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1981 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics

1981 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Stats · Opposition & Defense Stats · Yearly Leaders · Week-by-Week Games · AllPro · Pro Bowl · Draft ·

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League Standings

Glossary
Tm W L T W-L% Pts PtsO PtDif
AFC East
Miami Dolphins 11 4 1 .719 345 275 70
New York Jets 10 5 1 .656 355 287 68
Buffalo Bills 10 6 0 .625 311 276 35
Baltimore Colts 2 14 0 .125 259 533 -274
New England Patriots 2 14 0 .125 322 370 -48
AFC Central
Cincinnati Bengals 12 4 0 .750 421 304 117
Pittsburgh Steelers 8 8 0 .500 356 297 59
Houston Oilers 7 9 0 .438 281 355 -74
Cleveland Browns 5 11 0 .313 276 375 -99
AFC West
San Diego Chargers 10 6 0 .625 478 390 88
Denver Broncos 10 6 0 .625 321 289 32
Kansas City Chiefs 9 7 0 .563 343 290 53
Oakland Raiders 7 9 0 .438 273 343 -70
Seattle Seahawks 6 10 0 .375 322 388 -66
Tm W L T W-L% Pts PtsO PtDif
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys 12 4 0 .750 367 277 90
Philadelphia Eagles 10 6 0 .625 368 221 147
New York Giants 9 7 0 .563 295 257 38
Washington Redskins 8 8 0 .500 347 349 -2
St. Louis Cardinals 7 9 0 .438 315 408 -93
NFC Central
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 7 0 .563 315 268 47
Detroit Lions 8 8 0 .500 397 322 75
Green Bay Packers 8 8 0 .500 324 361 -37
Minnesota Vikings 7 9 0 .438 325 369 -44
Chicago Bears 6 10 0 .375 253 324 -71
NFC West
San Francisco 49ers 13 3 0 .813 357 250 107
Atlanta Falcons 7 9 0 .438 426 355 71
Los Angeles Rams 6 10 0 .375 303 351 -48
New Orleans Saints 4 12 0 .250 207 378 -171

Playoff Games

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Week Date Winner/tie Loser/tie PtsW PtsL
WildCard Sun December 27 box W Buffalo Bills @ New York Jets 31 27
WildCard Sun December 27 box W New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles 27 21
Division Sat January 2 box W Dallas Cowboys Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38 0
Division Sat January 2 box W San Diego Chargers @ Miami Dolphins 41 38
Division Sun January 3 box W Cincinnati Bengals Buffalo Bills 28 21
Division Sun January 3 box W San Francisco 49ers New York Giants 38 24
ConfChamp Sun January 10 box W Cincinnati Bengals San Diego Chargers 27 7
ConfChamp Sun January 10 box W San Francisco 49ers Dallas Cowboys 28 27
SuperBowl Sun January 24 box W San Francisco 49ers N Cincinnati Bengals 26 21

Award Winners

AP MVPKen Anderson
PFWA MVPKen Anderson
Newspaper Ent. Assoc. MVPKen Anderson
Bert Bell Award (Player of the Year)Ken Anderson
AP Offensive Player of the YearKen Anderson
AP Defensive Player of the YearLawrence Taylor
Super Bowl MVPJoe Montana
AP Offensive Rookie of the YearGeorge Rogers
AP Defensive Rookie of the YearLawrence Taylor
Walter Payton Man of the YearLynn Swann
AP Comeback Player of the YearKen Anderson

Team Offense

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Passing Rushing
Rk Tm G Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
1 San Diego Chargers 16 478 6744 1129 6.0 379 368 629 4739 34 18 7.3 224 481 2005 26 4.2 127 40 22 28
2 Atlanta Falcons 16 426 5664 1095 5.2 318 311 563 3699 30 24 6.2 176 495 1965 15 4.0 116 41 17 26
3 Cincinnati Bengals 16 421 5968 1078 5.5 361 332 550 3995 30 12 6.8 210 493 1973 19 4.0 124 24 12 27
4 Detroit Lions 16 397 5933 1076 5.5 340 228 436 3138 18 23 6.5 150 596 2795 26 4.7 167 43 20 23
5 Philadelphia Eagles 16 368 5553 1057 5.3 332 258 476 3044 25 22 6.1 150 559 2509 17 4.5 157 39 17 25
6 Dallas Cowboys 16 367 5880 1100 5.3 321 241 439 3169 24 15 6.7 158 630 2711 15 4.3 137 35 20 26
7 San Francisco 49ers 16 357 5484 1106 5.0 317 328 517 3543 20 13 6.5 183 560 1941 17 3.5 110 25 12 24
8 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 356 5598 1042 5.4 318 247 461 3226 25 19 6.6 156 554 2372 21 4.3 137 41 22 25
9 New York Jets 16 355 5396 1108 4.9 318 283 507 3055 26 14 5.7 170 571 2341 11 4.1 122 31 17 26
10 Washington Redskins 16 347 5623 1087 5.2 334 307 525 3466 19 22 6.2 173 532 2157 19 4.1 136 41 19 25
11 Miami Dolphins 16 345 5322 1063 5.0 306 271 498 3149 18 21 6.0 157 535 2173 18 4.1 123 31 10 26
12 Kansas City Chiefs 16 343 5273 1057 5.0 315 224 410 2640 12 22 5.9 132 610 2633 22 4.3 160 46 24 23
13 Minnesota Vikings 16 325 5845 1129 5.2 343 382 709 4333 27 29 5.9 217 391 1512 8 3.9 91 50 21 35
14 Green Bay Packers 16 324 4859 1044 4.7 308 286 514 3189 24 24 5.6 174 478 1670 11 3.5 104 41 17 30
15 Seattle Seahawks 16 322 5021 1001 5.0 295 307 524 3427 21 15 6.1 166 440 1594 14 3.6 103 38 23 26
16 New England Patriots 16 322 5623 1026 5.5 306 254 482 3583 17 34 6.8 166 499 2040 23 4.1 124 50 16 16
17 Denver Broncos 16 321 5426 1061 5.1 306 289 485 3531 27 21 6.5 181 515 1895 12 3.7 91 39 18 34
18 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 315 5160 950 5.4 269 239 473 3429 20 14 7.0 159 458 1731 13 3.8 95 28 14 15
19 St. Louis Cardinals 16 315 5077 1044 4.9 300 253 477 2864 15 24 5.5 141 519 2213 20 4.3 135 44 20 24
20 Buffalo Bills 16 311 5640 1043 5.4 315 253 503 3515 25 20 6.8 163 524 2125 13 4.1 127 38 18 25
21 Los Angeles Rams 16 303 4793 1086 4.4 305 235 477 2557 15 32 4.9 134 559 2236 17 4.0 142 47 15 29
22 New York Giants 16 295 4326 1034 4.2 253 251 506 2641 16 20 4.8 140 481 1685 11 3.5 92 36 16 21
23 Houston Oilers 16 281 4511 947 4.8 241 258 441 2777 21 23 5.8 124 466 1734 11 3.7 103 44 21 14
24 Cleveland Browns 16 276 5915 1138 5.2 364 348 624 3986 21 27 6.0 196 474 1929 11 4.1 131 53 26 37
25 Oakland Raiders 16 273 4977 1091 4.6 296 267 545 2919 18 28 4.9 166 493 2058 11 4.2 108 48 20 22
26 Baltimore Colts 16 259 4908 957 5.1 274 265 479 3058 21 23 5.9 158 441 1850 11 4.2 95 37 14 21
27 Chicago Bears 16 253 4633 1132 4.1 278 222 489 2462 14 23 4.7 126 608 2171 13 3.6 126 40 17 26
28 New Orleans Saints 16 207 4705 1028 4.6 280 238 441 2419 8 27 5.0 124 546 2286 16 4.2 126 47 20 30
Avg Team 330.8 5352.0 1061.0 5.0 310.4 276.6 506.4 3269.8 21.1 21.8 6.0 163.4 518.1 2082.3 15.8 4.0 121.8 39.9 18.1 25.3
League Total 9262 149857 29709 5.0 8692 7745 14180 91553 591 609 6.0 4574 14508 58304 441 4.0 3409 1117 508 709
Avg Tm/G 20.7 334.5 66.3 5.0 19.4 17.3 31.7 204.4 1.3 1.4 6.0 10.2 32.4 130.1 1.0 4.0 7.6 2.5 1.1 1.6

Passing Offense

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Rk Tm G Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk%
1 San Diego Chargers 16 368 629 58.5 4739 34 5.4 18 2.9 67 7.5 6.8 12.9 296.2 88.3 19 134 7.1 6.4 2.9
2 Minnesota Vikings 16 382 709 53.9 4333 27 3.8 29 4.1 63 6.1 4.7 11.3 270.8 68.1 29 234 5.6 4.2 3.9
3 Cincinnati Bengals 16 332 550 60.4 3995 30 5.5 12 2.2 74 7.3 6.8 12.0 249.7 91.7 35 205 6.5 6.1 6.0
4 Cleveland Browns 16 348 624 55.8 3986 21 3.4 27 4.3 62 6.4 4.8 11.5 249.1 68.4 40 353 5.5 4.0 6.0
5 Atlanta Falcons 16 311 563 55.2 3699 30 5.3 24 4.3 70 6.6 5.2 11.9 231.2 75.5 37 287 5.7 4.4 6.2
6 New England Patriots 16 254 482 52.7 3583 17 3.5 34 7.1 76 7.4 4.6 14.1 223.9 59.3 45 321 6.2 3.6 8.5
7 San Francisco 49ers 16 328 517 63.4 3543 20 3.9 13 2.5 78 6.9 6.1 10.8 221.4 85.9 29 223 6.1 5.4 5.3
8 Denver Broncos 16 289 485 59.6 3531 27 5.6 21 4.3 95 7.3 5.9 12.2 220.7 82.6 61 461 5.6 4.4 11.2
9 Buffalo Bills 16 253 503 50.3 3515 25 5.0 20 4.0 67 7.0 5.7 13.9 219.7 73.1 16 146 6.5 5.2 3.1
10 Washington Redskins 16 307 525 58.5 3466 19 3.6 22 4.2 79 6.6 5.1 11.3 216.6 72.9 30 277 5.7 4.3 5.4
11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 239 473 50.5 3429 20 4.2 14 3.0 84 7.2 6.3 14.3 214.3 76.2 19 136 6.7 5.8 3.9
12 Seattle Seahawks 16 307 524 58.6 3427 21 4.0 15 2.9 80 6.5 5.7 11.2 214.2 79.6 37 300 5.6 4.7 6.6
13 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 247 461 53.6 3226 25 5.4 19 4.1 90 7.0 5.7 13.1 201.6 76.8 27 231 6.1 4.9 5.5
14 Green Bay Packers 16 286 514 55.6 3189 24 4.7 24 4.7 75 6.2 4.6 11.2 199.3 70.4 52 387 5.0 3.5 9.2
15 Dallas Cowboys 16 241 439 54.9 3169 24 5.5 15 3.4 73 7.2 6.2 13.1 198.1 81.9 31 245 6.2 5.3 6.6
16 Miami Dolphins 16 271 498 54.4 3149 18 3.6 21 4.2 69 6.3 4.8 11.6 196.8 68.3 30 236 5.5 4.1 5.7
17 Detroit Lions 16 228 436 52.3 3138 18 4.1 23 5.3 94 7.2 5.2 13.8 196.1 67.4 44 337 5.8 4.1 9.2
18 Baltimore Colts 16 265 479 55.3 3058 21 4.4 23 4.8 67 6.4 4.7 11.5 191.1 69.4 37 321 5.3 3.7 7.2
19 New York Jets 16 283 507 55.8 3055 26 5.1 14 2.8 49 6.0 5.3 10.8 190.9 79.3 30 224 5.3 4.6 5.6
20 Philadelphia Eagles 16 258 476 54.2 3044 25 5.3 22 4.6 85 6.4 4.8 11.8 190.3 72.1 22 205 5.7 4.2 4.4
21 Oakland Raiders 16 267 545 49.0 2919 18 3.3 28 5.1 66 5.4 3.4 10.9 182.4 54.8 53 437 4.2 2.3 8.9
22 St. Louis Cardinals 16 253 477 53.0 2864 15 3.1 24 5.0 75 6.0 4.1 11.3 179.0 60.8 48 405 4.7 2.9 9.1
23 Houston Oilers 16 258 441 58.5 2777 21 4.8 23 5.2 71 6.3 4.4 10.8 173.6 71.2 40 342 5.1 3.3 8.3
24 New York Giants 16 251 506 49.6 2641 16 3.2 20 4.0 80 5.2 3.8 10.5 165.1 59.2 47 368 4.1 2.8 8.5
25 Kansas City Chiefs 16 224 410 54.6 2640 12 2.9 22 5.4 64 6.4 4.3 11.8 165.0 61.8 37 277 5.3 3.3 8.3
26 Los Angeles Rams 16 235 477 49.3 2557 15 3.1 32 6.7 67 5.4 2.7 10.9 159.8 48.0 50 451 4.0 1.5 9.5
27 Chicago Bears 16 222 489 45.4 2462 14 2.9 23 4.7 85 5.0 3.2 11.1 153.9 50.8 35 266 4.2 2.5 6.7
28 New Orleans Saints 16 238 441 54.0 2419 8 1.8 27 6.1 55 5.5 2.9 10.2 151.2 50.4 41 359 4.3 1.9 8.5
Avg Team 276.6 506.4 54.6 3269.8 21.1 4.2 21.8 4.3 74 6.5 4.9 11.8 204.4 70.5 36.5 291.7 5.5 4.1 6.7
League Total 7745 14180 54.6 91553 591 4.2 609 4.3 95 6.5 4.9 11.8 5722.1 70.5 1021 8168 5.5 4.1 6.7
Avg Tm/G 17.3 31.7 54.6 204.4 1.3 4.2 1.4 4.3 6.5 4.9 11.8 204.4 70.5 2.3 18.2 5.5 4.1 6.7

Rushing Offense

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Rk Tm G Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G Fmb
1 Detroit Lions 16 596 2795 26 51 4.7 174.7 41
2 Dallas Cowboys 16 630 2711 15 75 4.3 169.4 45
3 Kansas City Chiefs 16 610 2633 22 82 4.3 164.6 36
4 Philadelphia Eagles 16 559 2509 17 41 4.5 156.8 33
5 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 554 2372 21 50 4.3 148.3 39
6 New York Jets 16 571 2341 11 43 4.1 146.3 38
7 New Orleans Saints 16 546 2286 16 79 4.2 142.9 40
8 Los Angeles Rams 16 559 2236 17 69 4.0 139.8 34
9 St. Louis Cardinals 16 519 2213 20 44 4.3 138.3 33
10 Miami Dolphins 16 535 2173 18 46 4.1 135.8 26
11 Chicago Bears 16 608 2171 13 39 3.6 135.7 37
12 Washington Redskins 16 532 2157 19 32 4.1 134.8 32
13 Buffalo Bills 16 524 2125 13 35 4.1 132.8 33
14 Oakland Raiders 16 493 2058 11 60 4.2 128.6 42
15 New England Patriots 16 499 2040 23 43 4.1 127.5 32
16 San Diego Chargers 16 481 2005 26 73 4.2 125.3 39
17 Cincinnati Bengals 16 493 1973 19 39 4.0 123.3 25
18 Atlanta Falcons 16 495 1965 15 35 4.0 122.8 31
19 San Francisco 49ers 16 560 1941 17 28 3.5 121.3 26
20 Cleveland Browns 16 474 1929 11 26 4.1 120.6 38
21 Denver Broncos 16 515 1895 12 37 3.7 118.4 26
22 Baltimore Colts 16 441 1850 11 67 4.2 115.6 27
23 Houston Oilers 16 466 1734 11 43 3.7 108.4 33
24 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 458 1731 13 59 3.8 108.2 27
25 New York Giants 16 481 1685 11 35 3.5 105.3 38
26 Green Bay Packers 16 478 1670 11 34 3.5 104.4 31
27 Seattle Seahawks 16 440 1594 14 43 3.6 99.6 41
28 Minnesota Vikings 16 391 1512 8 38 3.9 94.5 39
Avg Team 518.1 2082.3 15.8 48 4.0 130.1 34.4
League Total 14508 58304 441 82 4.0 3644.0 962
Avg Tm/G 32.4 130.1 1.0 4.0 130.1 2.1

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
Rk Tm G Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
1 Oakland Raiders 16 52 380 1 52 7.3 71 1411 0 47 19.9 6768
2 Cleveland Browns 16 50 369 0 40 7.4 72 1537 0 48 21.3 7821
3 New York Giants 16 64 502 0 55 7.8 57 1120 0 41 19.6 5948
4 St. Louis Cardinals 16 43 453 1 50 10.5 75 1625 0 67 21.7 7155
5 Los Angeles Rams 16 49 676 3 84 13.8 68 1244 0 50 18.3 6713
6 Washington Redskins 16 49 507 2 75 10.3 67 1673 0 84 25.0 7803
7 Houston Oilers 16 41 325 0 40 7.9 72 1722 2 96 23.9 6558
8 Detroit Lions 16 52 450 1 45 8.7 61 1164 0 36 19.1 7547
9 Atlanta Falcons 16 50 383 0 53 7.7 62 1419 0 52 22.9 7466
10 New Orleans Saints 16 41 426 0 36 10.4 70 1523 0 57 21.8 6654
11 Chicago Bears 16 45 518 1 88 11.5 64 1214 0 56 19.0 6365
12 New York Jets 16 50 337 0 46 6.7 58 1151 0 42 19.8 6884
13 Minnesota Vikings 16 39 303 0 18 7.8 67 1328 1 99 19.8 7476
14 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 50 412 0 33 8.2 53 1096 0 35 20.7 7106
15 Kansas City Chiefs 16 50 528 0 62 10.6 52 1043 0 48 20.1 6844
16 San Diego Chargers 16 31 378 0 42 12.2 70 1422 0 47 20.3 8544
17 Seattle Seahawks 16 32 293 0 34 9.2 69 1278 0 36 18.5 6592
18 Philadelphia Eagles 16 58 422 0 52 7.3 43 832 0 43 19.3 6807
19 Miami Dolphins 16 45 458 1 87 10.2 54 1228 1 90 22.7 7008
20 Denver Broncos 16 51 441 0 39 8.6 47 801 0 31 17.0 6668
21 Dallas Cowboys 16 45 235 0 17 5.2 53 981 0 33 18.5 7096
22 Green Bay Packers 16 40 306 1 94 7.7 58 1066 0 52 18.4 6231
23 Baltimore Colts 16 12 56 0 11 4.7 84 1651 0 46 19.7 6615
24 New England Patriots 16 31 199 0 26 6.4 65 1190 0 32 18.3 7012
25 San Francisco 49ers 16 48 344 0 39 7.2 45 909 1 92 20.2 6737
26 Buffalo Bills 16 35 292 0 25 8.3 57 1085 0 36 19.0 7017
27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 38 244 0 56 6.4 46 912 0 40 19.8 6316
28 Cincinnati Bengals 16 29 205 0 34 7.1 49 1056 0 78 21.6 7229
Avg Team 43.6 372.9 0.4 48 8.6 61.0 1238.6 0.2 54 20.3 6963.6
League Total 1220 10442 11 94 8.6 1709 34681 5 99 20.3 194980
Avg Tm/G 2.7 23.3 0.0 8.6 3.8 77.4 0.0 20.3 435.2

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · CSV · PRE
0--19 20--29 30--39 40--49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
Rk Tm G FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
1 Atlanta Falcons 16 2 1 7 7 12 8 11 5 1 33 21 63.6% 52 51 98.1% 88 3546 62 1 40.3
2 Chicago Bears 16 1 10 7 5 3 7 2 23 12 52.2% 31 29 93.5% 114 4526 55 0 39.7
3 New York Giants 16 1 1 9 7 9 7 11 6 8 3 38 24 63.2% 32 31 96.9% 97 4200 62 0 43.3
4 San Francisco 49ers 16 2 2 9 7 8 4 10 6 29 19 65.5% 43 42 97.7% 93 3860 65 0 41.5
5 New York Jets 16 13 11 8 6 12 8 3 36 25 69.4% 40 38 95.0% 81 3289 65 0 40.6
6 Cincinnati Bengals 16 11 9 9 7 11 5 1 1 32 22 68.8% 51 49 96.1% 73 3270 62 1 44.8
7 Dallas Cowboys 16 1 1 11 11 9 8 12 7 2 35 27 77.1% 40 40 100.0% 81 3280 60 0 40.5
8 Denver Broncos 16 9 6 11 5 8 6 2 30 17 56.7% 39 36 92.3% 86 3474 67 0 40.4
9 Oakland Raiders 16 8 6 4 2 7 3 5 3 24 14