# 1981 Washington Redskins season

1981 was the Washington Redskins 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, finishing 8–8, but would miss 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 defeating the Chicago Bears 24–7 at Soldier Field; they would then lose to the Miami Dolphins to sit at 1–6. Washington would do better in the second half, winning their next 4 games to reach 5–6 and looking like they were going to make the playoffs. However, losses to the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills eliminated them from postseason contention. The team would win its final 3 games to end the season at 8–8, including a close victory at RFK Stadium against the defending NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1981 Washington Redskins draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 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 ||||||

## 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 :
| 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 |