1981 Oakland Raiders season

NFL team season

The 1981 season was the Oakland Raiders' 22nd since they were founded, their 12th in the National Football League and their third under head coach Tom Flores. The team failed to improve on their 11–5 record from 1980, and the Raiders went 7–9 and became the fourth team in NFL history to enter a season as the defending Super Bowl champions and miss the playoffs. The 1981 Raiders set an NFL record by being shut out three consecutive times. The passing game fell off badly, being 26th and throwing 28 interceptions. After the defense led the NFL in interceptions and takeaways in 1980, they were dead last in 1981 and were –16 in turnover differential. It was also their last season in Oakland until 1995 and their losing record snapped a streak of 16 consecutive winning seasons. This was the only season from 1965 to 1986 where the Raiders finished with a losing record.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1981 Oakland Raiders Draft
Round Selection Player Position College
1 21 Ted Watts CB Texas Tech
1 23 Curt Marsh OT Washington
2 48 Howie Long DE Villanova
4 111 Johnny Robinson DT Louisiana Tech
5 118 James Davis CB Southern
9 248 Curt Mohl OT UCLA
10 276 Frank Hawkins HB Nevada
11 304 Chester Willis HB Auburn
12 332 Phil Nelson TE Delaware

Roster

1981 Oakland Raiders roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • 45 James Davis CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 6 at Denver Broncos L 7–9 0–1 Mile High Stadium 74,796
2 September 14 at Minnesota Vikings W 36–10 1–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,186
3 September 20 Seattle Seahawks W 20–10 2–1 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 45,725
4 September 27 at Detroit Lions L 0–16 2–2 Pontiac Silverdome 77,819
5 October 4 Denver Broncos L 0–17 2–3 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 51,035
6 October 11 at Kansas City Chiefs L 0–27 2–4 Arrowhead Stadium 76,543
7 October 18 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 18–16 3–4 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 42,288
8 October 25 Kansas City Chiefs L 17–28 3–5 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 42,914
9 November 1 New England Patriots W 27–17 4–5 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 44,246
10 November 8 at Houston Oilers L 16–17 4–6 Houston Astrodome 45,519
11 November 15 at Miami Dolphins W 33–17 5–6 Miami Orange Bowl 61,777
12 November 22 San Diego Chargers L 21–55 5–7 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 50,199
13 November 29 at Seattle Seahawks W 32–31 6–7 Kingdome 57,147
14 December 7 Pittsburgh Steelers W 30–27 7–7 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 51,769
15 December 13 Chicago Bears L 6–23 7–8 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 40,384
16 December 21 at San Diego Chargers L 10–23 7–9 San Diego Stadium 52,279
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 234Total
Raiders 7 000 7
• Broncos 6 300 9

[1]

Week 2

1 234Total
• Raiders 3 13713 36
Vikings 0 730 10
Scoring summary
Q1OAKChris Bahr 21 yard field goalOAK 3–0
Q2OAKBurgess Owens 30 yard interception return (Chris Bahr kick)OAK 10–0
Q2OAKTodd Christensen 21 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (kick failed)OAK 16–0
Q2MINEddie Payton 99 yard kickoff return (Rick Danmeier kick)OAK 16–7
Q3MINRick Danmeier 37 yard field goalOAK 16–10
Q3OAKMorris Bradshaw 12 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Chris Bahr kick)OAK 23–10
Q4OAKCedrick Hardman 52 yard fumble return (Chris Bahr kick)OAK 30–10
Q4OAKMalcolm Barnwell 61 yard pass from Marc Wilson (kick failed)OAK 36–10

[2]

Week 3

1 234Total
Seahawks 0 370 10
• Raiders 7 607 20
Scoring summary
Q1OAKJim Plunkett 13 yard run (Chris Bahr kick)OAK 7–0
Q2SEAEfren Herrera 26 yard field goalOAK 7–3
Q2OAKMorris Bradshaw 29 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (kick failed)OAK 13–3
Q3SEASam McCullum 36 yard pass from Jim Zorn (Efren Herrera kick)OAK 13–10
Q4OAKDerrick Jensen 1 yard run (Chris Bahr kick)OAK 20–10

[3]

Standings

AFC West
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 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Diego Chargers(3) 10 6 0 .625 6–2 8–4 478 390 W2
Denver Broncos 10 6 0 .625 5–3 7–5 321 289 L1
Kansas City Chiefs 9 7 0 .563 5–3 7–5 343 290 W1
Oakland Raiders 7 9 0 .438 2–6 5–7 273 343 L2
Seattle Seahawks 6 10 0 .375 2–6 6–8 322 388 W1

References

  1. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  2. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  3. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Feb-10.
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Las Vegas Raiders
  • Founded in 1960
  • Played in Oakland, California (1960–1981, 1995–2019) and Los Angeles (1982–1994)
  • Based in Paradise, Nevada
  • Headquartered in Henderson, Nevada
Franchise
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Key personnel
Culture
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Wild card berths (6)
Division championships (15)
Conference championships (4)
League championships (4)
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Las Vegas Raiders seasons
Played in Oakland (1960–1981, 1995–2019) and Los Angeles (1982–1994)
Bold indicates AFL Championship (1960–1965) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory
Italics indicates AFL Championship (1966–1969) and/or Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance
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