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
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.
+ 1981 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeScott McGheeWide receiverEastern IllinoisTodd SheetsWide receiverNorthwestern
Roster
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 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 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
Week 2
Week 3
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Dec-11.
Week 8
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-18.
Week 15
Week 16
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Standings
References
External links
1981 Chicago Bears Season at www.bearshistory.com