# 1981 Green Bay Packers season

The 1981 Green Bay Packers season was their 63rd season overall and their 61st in the National Football League. The team posted an 8–8 record under coach Bart Starr, earning them a third-place finish in the NFC Central division. Led by the defense the Packers were number one in turnovers forced and number 9th overall. The offense did improve but still finished in the bottom half of the league. Needing a Giants loss or an Eagles win during the final week of the regular season (due to tiebreakers), the Packers gained control of their destiny at earning the final Wild Card spot by winning in their last regular season game but were defeated by the New York Jets 28–3. The Packers managed only 84 total yards against the Jets.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1981 Green Bay Packers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 6 | Rich Campbell | Quarterback | California |
| 2 | 35 | Gary Lewis | Tight end | Texas–Arlington |
| 3 | 62 | Ray Stachowicz | Punter | Michigan State |
| 4 | 105 | Richard Turner | Defensive tackle | Oklahoma |
| 5 | 117 | Byron Braggs | Defensive end | Alabama |
| 7 | 172 | Bill Whitaker | Safety | Missouri |
| 8 | 200 | Larry Werts | Linebacker | Jackson State |
| 9 | 227 | Tim Huffman | Guard | Notre Dame |
| 10 | 255 | Nickie Hall | Quarterback | Tulane |
| 11 | 282 | Forrest Valora | Linebacker | Oklahoma |
| 12 | 311 | Cliff Lewis | Linebacker | Southern Miss |
| Made roster ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1981 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Craig Chrest | Wide receiver | Wisconsin–La Crosse |
| Bill Kazmaier | Guard | Wisconsin |
| Rick Kehr | Guard | Carthage |
| Greg Knafelc | Tight end | Notre Dame |
| David Petway | Safety | Northern Illinois |
| Randy Scott | Linebacker | Alabama |
| Robert Shackelford | Guard | St. Norbert |
| Pete Thompson | Wide receiver | Carroll (MT) |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 6 | at Chicago Bears | W 16–9 | Soldier Field | 62,411 |
| 2 | September 13 | Atlanta Falcons | L 31–17 | Lambeau Field | 55,382 |
| 3 | September 20 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 35–23 | Anaheim Stadium | 61,286 |
| 4 | September 27 | Minnesota Vikings | L 30–13 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 55,012 |
| 5 | October 4 | at New York Giants | W 27–14 | Giants Stadium | 73,684 |
| 6 | October 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 21–10 | Lambeau Field | 55,264 |
| 7 | October 18 | San Francisco 49ers | L 13–3 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 50,171 |
| 8 | October 25 | at Detroit Lions | L 31–27 | Pontiac Silverdome | 76,063 |
| 9 | November 1 | Seattle Seahawks | W 34–24 | Lambeau Field | 49,467 |
| 10 | November 8 | New York Giants | W 26–24 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 54,138 |
| 11 | November 15 | Chicago Bears | W 21–17 | Lambeau Field | 55,338 |
| 12 | November 22 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 37–3 | Tampa Stadium | 63,251 |
| 13 | November 29 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 35–23 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,025 |
| 14 | December 6 | Detroit Lions | W 31–17 | Lambeau Field | 54,481 |
| 15 | December 13 | at New Orleans Saints | W 35–7 | Louisiana Superdome | 45,518 |
| 16 | December 20 | at New York Jets | L 28–3 | Shea Stadium | 56,340 |

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Packers | 7 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 9 |

#### Week 2: vs. Atlanta Falcons

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Falcons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 31 |
| Packers | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Date: Sunday, September 13
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 73% humidity; 65 °F (18 °C), wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h)
* Referee: Dick Jorgensen
* TV: CBS
* Pro-Football-Reference.com

#### Week 7: vs. San Francisco 49ers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| Packers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
at Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
* Date: October 18, 1981
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: Overcast, 64 °F (18 °C)
* Referee: Ben Dreith
* TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris
Game information :
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
Top passers
SF – Joe Montana – 23/32, 220 yards
GB – Lynn Dickey – 11/18, 156 yards
Top rushers
SF – Johnny Davis – 16 rushes, 65 yards, 1 TD
GB – Harlan Huckleby – 10 rushes, 20 yards
Top receivers
SF – Dwight Clark – 6 receptions, 55 yards
GB – Paul Coffman – 3 receptions, 67 yards :

#### Week 9: vs. Seattle Seahawks

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Seahawks | 7 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 24 |
| Packers | 7 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 34 |
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Date: November 1
* Game time: 1:02pm local
* Game weather: clear, 56 °F (13 °C), 75% humidity, wind NE 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h)
* Game attendance: 49,467
* Referee: Chuck Heberling
* TV announcers (NBC): Sam Nover and Dave Rowe
* Gamebook
Game information :
First quarter
SEA – John Harris 42-yard interception return (Efren Herrera kick), 10:47 (SEA 7–0)
GB – Paul Coffman 7-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Jan Stenerud kick), 5:57 (Tied 7–7)
Second quarter
SEA – Dan Doornink 12-yard pass from Jim Zorn (Efren Herrera kick), 11:03 (SEA 14–7)
GB – David Whitehurst 1-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick), 5:19 (Tied 14–14)
GB – James Lofton 8-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Jan Stenerud kick), 4:18 (GB 21–14)
SEA – Dan Doornink 14-yard pass from Jim Zorn (Efren Herrera kick), 0:24 (Tied 21–21)
Third quarter
SEA – Efren Herrera 54-yard field goal, 5:54 (SEA 24–21)
GB – James Lofton 38-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Jan Stenerud kick), 1:02 (GB 28–24)
Fourth quarter
GB – Jan Stenerud 19-yard field goal, 1:58 (GB 31–24)
GB – Jan Stenerud 36-yard field goal, 0:45 (GB 34–24)
Top passers
SEA – Jim Zorn: 12/23, 108 yds, 2 TD
GB – David Whitehurst: 19/31, 205 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
SEA – Theotis Brown: 17 car, 89 yds
GB – Gerry Ellis: 23 car, 127 yds
Top receivers
SEA – Steve Largent: 3 rec, 45 yds
GB – James Lofton: 4 rec, 63 yds, 2 TD
Team – pass – rush – total – to
SEA – 102 – 119 – 221 – 3
GB – 195 – 182 – 337 – 3 :

#### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| • Packers | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |