1981 Washington Redskins season

The 1981 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 50th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 44th in Washington, D.C. The team improved on their 6–10 record from 1980 and finished with an 8–8 record, but missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. This was Joe Gibbs' first season as head coach. The team slumped early, losing its first 5 games before upsetting the Chicago Bears 24-7 in Chicago before losing to the Dolphins to sit at 1-6. The Redskins would do better in the second half, as they would win their next 4 games to sit at 5-6 and looking like they were going to reach the playoffs. However, losses to the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills eliminated the Redskins from any hopes at reaching the playoffs. The team would win its final 3 games of the season to end the season 8-8. Among these three wins was a close victory at RFK Stadium against the defending Super Bowl finalist Eagles, 15-13.

1981 Washington Redskins season
Owner	Jack Kent Cooke
General manager	Bobby Beathard
Head coach	Joe Gibbs
Home field	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	4th NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1981 NFL draft

1981 Washington Redskins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	20	Mark May *	Guard	Pittsburgh
3	69	Russ Grimm * †	Guard	Pittsburgh
4	90	Tom Flick	Quarterback	Washington
5	119	Dexter Manley *	Defensive end	Oklahoma State
5	132	Gary Sayre	Guard	Cameron
6	148	Larry Kubin	Linebacker	Penn State
8	201	Charlie Brown *	Wide receiver	South Carolina State
9	231	Darryl Grant	Guard	Rice
10	257	Phil Kessel	Quarterback	Northern Michigan
10	267	Allan Kennedy	Offensive tackle	Washington State
11	284	Jerry Hill	Wide receiver	North Alabama
12	314	Clint Didier	Tight end	Portland State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1981 Washington Redskins staff

Front office Chairman of the Board/Chief Executive Officer – Jack Kent Cooke President – Edward Bennett Williams General manager – Bobby Beathard Assistant general manager – Bobby Mitchell Assistant general manager – Joel Margolis Assistant general manager – Dick Meyers Director of player personnel – Mike Allman Director of Pro Scouting – Kirk Mee Director of College Scouting – Dick Daniels Personnel Scouts – Charley Casserly, Charley Taylor Head coaches Head coach – Joe Gibbs Assistant head coach – Dan Henning Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Joe Bugel Offensive Backfield – Don Breaux Tight Ends/Offensive Scouting Reports – Rennie Simmons

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Richie Petitbon Defensive Line – LaVern Torgeson Linebackers – Larry Peccatiello Admin. Asst./Defensive Scouting Reports – Bill Hickman Special teams coaches Special Teams – Wayne Sevier

Roster

1981 Washington Redskins roster

	Quarterbacks 12 Tom Flick 15 Mike Rae  7 Joe Theismann Running backs 35 Rickey Claitt 30 Nick Giaquinto 26 Terry Metcalf 44 John Riggins 25 Joe Washington 39 Otis Wonsley Wide receivers 89 Alvin Garrett 81 Art Monk 80 Virgil Seay 83 Ricky Thompson Tight ends 82 Rich Caster 84 Greg McCrary 91 Bob Raba 88 Rick Walker 85 Don Warren		Offensive linemen 53 Jeff Bostic C 68 Russ Grimm G 61 Melvin Jones G 66 Joe Jacoby T 73 Mark May T 64 Ron Saul G 76 Jerry Scanlan T 74 George Starke T Defensive linemen 79 Coy Bacon DE 69 Perry Brooks DT 65 Dave Butz DT 75 Mike Clark 77 Darryl Grant 78 Dallas Hickman DE 71 Karl Lorch DE 72 Dexter Manley DE 76 Mat Mendenhall DE 79 Pat Ogrin 99 Wilbur Young DE		Linebackers 51 Monte Coleman OLB 54 Pete Cronan 59 Brad Dusek OLB 58 Dave Graf 56 Quentin Lowry 57 Rich Milot MLB 52 Neal Olkewicz MLB 54 Kevin Turner 58 Charlie Weaver Defensive backs 28 Trent Bryant 28 Cris Crissy 22 Curtis Jordan 20 Joe Lavender CB 46 LeCharls McDaniel 29 Mark Murphy FS 21 Mike Nelms FS/KR/PR 24 Lemar Parrish CB 23 Tony Peters SS 45 Jeris White CB Special teams 10 Mike Connell P  3 Mark Moseley K		Reserve lists 87 Charlie Brown WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 86 Clint Didier TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 38 Clarence Harmon RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 40 Wilbur Jackson RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 55 Mel Kaufman OLB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) -- Phil Kessel QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 6	Dallas Cowboys	L 10–26	0–1	RFK Stadium	55,045	Recap
2	September 13	New York Giants	L 7–17	0–2	RFK Stadium	53,343	Recap
3	September 20	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 30–40	0–3	Busch Memorial Stadium	47,592	Recap
4	September 27	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 13–36	0–4	Veterans Stadium	70,664	Recap
5	October 4	San Francisco 49ers	L 17–30	0–5	RFK Stadium	51,843	Recap
6	October 11	at Chicago Bears	W 24–7	1–5	Soldier Field	57,683	Recap
7	October 18	at Miami Dolphins	L 10–13	1–6	Miami Orange Bowl	47,367	Recap
8	October 25	New England Patriots	W 24–22	2–6	RFK Stadium	50,394	Recap
9	November 1	St. Louis Cardinals	W 42–21	3–6	RFK Stadium	50,643	Recap
10	November 8	Detroit Lions	W 33–31	4–6	RFK Stadium	52,096	Recap
11	November 15	at New York Giants	W 30–27 (OT)	5–6	Giants Stadium	63,133	Recap
12	November 22	at Dallas Cowboys	L 10–24	5–7	Texas Stadium	64,587	Recap
13	November 29	at Buffalo Bills	L 14–21	5–8	Rich Stadium	59,624	Recap
14	December 6	Philadelphia Eagles	W 15–13	6–8	RFK Stadium	52,206	Recap
15	December 13	Baltimore Colts	W 38–14	7–8	RFK Stadium	46,706	Recap
16	December 20	at Los Angeles Rams	W 30–7	8–8	Anaheim Stadium	52,224	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys(2)	12	4	0	.750	6–2	8–4	367	277	L1
Philadelphia Eagles(4)	10	6	0	.625	4–4	7–5	368	221	W1
New York Giants(5)	9	7	0	.563	5–3	8–6	295	257	W3
Washington Redskins	8	8	0	.500	3–5	6–6	347	349	W3
St. Louis Cardinals	7	9	0	.438	2–6	4–8	315	408	L2

External links

• 1981 Washington Redskins at Pro-Football-Reference.com