The 1981 Seattle Seahawks season was the team's sixth season with the National Football League (NFL). The Seahawks got off to a terrible start, losing six of their first seven games, on the way to a 6–10 season. Seattle opened their season at Cincinnati, and held a 21–0 lead before the Bengals rallied for an improbable 27–21 win. This loss was a portent into the season. Later in the season, the Seahawks would go on to lose a 24–3 3rd quarter lead at home to the Raiders, ultimately losing 32–31. Seven of their 10 losses were by two possessions or more.
The Achilles' heel for the team was the running game on offense and defense. On offense, they ranked 27th in yards and 26th in yards per attempt. On defense, they ranked 27th in yards and 28th in yards per attempt. Only once did the defense hold a team under 100 yards rushing, which was against the Chargers in San Diego, where they lost 24–10.
The disappointing season had some memorable highlights. Among them, their then-biggest come-from-behind victory which took place at home against the Steelers on November 8th, where the Seahawks went from losing 21–3 to winning 24–21. On November 16th, the Seahawks won their first victory over the San Diego Chargers 44–23 after losing their first seven meetings. Steve Largent had a stellar season with 1,224 receiving yards. Jim Zorn had a bounce-back season, completing a career high 59% of his passes, 13 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, and 6.2 yards per attempt before his injury against the Raiders at home.
Offseason
Draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1981 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeMike BabbPunterOregonKim BakerLinebackerNebraskaDavid BayleTight EndWashingtonDan BoomhowerRunning backKearney StateDave BoschmaSafetyLinfieldChris BuonoSafetyFurmanBrad ChaceSafetyColoradoBob ChauzaTackleNorthwest Missouri StateBob Danenhauer LinebackerNebraska–OmahaBill FennFullbackIllinois StateSteve GriffithsLinebackerPenn State
Personnel
Staff
Final roster
Starters in bold. (*) Denotes players that were selected for the 1982 Pro Bowl.
Schedule
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site Recap 1 San Francisco 49ers L 24–27 0–1 Kingdome Recap 2 St. Louis Cardinals L 21–30 0–2 Kingdome Recap 3 at San Francisco 49ers L 17–24 0–3 Candlestick Park Recap 4 Baltimore Colts W 31–17 1–3 Kingdome Recap
Source: Seahawks Media Guides1981 Seahawks Media Guide, accessed February 14, 2015.1982 Seahawks Media Guide, accessed February 14, 2015.
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site Recap 1 September 6 at Cincinnati Bengals L 21–27 0–1 Riverfront Stadium Recap 2 September 13 Denver Broncos W 13–10 1–1 Kingdome Recap 3 September 20 at Oakland Raiders L 10–20 1–2 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Recap 4 September 27 Kansas City Chiefs L 14–20 1–3 Kingdome Recap 5 October 4 at San Diego Chargers L 10–24 1–4 Jack Murphy Stadium Recap 6 October 11 at Houston Oilers L 17–35 1–5 Houston Astrodome Recap 7 October 18 New York Giants L 0–32 1–6 Kingdome Recap 8 October 25 at New York Jets W 19–3 2–6 Shea Stadium Recap 9 November 1 at Green Bay Packers L 24–34 2–7 Lambeau Field Recap 10 November 8 Pittsburgh Steelers W 24–21 3–7 Kingdome Recap 11 San Diego Chargers W 44–23 4–7 Kingdome Recap 12 November 22 at Kansas City Chiefs L 13–40 4–8 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 13 November 29 Oakland Raiders L 31–32 4–9 Kingdome Recap 14 December 6 New York Jets W 27–23 5–9 Kingdome Recap 15 December 13 at Denver Broncos L 13–23 5–10 Mile High Stadium Recap 16 December 20 Cleveland Browns W 42–21 6–10 Kingdome Recap
Bold indicates division opponents. Source: 1981 NFL season results1981 NFL season results, NFL.com, accessed February 14, 2015.
Standings
Game summaries
Preseason
Week P1: vs. San Francisco 49ers
Week P2: vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Week P3: at San Francisco 49ers
Week P4: vs. Baltimore Colts
Regular season
Week 1: at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 2: vs. Denver Broncos
Week 3: at Oakland Raiders
Week 4: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Week 5: at San Diego Chargers
Week 6: at Houston Oilers
Week 7: vs. New York Giants
Week 8: at New York Jets
Week 9: at Green Bay Packers
Week 10: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 11: vs. San Diego Chargers
Week 12: at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 13: vs. Oakland Raiders
Week 14: vs. New York Jets
Week 15: at Denver Broncos
Week 16: vs. Cleveland Browns
References
External links
1981 Seattle Seahawks season at ESPN 1981 Seattle Seahawks season at Pro Football Reference (pro-football-reference.com) 1981 Seattle Seahawks Statistics at jt-sw.com 1981 Seattle Seahawks Schedule at jt-sw.com