# 1981 Pittsburgh Steelers season

The 1981 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 49th in the National Football League. After enduring an injury plagued 9–7 season the previous year and missing the playoffs for the first time since 1971, the Steelers had hoped that the 1980 season was just a small hiatus from contending for championships. However, while the Steelers had flashes of their former glory years after starting the season with 2 unimpressive losses, the 1981 season would end in an 8–8 record and eventually prove the end of the Steelers great dynasty of the 1970s. The Steelers had a chance to make the playoffs with an 8–5 start to the year but lost all of their last three games to miss the playoffs.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1981 Pittsburgh Steelers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 17 | Keith Gary | Defensive end | Oklahoma | |
| Made roster ||||||

## Preseason
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Game Site | Kickoff (ET) | TV | Result | Record |
| 1 | August 8 | at Cleveland Browns | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 7:30 p.m. | WPXI | W 34–31 | 1–0 |
| 2 | August 15 | at Philadelphia Eagles | Veterans Stadium | 6:00 p.m. | WPXI | L 36–20 | 1–1 |
| 3 | August 22 | at Dallas Cowboys | Texas Stadium | 9:00 p.m. | NBC | L 24–14 | 1–2 |
| 4 | August 29 | New York Giants | Three Rivers Stadium | 6:00 p.m. | WPXI | W 31–6 | 2–2 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Game Site | Kickoff (ET) | TV | Result | Record |
| 1 | September 6 | Kansas City Chiefs | Three Rivers Stadium | 1:00 p.m. | NBC | L 37–33 | 0–1 |
| 2 | September 10 | at Miami Dolphins | Miami Orange Bowl | 8:30 p.m. | ABC | L 30–10 | 0–2 |
| 3 | September 20 | New York Jets | Three Rivers Stadium | 1:00 p.m. | NBC | W 38–10 | 1–2 |
| 4 | September 27 | New England Patriots | Three Rivers Stadium | 1:00 p.m. | NBC | W 27–21 (OT) | 2–2 |
| 5 | October 4 | at New Orleans Saints | Louisiana Superdome | 2:00 p.m. | NBC | W 20–6 | 3–2 |
| 6 | October 11 | Cleveland Browns | Three Rivers Stadium | 1:00 p.m. | NBC | W 13–7 | 4–2 |
| 7 | October 18 | at Cincinnati Bengals | Riverfront Stadium | 1:00 p.m. | NBC | L 34–7 | 4–3 |
| 8 | October 26 | Houston Oilers | Three Rivers Stadium | 9:00 p.m. | ABC | W 26–13 | 5–3 |
| 9 | November 1 | San Francisco 49ers | Three Rivers Stadium | 1:00 p.m. | CBS | L 17–14 | 5–4 |
| 10 | November 8 | at Seattle Seahawks | Kingdome | 4:00 p.m. | NBC | L 24–21 | 5–5 |
| 11 | November 15 | at Atlanta Falcons | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 1:00 p.m. | NBC | W 34–20 | 6–5 |
| 12 | November 22 | at Cleveland Browns | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 1:00 p.m. | NBC | W 32–10 | 7–5 |
| 13 | November 29 | Los Angeles Rams | Three Rivers Stadium | 1:00 p.m. | CBS | W 24–0 | 8–5 |
| 14 | December 7 | at Oakland Raiders | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 9:00 p.m. | ABC | L 30–27 | 8–6 |
| 15 | December 13 | Cincinnati Bengals | Three Rivers Stadium | 1:00 p.m. | NBC | L 17–10 | 8–7 |
| 16 | December 20 | at Houston Oilers | Astrodome | 4:00 p.m. | NBC | L 21–20 | 8–8 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Game summaries
#### Week 1 (Sunday, September 6, 1981): vs. Kansas City Chiefs

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chiefs | 10 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 37 |
| Steelers | 6 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 33 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 67 °F or 19.4 °C, wind 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h; 4.3 kn)
* Game attendance: 53,305
* Referee: Jim Tunney
* TV announcers: (NBC) Bob Costas (play by play), Bob Trumpy (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – Swann 18 pass from Bradshaw (kick failed)
* Kansas City – Marshall 48 pass from Kenney (Lowery kick)
* Kansas City – FG Lowery 35
* Pittsburgh – Harris 7 run (kick failed)
* Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Trout kick)
* Kansas City – FG Lowery 40
* Kansas City – Carson 53 pass from Kenney (Lowery kick)
* Pittsburgh – Hawthorne 1 run (Trout kick)
* Kansas City – FG Lowery 42
* Kansas City – McKnight 3 run (Lowery kick)
* Pittsburgh – Smith 41 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Kansas City – Howard 65 fumble return (Lowery kick)

#### Week 2 (Thursday, September 10, 1981): at Miami Dolphins

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Dolphins | 0 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 30 |
at Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
* Game time: 8:30 pm EDT
* Game weather: 81 °F or 27.2 °C, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
* Game attendance: 74,190
* Referee: Red Cashion
* TV announcers: (ABC) Frank Gifford (play by play), Fran Tarkenton & Howard Cosell (color commentators)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 23
* Miami – Woodley 1 run (kick failed)
* Miami – Franklin 1 run (von Schamann kick)
* Pittsburgh – Smith 32 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Miami – Nathan 13 pass from Woodley (von Schamann kick)
* Miami – Vigorito 87 punt return (von Schamann kick)
* Miami – FG von Schamann 32

#### Week 3 (Sunday, September 20, 1981): vs. New York Jets

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Steelers | 7 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 59 °F or 15 °C, wind 17 miles per hour (27 km/h; 15 kn)
* Game attendance: 52,973
* Referee: Gordon McCarter
* TV announcers: (NBC) Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – Davis 9 run (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 25
* Pittsburgh – Pollard 23 run (Trout kick)
* New York Jets – FG Leahy 47
* Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 1 run (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – Pollard 1 run (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – Thornton 1 run (Trout kick)
* New York Jets – McNeil 17 pass from Ryan (Leahy kick)

#### Week 4 (Sunday, September 27, 1981): vs. New England Patriots

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Patriots | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| Steelers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 27 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 68 °F or 20 °C, wind 17 miles per hour (27 km/h; 15 kn)
* Game attendance: 53,344
* Referee: Gene Barth
* TV announcers: (NBC) Bob Costas (play by play), Bob Trumpy (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – Cunningham 1 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* New England – Cavanaugh 1 run (Smith kick)
* Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Trout kick)
* New England – Collins 10 run (Smith kick)
* New England – Morgan 12 pass from Cavanaugh (Smith kick)
* Pittsburgh – Swann 24 pass from Bradshaw

#### Week 5 (Sunday, October 4, 1981): at New Orleans Saints

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 7 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| Saints | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
* Game time: 2:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: Dome
* Game attendance: 64,578
* Referee: Jerry Seeman
* TV announcers: (NBC) Sam Nover (play by play), Harmon Wages (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – Swann 16 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 25
* New Orleans – FG Ricardo 26
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 43
* New Orleans – FG Ricardo 33
* Pittsburgh – Stallworth 47 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)

#### Week 6 (Sunday, October 11, 1981): vs. Cleveland Browns

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Steelers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 51 °F or 10.6 °C, wind 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn)
* Game attendance: 53,255
* Referee: Ben Dreith
* TV announcers: (NBC) Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – Stallworth 9 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 19
* Cleveland – Newsome 29 pass from Sipe (Bahr kick)
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 23

#### Week 7 (Sunday, October 18, 1981): at Cincinnati Bengals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Bengals | 10 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 34 |
at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
* Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 57 °F or 13.9 °C, wind 20 miles per hour (32 km/h; 17 kn)
* Game attendance: 57,090
* Referee: Jerry Markbreit
* TV announcers: (NBC) Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Cincinnati – FG Breech 27
* Cincinnati – Johnson 3 run (Breech kick)
* Cincinnati – FG Breech 23
* Cincinnati – Verser 73 pass from Ken Anderson (Breech kick)
* Cincinnati – Alexander 3 run (Breech kick)
* Cincinnati – Johnson 5 pass from Ken Anderson (Breech kick)
* Pittsburgh – Smith 17 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)

#### Week 8 (Monday, October 26, 1981): vs. Houston Oilers

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 13 |
| Steelers | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 26 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time: 9:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 53 °F or 11.7 °C, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
* Game attendance: 52,732
* Referee: Fred Silva
* TV announcers: (ABC) Frank Gifford (play by play), Don Meredith & Fran Tarkenton (color commentators)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 19
* Pittsburgh – Smith 46 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Houston – FG Fritsch 34
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 19
* Houston – Casper 52 pass from Stabler (Fritsch kick)
* Houston – FG Fritsch 44
* Pittsburgh – Stallworth 6 pass from Bradshaw (kick failed)
* Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Trout kick)

#### Week 9 (Sunday, November 1, 1981): vs. San Francisco 49ers

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time: 1:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 50 °F or 10 °C, wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
* Game attendance: 52,878
* Referee: Bob Frederic
* TV announcers: (CBS) Vin Scully (play by play), Hank Stram (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* San Francisco – Young 5 pass from Montana (Wersching kick)
* San Francisco – FG Wersching 45
* Pittsburgh – Blount 50 interception return (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – Smith 22 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* San Francisco – Easley 1 run (Wersching kick)

#### Week 10 (Sunday, November 8, 1981): at Seattle Seahawks

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Seahawks | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 24 |
at The Kingdome, Seattle, Washington
* Game time: 4:00 pm EST
* Game weather: Dome
* Game attendance: 59,058
* Referee: Dick Jorgensen
* TV announcers: (NBC) Jay Randolph (play by play), Rocky Bleier (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – Harris 6 run (Trout kick)
* Seattle – FG Herrera 37
* Pittsburgh – Malone 90 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – Thornton 4 run (Trout kick)
* Seattle – Doornink 44 pass from Zorn (Herrera kick)
* Seattle – T. Brown 1 run (Herrera kick)
* Seattle – T. Brown 1 run (Herrera kick)

#### Week 11 (Sunday, November 15, 1981): at Atlanta Falcons

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 7 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 34 |
| Falcons | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 20 |
at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
* Game time: 1:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 53 °F or 11.7 °C, wind 11 miles per hour (18 km/h; 9.6 kn)
* Game attendance: 57,485
* Referee: Pat Haggerty
* TV announcers: (NBC) Bob Costas (play by play), Bob Trumpy (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – Cunningham 18 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – Stallworth 6 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Atlanta – Jackson 35 pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick)
* Pittsburgh – Stallworth 19 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Atlanta – FG Luckhurst 43
* Pittsburgh – Grossman 14 pass from Bradshaw (kick blocked)
* Atlanta – Jenkins 30 pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick)
* Pittsburgh – Swann 22 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Atlanta – FG Luckhurst 22

#### Week 12 (Sunday, November 22, 1981): at Cleveland Browns

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 12 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 32 |
| Browns | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
* Game time: 1:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 30 °F or −1.1 °C, wind 15 miles per hour (24 km/h; 13 kn)
* Game attendance: 77,958
* Referee: Gene Barth
* TV announcers: (NBC) Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Cleveland – FG Bahr 33
* Pittsburgh – Hawthorne 1 run (kick failed)
* Pittsburgh – Thornton 3 run (kick failed)
* Cleveland – Logan 13 pass from Sipe (Bahr kick)
* Pittsburgh – Harris 2 run (kick failed)
* Pittsburgh – Pinney 1 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – Moser 5 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)

#### Week 13 (Sunday, November 29, 1981): vs. Los Angeles Rams

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steelers | 7 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 24 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time: 1:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 33 °F or 0.6 °C, wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
* Game attendance: 51,854
* Referee: Tom Dooley
* TV announcers: (CBS) Vin Scully (play by play), Hank Stram (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – Swann 9 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 1 run (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 21

#### Week 14 (Monday, December 7, 1981): at Oakland Raiders

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 27 |
| Raiders | 0 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 30 |
at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
* Game time: 9:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 56 °F or 13.3 °C, wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)
* Game attendance: 51,769
* Referee: Jim Tunney
* TV announcers: (ABC) Frank Gifford (play by play), Don Meredith & Howard Cosell (color commentators)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – Cunningham 5 pass from Bradshaw (Trout kick)
* Oakland – Ramsey 25 pass from Wilson (Bahr kick)
* Pittsburgh – Smith 19 pass from Malone (Trout kick)
* Oakland – Whittington 17 pass from Wilson (Bahr kick)
* Pittsburgh – Malone 11 run (kick failed)
* Oakland – Chandler 36 pass from Wilson (kick failed)
* Oakland – Watts 53 punt return (Bahr kick)
* Oakland – FG Bahr 29
* Pittsburgh – Smith 17 pass from Malone (Trout kick)

#### Week 15 (Sunday, December 13, 1981): vs. Cincinnati Bengals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Steelers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time: 1:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 27 °F or −2.8 °C, wind 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h; 4.3 kn)
* Game attendance: 50,623
* Referee: Red Cashion
* TV announcers: (NBC) Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 48
* Cincinnati – FG Breech 38
* Cincinnati – Curtis 2 pass from Ken Anderson (Breech kick)
* Cincinnati – Kreider 22 pass from Ken Anderson (Breech kick)
* Pittsburgh – Harris 2 pass from Malone (Trout kick)

#### Week 16 (Sunday, December 20, 1981): at Houston Oilers

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 3 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 20 |
| Oilers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
at Astrodome, Houston, Texas
* Game time: 4:00 pm EST
* Game weather: Dome
* Game attendance: 41,056
* Referee: Bob McElwee
* TV announcers: (NBC) Phil Stone (play by play), Gene Washington (color commentator)
Scoring drives:
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 40
* Houston – Casper 15 pass from Nielsen (Fritsch kick)
* Houston – Casper 23 pass from Nielsen (Fritsch kick)
* Pittsburgh – FG Trout 37
* Pittsburgh – Thornton 17 run (Trout kick)
* Pittsburgh – Malone 2 run (Trout kick)
* Houston – Casper 16 pass from Nielsen (Fritsch kick)

### 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 |