1981 Green Bay Packers season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Green Bay Packers 1981 8–8 3rd Central Bart Starr Lambeau FieldMilwaukee County Stadium Did not qualify Packers seasons The 1981 Green Bay Packers season was their 63rd season overall and their 61st in the National Football League. The team posted an 8–8 record under coach Bart Starr, earning them a third-place finish in the NFC Central division. Led by the defense the Packers were number one in turnovers forced and number 9th overall. The offense did improve but still finished in the bottom half of the league. Needing a Giants loss or an Eagles win during the final week of the regular season (due to tiebreakers), the Packers gained control of their destiny at earning the final Wild Card spot by winning in their last regular season game but were defeated by the New York Jets 28–3. The Packers managed only 84 total yards against the Jets. Offseason NFL draft 1981 NFL draft 1981 Green Bay Packers 1 6 Rich Campbell Quarterback California yes 2 35 Gary Lewis Tight end Texas–Arlington yes 3 62 Ray Stachowicz Punter Michigan State yes 4 105 Richard Turner Defensive tackle Oklahoma yes 5 117 Byron Braggs Defensive end Alabama yes 7 172 Bill Whitaker Safety Missouri yes 8 200 Larry Werts Linebacker Jackson State no 9 227 Tim Huffman Guard Notre Dame yes 10 255 Nickie Hall Quarterback Tulane no 11 282 Forrest Valora Linebacker Oklahoma no 12 311 Cliff Lewis Linebacker Southern Miss yes no no Undrafted free agents + 1981 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeCraig ChrestWide receiverWisconsin–La CrosseBill KazmaierGuardWisconsinRick KehrGuardCarthageGreg KnafelcTight endNotre DameDavid PetwaySafetyNorthern IllinoisRandy ScottLinebackerAlabamaRobert ShackelfordGuardSt. NorbertPete ThompsonWide receiverCarroll (MT) Personnel Staff 1981 Green Bay Packers President – Dominic Olejniczak Vice president – Robert J. Parins Corporate assistant to the president – Bob Harlan Director of player personnel – Dick Corrick Head coach – Bart Starr Quarterbacks/offensive backs – Zeke Bratkowski Receivers – Lew Carpenter Offensive line – Ernie McMillan Special assistant – Pete Kettela Defensive coordinator – John Meyer Defensive line – Doc Urich Linebackers – John Marshall Defensive backs – Ross Fichtner Special teams – Dick Rehbein http://nfl.packers.com/history/all_time_roster/coaches/ All Time Coaches Database Packers.com December 26, 2013 December 27, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131227073313/http://nfl.packers.com/history/all_time_roster/coaches/ dead Roster 1981 Green Bay Packers 45 15 19 Rich Campbell American football y 12 Lynn Dickey 17 David Whitehurst 31 Gerry Ellis 25 Harlan Huckleby 33 Jim Jensen running back 34 Terdell Middleton 88 Ron Cassidy 83 John Jefferson American football 80 James Lofton 84 Fred Nixon 82 Paul Coffman 81 Gary Lewis tight end y 61 Charlie Ane III C 69 Leotis Harris G 64 Syd Kitson G 68 Greg Koch T 79 Mark Koncar T 54 Larry McCarren C 72 Brad Oates T 76 Tim Stokes T 71 Arland Thompson G 73 Byron Braggs y DE 77 Mike Butler American football DE 90 Ezra Johnson DE 63 Terry Jones defensive tackle NT 78 Casey Merrill DE 75 Richard Turner American football y NT 60 Kurt Allerman ILB 59 John Anderson American football OLB 52 George Cumby ILB 53 Mike Douglass American football OLB 56 Cliff Lewis linebacker y OLB 51 Guy Prather y OLB 55 Randy Scott American football y ILB 50 Rich Wingo ILB 23 Maurice Harvey FS 38 Estus Hood CB 22 Mark Lee American football CB 37 Mark Murphy safety, born 1958 SS 29 Mike McCoy cornerback CB 47 David Petway FS y 30 Bill Whitaker American football y SS 16 Ray Stachowicz P y 10 Jan Stenerud K 62 Buddy Aydelette T IR -- Chris Godfrey DE IR 57 Derrel Gofourth G IR 24 Johnnie Gray S IR 11 Nickie Hall y QB IR 74 Tim Huffman y G IR -- Mike Hunt LB (Ret.) 7px 40 Eddie Lee Ivery RB IR 21 Mike Jolly S IR 48 Willard Reaves y RB IR 70 Paul Rudzinski LB IR 42 Tim Smith S (Ret.) 7px 67 Karl Swanke T IR 87 John Thompson tight end TE IR 26 Eric Torkelson RB IR Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance 1 September 6 at Chicago Bears W 16–9 Soldier Field 62,411 2 September 13 Atlanta Falcons L 17–31 Lambeau Field 55,382 3 September 20 at Los Angeles Rams L 23–35 Anaheim Stadium 61,286 4 September 27 Minnesota Vikings L 13–30 Milwaukee County Stadium 55,012 5 October 4 at New York Giants W 27–14 Giants Stadium 73,684 6 October 11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–21 Lambeau Field 55,264 7 October 18 San Francisco 49ers L 3–13 Milwaukee County Stadium 50,171 8 October 25 at Detroit Lions L 27–31 Pontiac Silverdome 76,063 9 November 1 Seattle Seahawks W 34–24 Lambeau Field 49,467 10 November 8 New York Giants W 26–24 Milwaukee County Stadium 54,138 11 November 15 Chicago Bears W 21–17 Lambeau Field 55,338 12 November 22 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 3–37 Tampa Stadium 63,251 13 November 29 at Minnesota Vikings W 35–23 Metropolitan Stadium 46,025 14 December 6 Detroit Lions W 31–17 Lambeau Field 54,481 15 December 13 at New Orleans Saints W 35–7 Louisiana Superdome 45,518 16 December 20 at New York Jets L 3–28 Shea Stadium 56,340 Game summaries Week 1 Packers 7 6 0 3 Bears 0 0 6 3 September 6 Soldier Field, Chicago 2:00 p.m. 63 F; wind 8 mph on yes Q1 GB Ivery 2-yard run (Wingo pass from Stachowicz) GB 8–0 Q2 GB Ellis 5-yard run (kick blocked) GB 13–0 Q3 CHI Payton 11-yard run (kick failed) GB 13–6 Q4 GB Stenerud 33-yard field goal GB 16–6 Q4 3:57 CHI Thomas 25-yard field goal GB 16–9 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-14. Week 2: vs. Atlanta Falcons autocollapse Sunday, September 13 1:00 p.m. Falcons 0 0 0 31 Packers 7 7 3 0 Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin 73% humidity; 65 F, wind 6 mph on Dick Jorgensen CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 7: vs. San Francisco 49ers 1981 San Francisco 49ers season Green Bay Packers 1981 2; text-align:center collapsed Week 7: San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers October 18, 1981 1:00 p.m. CST 49ers 0 3 7 3 Packers 0 3 0 0 Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Overcast, 64 F C Ben Dreith CBS Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Top passers SF – Joe Montana – 23/32, 220 yards GB – Lynn Dickey – 11/18, 156 yards Top rushers SF – Johnny Davis – 16 rushes, 65 yards, 1 TD GB – Harlan Huckleby – 10 rushes, 20 yards Top receivers SF – Dwight Clark – 6 receptions, 55 yards GB – Paul Coffman – 3 receptions, 67 yards Week 9: vs. Seattle Seahawks Green Bay Packers 1981 2;text-align:center; autocollapse Week 9: Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers – Game summary November 1 1:02pm local Seahawks 7 14 3 0 Packers 7 14 7 6 Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin 49,467 clear, 56 °F °C, 75% humidity, wind NE 5 mph km/h Chuck Heberling NBC Sam Nover and Dave Rowe Gamebook First quarter SEA – John Harris 42-yard interception return (Efren Herrera kick), 10:47 (SEA 7–0) GB – Paul Coffman 7-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Jan Stenerud kick), 5:57 (Tied 7–7) Second quarter SEA – Dan Doornink 12-yard pass from Jim Zorn (Efren Herrera kick), 11:03 (SEA 14–7) GB – David Whitehurst 1-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick), 5:19 (Tied 14–14) GB – James Lofton 8-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Jan Stenerud kick), 4:18 (GB 21–14) SEA – Dan Doornink 14-yard pass from Jim Zorn (Efren Herrera kick), 0:24 (Tied 21–21) Third quarter SEA – Efren Herrera 54-yard field goal, 5:54 (SEA 24–21) GB – James Lofton 38-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Jan Stenerud kick), 1:02 (GB 28–24) Fourth quarter GB – Jan Stenerud 19-yard field goal, 1:58 (GB 31–24) GB – Jan Stenerud 36-yard field goal, 0:45 (GB 34–24) Top passers SEA – Jim Zorn: 12/23, 108 yds, 2 TD GB – David Whitehurst: 19/31, 205 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT Top rushers SEA – Theotis Brown: 17 car, 89 yds GB – Gerry Ellis: 23 car, 127 yds Top receivers SEA – Steve Largent: 3 rec, 45 yds GB – James Lofton: 4 rec, 63 yds, 2 TD Team – pass passing yards – rush rushing yards – total total yards – to turnovers SEA – 102 – 119 – 221 – 3 GB – 195 – 182 – 337 – 3 Week 11 Bears 10 0 0 7 Packers 7 14 0 0 November 15 Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin 1:00 p.m. 44 F; wind 7 mph on yes Q1 CHI Roveto 36-yard field goal CHI 3–0 Q1 GB Huckleby 1-yard pass from Whitehurst (Stenerud kick) GB 7–3 Q1 CHI Suhey 1-yard run (Roveto kick) CHI 10–7 Q2 GB Huckleby 39-yard pass from Whitehurst (Stenerud kick) GB 14–10 Q2 GB Middleton 2-yard pass from Whitehurst (Stenerud kick) GB 21—10 Q4 CHI Payton 2-yard run (Roveto kick) GB 21–17 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-14. Standings References Category:Green Bay Packers seasons Green Bay Packers Green Bay