NFL team 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.
Free Agent Signings [ edit ] 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.[ 1]
1981 Undrafted Free Agents of note Player Position College Scott McGhee Wide receiver Eastern Illinois Todd Sheets Wide receiver Northwestern
1981 Chicago Bears final roster Quarterbacks Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Offensive linemen Defensive linemen
Linebackers Defensive backs
Special teams
Reserve lists
Rookies in italics
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.
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1 2 3 4 Total Buccaneers 7 0 7 3 17 • Bears 0 14 7 7 28
Scoring summary Q1 TB Washington 29 yard interception return (Yepremian kick)TB 7–0 Q2 CHI Suhey 1 yard run (Nielsen kick)Tie 7–7 Q2 CHI Fisher 88 yard interception return (Nielsen kick)CHI 14–7 Q3 TB House 11 yard pass from Williams (Yepremian kick)Tie 14–14 Q3 CHI Evans 8 yard run (Nielsen kick)CHI 21–14 Q4 TB Yepremian 32 yard field goal CHI 21–17 Q4 CHI Williams 18 yard pass from Evans (Nielsen kick)CHI 28–17
[ 2]
1 2 3 4 OT Total Chargers 0 3 0 14 0 17 • Bears 7 3 0 7 3 20
Date: October 25Location: Soldier Field , Chicago, IL Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 39 °F (4 °C); wind 9 mph (14 km/h)Referee: Gordon McCarterTelevision network: NBC Scoring summary Q1 CHI Suhey 7 yard run (Roveto kick)CHI 7–0 Q2 SD Benirschke 18 yard field goalCHI 7–3 Q2 CHI Roveto 31 yard field goal CHI 10–3 Q4 SD Joiner 22 yard pass from Fouts (Benirschke kick)Tie 10–10 Q4 CHI Payton 2 yard run (Roveto kick)CHI 17–10 Q4 SD Chandler 39 yard pass from Fouts (Benirschke kick)Tie 17–17 OT CHI Roveto 26 yard field goal CHI 20–17
[ 3]
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP 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 . 23 6
1 2 3 4 Total Broncos 3 0 14 7 24 • Bears 0 14 14 7 35
Scoring summary 1 DEN Fred Steinfort 46 yard field goalBroncos 3–0 2 CHI Walter Payton 19 yard pass from Vince Evans (John Roveto kick)Bears 7–3 2 CHI Roland Harper 4 yard run (John Roveto kick)Bears 14–3 3 CHI Gary Fencik 69 yard interception return (John Roveto kick)Bears 21–3 3 DEN Riley Odoms 6 yard pass from Craig Morton (Fred Steinfort kick)Bears 21–10 3 CHI Al Harris 44 yard interception return (John Roveto kick)Bears 28–10 3 DEN Rick Upchurch 25 yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Fred Steinfort kick)Bears 28–17 4 CHI Walter Payton 7 yard pass from Vince Evans (John Roveto kick) Bears 35–17 4 DEN Rick Upchurch 39 yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Fred Steinfort kick) Bears 35–24
[ 4]
Franchise Records Stadiums Culture Lore Rivalries Minor league affiliates Retired numbers Key personnel Division championships (21) Conference championships (4) League championships (9) Media Broadcasters Radio: Personnel: Television: WFLD (pre-season and most regular season games through Fox , official pre-game and post-game alternate) Marquee Sports Network (official post-game and in-season programming) Personnel: Lou Canellis (gameday television host, pre-season sideline reporter) Adam Amin (pre-season play-by-play) Jim Miller (pre-season analyst) Current league affiliations
Formerly the Decatur Staleys (1920) and the Chicago Staleys (1921)