# 1981 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 62nd season the franchise was in the league. The team improved on their previous output of 5–11, winning seven games. Despite the improvement the team failed – for the sixth consecutive season – to reach the playoffs.
After a 3–7 start, including a horrendous 52–10 loss to the Eagles on November 8, Head Coach Jim Hanifan benched Jim Hart for Neil Lomax. The team would win four of its last six games.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1981 St. Louis Cardinals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 5 | E. J. Junior * | Linebacker | Alabama |
| 2 | 33 | Neil Lomax * | Quarterback | Portland State |
| 3 | 61 | Jeff Griffin | Cornerback | Utah |
| 4 | 88 | Steve Rhodes | Wide receiver | Oklahoma |
| 5 | 116 | John Gillen | Linebacker | Illinois |
| 6 | 143 | Dave Ahrens | Linebacker | Wisconsin |
| 7 | 171 | Kevin Donnalley | Defensive back | North Dakota State |
| 8 | 198 | Mike Fisher | Wide receiver | Baylor |
| 9 | 226 | Stump Mitchell | Running back | The Citadel |
| 10 | 253 | James Mallard | Wide receiver | Alabama |
| 10 | 263 | Jim Joiner | Wide receiver | Miami (FL) |
| 11 | 281 | Mike Sherrod | Tight end | Illinois |
| 12 | 309 | Joe Adams | Guard | Nebraska |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1981 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| John Allman | Defensive back | Indiana State |
| Tom Brazill | Defensive back | Wisconsin–La Crosse |
| Jim Schletzer | Punter | North Carolina |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 6 | Miami Dolphins | L 7–20 | 0–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50,351 |
| 2 | September 13 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 17–30 | 0–2 | Texas Stadium | 63,602 |
| 3 | September 20 | Washington Redskins | W 40–30 | 1–2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 47,592 |
| 4 | September 27 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 10–20 | 1–3 | Tampa Stadium | 65,850 |
| 5 | October 4 | Dallas Cowboys | W 20–17 | 2–3 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 49,477 |
| 6 | October 11 | at New York Giants | L 14–34 | 2–4 | Giants Stadium | 67,128 |
| 7 | October 18 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 20–41 | 2–5 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 51,458 |
| 8 | October 25 | Minnesota Vikings | W 30–17 | 3–5 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 48,039 |
| 9 | November 1 | at Washington Redskins | L 21–42 | 3–6 | RFK Stadium | 50,643 |
| 10 | November 8 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 10–52 | 3–7 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 48,421 |
| 11 | November 15 | Buffalo Bills | W 24–0 | 4–7 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 46,214 |
| 12 | November 22 | at Baltimore Colts | W 35–24 | 5–7 | Memorial Stadium | 24,784 |
| 13 | November 29 | at New England Patriots | W 27–20 | 6–7 | Schaefer Stadium | 39,946 |
| 14 | December 6 | New Orleans Saints | W 30–3 | 7–7 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 46,923 |
| 15 | December 13 | New York Giants | L 10–20 | 7–8 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 47,358 |
| 16 | December 20 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 0–38 | 7–9 | Veterans Stadium | 56,656 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |