1981 Chicago Bears season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Chicago Bears 1981 6–10 5th NFC Central Neill Armstrong Jim Finks George Halas Soldier Field Did not qualify Bears seasons 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 NFL draft Chicago Bears 1981 1 11 Keith Van Horne Offensive tackle USC yes 2 38 Mike Singletary Linebacker Baylor yes yes yes 3 67 Ken Margerum Wide receiver Stanford yes 4 65 Todd Bell Safety Ohio State yes yes 6 150 Reuben Henderson Cornerback San Diego State yes 7 177 Jeff Fisher Cornerback USC yes 8 205 Scott Zettek Wide receiver Notre Dame 9 232 Frank Ditta Offensive guard Baylor 10 260 Tim Clifford Quarterback Indiana yes 11 287 Lonnie Johnson Running back Indiana 12 316 Bob Shupryt Linebacker New Mexico 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.Taylor Roy http://www.bearshistory.com/seasons/1982chicagobears.aspx 1982 Chicago Bears Bearshistory.com + 1981 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeScott McGheeWide receiverEastern IllinoisTodd SheetsWide receiverNorthwestern Roster 1981 Chicago Bears  7 Bob Avellini  8 Vince Evans 35 Roland Harper 37 Willie McClendon 34 Walter Payton 30 John Skibinski 26 Matt Suhey 88 Marcus Anderson y 84 Brian Baschnagel 89 Ken Margerum y 43 Emery Moorehead 80 Rickey Watts 87 Mike Cobb 81 Robin Earl 85 Bob Fisher tight end 83 Brooks Williams American football 64 Ted Albrecht T 63 Jay Hilgenberg y C 65 Noah Jackson G 62 Dan Jiggetts T 52 Dan Neal C 69 Revie Sorey G 78 Keith Van Horne y T 79 Emanuel Zanders G 99 Dan Hampton DE 90 Al Harris defensive lineman DE 73 Mike Hartenstine DE 76 Steve McMichael DT 68 Jim Osborne defensive tackle DT 82 Alan Page DT 59 Gary Campbell linebacker OLB 54 Brian Cabral OLB 51 Bruce Herron OLB 57 Lee Kunz MLB 50 Mike Singletary y MLB 55 Otis Wilson OLB 25 Todd Bell y SS 45 Gary Fencik SS 24 Jeff Fisher y CB 21 Leslie Frazier y CB 20 Reuben Henderson y CB 46 Doug Plank FS 44 Terry Schmidt CB 86 Bob Parsons American football P  9 John Roveto y K 14 Tim Clifford y QB IR 97 T. K. Ehlebracht y WR IR 82 Kris Haines WR IR 70 Dennis Lick T IR 58 Jerry Muckensturm LB IR 15 Mike Phipps QB IR 72 Brad Shearer DT IR 91 Todd Sheets y WR IR 53 Paul Tabor G IR 16 Bob Thomas K (IR) 7px 23 Len Walterscheid S IR 22 Dave Williams running back RB IR 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 1 December 2014 Week 2 December 2014 Week 3 Buccaneers 7 0 7 3 Bears 0 14 7 7 September 20 Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 2:00 p.m. EST 58 F; wind 8 mph on yes 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 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Dec-11. Week 8 Chargers 0 3 0 14 0 Bears 7 3 0 7 3 October 25 Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 4:00 p.m. 39 F; wind 9 mph on Gordon McCarter NBC yes Q1 CHI Suhey 7 yard run (Roveto kick) CHI 7–0 Q2 SD Benirschke 18 yard field goal CHI 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 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-18. Week 15 1981 Oakland Raiders season Chicago Bears 1981 2; text-align: center collapsed Chicago Bears (4–10) at Oakland Raiders (7–7) December 13 4:00 p.m. Bears 7 0 14 2 Raiders 6 0 0 0 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum • Oakland, California 56 F; wind 7 mph on Fred Silva CBS Pro-Football-Reference.com Bears Vince Evans15/32, 240 Yds, 3 TD, INT Roland Harper15 Rush, 49 Yds Rickey Watts5 Rec, 90 Yds, 2 TD Raiders Marc Wilson17/38, 240 Yds, TD, INT Arthur Whittington9 Rush, 32 Yds Bob Chandler4 Rec, 73 Yds, TD CHI OAK collapsed 1 Bears RecTD Watts Evans 42 good Roveto run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 0 1 Raiders RecTD Chandler Wilson 27 no good Bahr run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 6 3 Bears RecTD Watts Evans 3 good Roveto run/pass good/failed/incomplete 14 6 3 Bears RecTD Margerum Evans 22 good Roveto run/pass good/failed/incomplete 21 6 4 Bears SafetyTackle Wilson Plank 23 6 23 6 Week 16 Broncos 3 0 14 7 Bears 0 14 14 7 December 20 Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois 12:00 p.m. 6 F, wind 11 mph on Gordon McCarter Bob Costas and Bob Trumpy NBC yes 1 DEN Fred Steinfort 46 yard field goal Broncos 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 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Standings References External links 1981 Chicago Bears Season at www.bearshistory.com Chicago Bears Category:Chicago Bears seasons Chicago Category:Long stubs with short prose Category:1981 in Chicago