL in passing in 1981 with a 98.5 rating.
On January 3, 1982, the Bengals beat Buffalo, 28–21, in an AFC divisional playoff game. A week later, playing in their first AFC Championship Game in brutally cold weather, the Bengals defeated San Diego 27–7 at Riverfront Stadium. In a temperature of −9 °F (−23 °C) with a wind-chill factor of −59 °F (−51 °C), this game is referred to as the Freezer Bowl.
In Super Bowl XVI on January 24, 1982, in Pontiac, Michigan, the Bengals trailed 20–0 at halftime and lost to San Francisco, 26–21.

## Offseason

Before the season, the Bengals unveiled new uniforms with tiger-striped helmets, jerseys and pants.

### NFL Draft

1981 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 10 | David Verser | Wide receiver | Kansas |
| 2 | 37 | Cris Collinsworth * | Wide receiver | Florida |
| 3 | 64 | John Simmons | Defensive back | SMU |
| 4 | 93 | Guy Frazier | Linebacker | Wyoming |
| 5 | 120 | Benjie Pryor | Tight end | Pittsburgh |
| 6 | 146 | Rex Robinson | Placekicker | Georgia |
| 7 | 176 | Jeff Schuh | Linebacker | Minnesota |
| 8 | 202 | Bobby Kemp | Defensive back | Cal State Fullerton |
| 9 | 229 | Jim Hannula | Offensive tackle | Northern Illinois |
| 9 | 230 | Samoa Samoa | Running back | Washington State |
| 10 | 258 | Hubert Simpson | Running back | Tennessee |
| 11 | 285 | Robert Jackson | Defensive back | Central Michigan |
| 12 | 312 | Mark O'Connell | Quarterback | Ball State |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1981 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Ken Brown | Wide receiver | Nebraska |
| Jim Destefano | Linebacker | Cornell |
| Dennis Dunn | Safety | Yale |

## Personnel
### Roster

    Source:

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | TV Time(EST) | TV Announcers | Attendance |
| 1 | September 6 | Seattle Seahawks | W 27–21 | Riverfront Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Mike Adamle & Rocky Bleier | 41,177 |
| 2 | September 13 | at New York Jets | W 31–30 | Shea Stadium | NBC 4:00pm | Charlie Jones & Len Dawson | 49,454 |
| 3 | September 20 | Cleveland Browns | L 20–17 | Riverfront Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Bob Costas & Bob Trumpy | 52,170 |
| 4 | September 27 | Buffalo Bills | W 27–24 | Riverfront Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Jay Randolph & Mike Haffner | 46,418 |
| 5 | October 4 | at Houston Oilers | L 17–10 | Astrodome | NBC 1:00 pm | Marv Albert & Jim Turner | 44,350 |
| 6 | October 11 | at Baltimore Colts | W 41–19 | Memorial Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Bob Costas & Bob Trumpy | 33,060 |
| 7 | October 18 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 34–7 | Riverfront Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Don Criqui & John Brodie | 57,090 |
| 8 | October 25 | at New Orleans Saints | L 17–7 | Louisiana Superdome | NBC 1:00 pm | Mike Adamle & Mike Haffner | 46,336 |
| 9 | November 1 | Houston Oilers | W 34–21 | Riverfront Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Bob Costas & Bob Trumpy | 54,736 |
| 10 | November 8 | at San Diego Chargers | W 40–17 | Jack Murphy Stadium | NBC 4:00 pm | Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen | 51,259 |
| 11 | November 15 | Los Angeles Rams | W 24–10 | Riverfront Stadium | CBS 1:00 pm | Vin Scully & Hank Stram | 56,836 |
| 12 | November 22 | Denver Broncos | W 38–21 | Riverfront Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Bob Costas & Gene Washington | 57,207 |
| 13 | November 29 | at Cleveland Browns | W 41–21 | Cleveland Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Bob Costas & Bob Trumpy | 75,186 |
| 14 | December 6 | San Francisco 49ers | L 21–3 | Riverfront Stadium | CBS 1:00 pm | Tim Ryan & Fred Dryer | 56,796 |
| 15 | December 13 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 17–10 | Three Rivers Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Don Criqui & John Brodie | 50,623 |
| 16 | December 20 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 30–28 | Fulton County Stadium | NBC 4:00 pm | Charlie Jones & Len Dawson | 35,972 |

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Seahawks | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| • Bengals | 0 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 27 |

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 0 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
| Jets | 0 | 17 | 3 | 10 | 30 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Browns | 3 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| Bengals | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 17 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
| • Bengals | 0 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 27 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| • Oilers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 |

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 3 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 41 |
| Colts | 0 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 19 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • Bengals | 10 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 34 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • Saints | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 17 |

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| • Bengals | 0 | 24 | 3 | 7 | 34 |

#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 10 | 21 | 0 | 9 | 40 |
| Chargers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

#### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Bengals | 10 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 24 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| • Bengals | 14 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 38 |

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 14 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 41 |
| Browns | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
* Pete Johnson 21 Rush, 105 Yds

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • 49ers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Bengals | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

#### Week 15

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Steelers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |

#### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 10 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 30 |
| Falcons | 0 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 28 |

### Playoffs

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | TV Time(EST) | TV Announcers | Attendance |
| Divisional | January 3, 1982 | Buffalo Bills | W 28–21 | Riverfront Stadium | NBC 1:00pm | Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen | 55,420 |
| Conference Championship | January 10, 1982 | San Diego Chargers | W 27–7 | Riverfront Stadium | NBC 1:00pm | Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen | 46,302 |
| Super Bowl | January 24, 1982 | N San Francisco 49ers | L 26–21 | Pontiac Silverdome | CBS 4:00pm | Pat Summerall & John Madden | 81,270 |

#### Divisional

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| • Bengals | 14 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

#### Conference Championship

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chargers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • Bengals | 10 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 27 |

#### Super Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • 49ers | 7 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 26 |
| Bengals | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |

## Awards and records

* Ken Anderson, NFL MVP
* Ken Anderson, Bert Bell Award
* Ken Anderson, Franchise Record (since broken), Touchdown Passes, 29 Passes
* Ken Anderson, Led NFL, Passer Rating, 98.4 Rating

### Milestones

* Ken Anderson, Franchise Record (since broken), Most Touchdown Passes in One Season, 29 Passes
* Cris Collinsworth, 1st 1,000 Yard Receiving Season (1,009 yards)
* Pete Johnson, 1,000 Yard Rushing Season (1,077 yards)