The 1981 Atlanta Falcons season was the Falcons' 16th season. The Falcons got off to a solid 3–0 start, but lost three key starters for the season in a 34–17 win at Fulton County Stadium over the San Francisco 49ers. The Falcons would go on to finish the season with a 7–9 record, losing seven games by five points or less, thus missing the playoffs for the first time since 1979.

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 6 New Orleans Saints W 27–0 1–0 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 57,406 2 September 13 at Green Bay Packers W 31–17 2–0 Lambeau Field 55,382 3 September 20 San Francisco 49ers W 34–17 3–0 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 56,653 4 September 27 at Cleveland Browns L 17–28 3–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,283 5 at Philadelphia Eagles L 13–16 3–2 Veterans Stadium 71,488 6 October 11 Los Angeles Rams L 35–37 3–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 57,841 7 October 18 St. Louis Cardinals W 41–20 4–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 51,428 8 October 25 New York Giants L 24–27 4–4 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 48,410 9 November 1 at New Orleans Saints W 41–10 5–4 Louisiana Superdome 63,637 10 November 8 at San Francisco 49ers L 14–17 5–5 Candlestick Park 59,127 11 November 15 Pittsburgh Steelers L 20–34 5–6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 57,485 12 Minnesota Vikings W 31–30 6–6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 54,086 13 November 29 at Houston Oilers W 31–27 7–6 Houston Astrodome 40,201 14 December 6 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 23–24 7–7 Tampa Stadium 69,221 15 at Los Angeles Rams L 16–21 7–8 Anaheim Stadium 57,054 16 December 20 Cincinnati Bengals L 28–30 7–9 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 35,972 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Awards and records Steve Bartkowski, Falcons game record, most passing yards in one game, 416 yards (on November 15, 1981) NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 98 William Andrews, Falcons game record, most receiving yards in one game, 198 yards (on November 15, 1981). Which was later broken by Roddy White when he got 210 yards against the 49ers in the 2009 season.

References

External links 1981 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com