# 1981 Chicago Bears season

The 1981 season was the Chicago Bears' 62nd in the National Football League, and their fourth under head coach Neill Armstrong. The team failed to improve on their 7–9 record from 1980 to finish at 6–10, and failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season. At the end of the season, Neill Armstrong was fired by the Bears.
One unusual sidelight to the season was that of the Bears' 6 victories, 4 of them were against opponents in the AFC West; including a 20–17 upset of San Diego in week 8 and a 35–24 victory that eliminated the Broncos from playoff contention on the final week of the regular season.

## 1981 NFL Draft

1981 Chicago Bears draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 11 | Keith Van Horne | Offensive tackle | USC |
| 2 | 38 | Mike Singletary * $^†$ | Linebacker | Baylor |
| 3 | 67 | Ken Margerum | Wide receiver | Stanford |
| 4 | 65 | Todd Bell * | Safety | Ohio State |
| 6 | 150 | Reuben Henderson | Cornerback | San Diego State |
| 7 | 177 | Jeff Fisher | Cornerback | USC |
| 8 | 205 | Scott Zettek | Wide receiver | Notre Dame |
| 9 | 232 | Frank Ditta | Offensive guard | Baylor |
| 10 | 260 | Tim Clifford | Quarterback | Indiana |
| 11 | 287 | Lonnie Johnson | Running back | Indiana |
| 12 | 316 | Bob Shupryt | Linebacker | New Mexico |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Free Agent Signings

After the draft, the Bears signed multiple undrafted free agents, 3 of whom made the team when preseason ended: Tulane wide receiver Marcus Anderson, Alcorn State cornerback Leslie Frazier and Iowa center Jay Hilgenberg.
1981 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Scott McGhee | Wide receiver | Eastern Illinois |
| Todd Sheets | Wide receiver | Northwestern |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 6 | Green Bay Packers | L 9–16 | 0–1 | Soldier Field | 62,411 |
| 2 | September 13 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 17–28 | 0–2 | Candlestick Park | 49,520 |
| 3 | September 20 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 28–17 | 1–2 | Soldier Field | 60,130 |
| 4 | September 28 | Los Angeles Rams | L 7–24 | 1–3 | Soldier Field | 62,461 |
| 5 | October 4 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 21–24 | 1–4 | Metropolitan Stadium | 43,827 |
| 6 | October 11 | Washington Redskins | L 7–24 | 1–5 | Soldier Field | 57,683 |
| 7 | October 19 | at Detroit Lions | L 17–48 | 1–6 | Pontiac Silverdome | 71,273 |
| 8 | October 25 | San Diego Chargers | W 20–17 (OT) | 2–6 | Soldier Field | 52,906 |
| 9 | November 1 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 10–20 | 2–7 | Tampa Stadium | 63,688 |
| 10 | November 8 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 16–13 (OT) | 3–7 | Arrowhead Stadium | 60,605 |
| 11 | November 15 | at Green Bay Packers | L 17–21 | 3–8 | Lambeau Field | 55,338 |
| 12 | November 22 | Detroit Lions | L 7–23 | 3–9 | Soldier Field | 50,082 |
| 13 | November 26 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 9–10 | 3–10 | Texas Stadium | 63,499 |
| 14 | December 6 | Minnesota Vikings | W 10–9 | 4–10 | Soldier Field | 50,766 |
| 15 | December 13 | at Oakland Raiders | W 23–6 | 5–10 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 40,384 |
| 16 | December 20 | Denver Broncos | W 35–24 | 6–10 | Soldier Field | 40,125 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Game summaries
### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buccaneers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
| • Bears | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Chargers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 17 |
| • Bears | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 20 |

### Week 15

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 23 |
| Raiders | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum • Oakland, California
* Date: December 13
* Game time: 4:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C); wind 7 mph (11 km/h)
* Referee: Fred Silva
* TV: CBS
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
Bears
Vince Evans 15/32, 240 Yds, 3 TD, INT
Roland Harper 15 Rush, 49 Yds
Rickey Watts 5 Rec, 90 Yds, 2 TD
Raiders
Marc Wilson 17/38, 240 Yds, TD, INT
Arthur Whittington 9 Rush, 32 Yds
Bob Chandler 4 Rec, 73 Yds, TD :
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | CHI | OAK |
| 1 | | | | | Bears | Watts 42-yard touchdown reception from Evans, Roveto kick good | 7 | 0 |
| 1 | | | | | Raiders | Chandler 27-yard touchdown reception from Wilson, Bahr kick no good | 7 | 6 |
| 3 | | | | | Bears | Watts 3-yard touchdown reception from Evans, Roveto kick good | 14 | 6 |
| 3 | | | | | Bears | Margerum 22-yard touchdown reception from Evans, Roveto kick good | 21 | 6 |
| 4 | | | | | Bears | Wilson tackled in end zone for a safety by Plank | 23 | 6 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 23 | 6 |

### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 3 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 24 |
| • Bears | 0 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 35 |

## 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 |