Mobile Site You Are Here > Home > Teams > Pittsburgh Steelers > 1981 Statistics & Players

News: s-r blog:Follow us on Twitter to Win a Free Baseball-Reference.com Play Index Subscription

1981 Pittsburgh Steelers

Franchise Index: Previous Season / Next Season

Record: 8-8-0, Finished 2nd in AFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 356 points (22.2/g), 8th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 297 points (18.6/g), 11th.
 Differential of 59 points (3.7/g), 10th.
 Expected W-L: 9.7-6.3.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +5 (0.3/g), 9th.

Simple Rating System: Total 2.7, Offense: 1.2, Defense: 1.5, SoS: -1.0, versus averages of 0.0.

Coached by Chuck Noll

 Defensive Coordinator: Woody Widenhofer

 Other Notable Asst.: Tony Dungy (Defensive Assistant)

Training Camp: St. Vincent College (Latrobe, Pennsylvania)

Team Stats and Rankings

Tot Yds & TO Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
Team Offense 356 5598 1042 5.4 318 247 461 3226 25 19 6.6 156 554 2372 21 4.3 137 41 22 25
Team Defense 297 5652 1084 5.2 323 302 544 3783 22 30 6.5 181 500 1869 10 3.7 114 46 16 28
Lg Rank Offense 8 11 9 23 13 7 8 7 9 5 5 5 15 24
Lg Rank Defense 11 22 20 23 26 14 3 24 11 8 2 8 7 19

Team Games & Schedule

Score Offense Defense
Week Day Date OT Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 6 boxscore L 0-1 Kansas City Chiefs 33 37 29 408 319 89 7 17 353 214 139 2
2 Thu September 10 boxscore L 0-2 @ Miami Dolphins 10 30 15 300 183 117 2 25 346 161 185 1
3 Sun September 20 boxscore W 1-2 New York Jets 38 10 33 566 223 343 1 16 258 174 84 2
4 Sun September 27 boxscore W OT 2-2 New England Patriots 27 21 27 498 247 251 24 438 323 115 1
5 Sun October 4 boxscore W 3-2 @ New Orleans Saints 20 6 19 406 269 137 3 16 180 102 78 5
6 Sun October 11 boxscore W 4-2 Cleveland Browns 13 7 19 365 199 166 1 26 445 279 166 3
7 Sun October 18 boxscore L 4-3 @ Cincinnati Bengals 7 34 10 205 140 65 1 25 494 330 164
8 Mon October 26 boxscore W 5-3 Houston Oilers 26 13 22 363 196 167 1 13 307 231 76 3
9 Sun November 1 boxscore L 5-4 San Francisco 49ers 14 17 16 269 125 144 6 25 330 200 130 2
10 Sun November 8 boxscore L 5-5 @ Seattle Seahawks 21 24 17 367 205 162 2 19 356 260 96 1
11 Sun November 15 boxscore W 6-5 @ Atlanta Falcons 34 20 13 293 221 72 3 24 441 380 61 6
12 Sun November 22 boxscore W 7-5 @ Cleveland Browns 32 10 25 362 223 139 5 22 365 219 146 7
13 Sun November 29 boxscore W 8-5 Los Angeles Rams 24 0 18 381 170 211 3 12 174 103 71 4
14 Mon December 7 boxscore L 8-6 @ Oakland Raiders 27 30 24 331 235 96 2 22 471 257 214 5
15 Sun December 13 boxscore L 8-7 Cincinnati Bengals 10 17 14 207 120 87 2 19 318 215 103 2
16 Sun December 20 boxscore L 8-8 @ Houston Oilers 20 21 17 277 151 126 2 18 376 335 41 2

Passing

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
No. Age Pos G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate QBR Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk% 4QC GWD
12 Terry Bradshaw 33 QB 14 14 8-6-0 201 370 54.3 2887 22 5.9 14 3.8 90 7.8 7.3 14.4 206.2 83.9 17 155 7.06 6.57 4.4 0 2
16 Mark Malone 23 qb 8 2 0-2-0 45 88 51.1 553 3 3.4 5 5.7 30 6.3 4.4 12.3 69.1 58.6 10 76 4.87 3.18 10.2
18 Cliff Stoudt 26 2 0 1 3 33.3 17 0 0.0 0 0.0 17 5.7 5.7 17.0 8.5 53.5 0 0 5.67 5.67 0.0
Team Total 27.3 16 8-8-0 247 461 53.6 3457 25 5.4 19 4.1 90 7.5 6.7 14.0 216.1 78.9 27 231 6.61 5.88 5.5 0 2
Opp Total 16 302 544 55.5 4108 22 4.0 30 5.5 7.6 5.88 13.6 256.8 70.3 40 325 6.5 4.9 6.8

Rushing & Receiving

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Rushing Receiving
No. Age Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb
32 Franco Harris 31 FB 16 16 242 987 8 50 4.1 61.7 15.1 37 250 6.8 1 26 2.3 15.6 1237 9 6
44 Frank Pollard 24 RB 14 10 123 570 2 29 4.6 40.7 8.8 19 156 8.2 0 26 1.4 11.1 726 2 5
38 Sidney Thornton 27 rb 16 6 56 202 4 17 3.6 12.6 3.5 8 78 9.8 0 30 0.5 4.9 280 4 6
45 Russell Davis 25 16 0 47 270 1 28 5.7 16.9 2.9 4 34 8.5 0 19 0.3 2.1 304 1 3
12 Terry Bradshaw 33 QB 14 14 38 162 2 16 4.3 11.6 2.7 162 2 7
27 Greg Hawthorne 25 10 0 25 58 2 16 2.3 5.8 2.5 4 23 5.8 0 12 0.4 2.3 81 2 1
16 Mark Malone 23 qb 8 2 16 68 2 19 4.3 8.5 2.0 1 90 90.0 1 90 0.1 11.3 158 3 2
18 Cliff Stoudt 26 2 0 3 11 0 10 3.7 5.5 1.5 11 0 0
82 John Stallworth 29 WR 16 16 1 17 0 17 17.0 1.1 0.1 63 1098 17.4 5 55 3.9 68.6 1115 5 4
86 Jim Smith 26 PR 15 3 1 15 0 15 15.0 1.0 0.1 29 571 19.7 7 46 1.9 38.1 586 7 1
39 Rick Moser 25 6 0 1 4 0 4 4.0 0.7 0.2 1 5 5.0 1 5 0.2 0.8 9 1 0
5 Craig Colquitt 27 P 16 0 1 8 0 8 8.0 0.5 0.1 8 0 0
89 Bennie Cunningham 27 TE 15 15 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 41 574 14.0 3 30 2.7 38.3 574 3 0
88 Lynn Swann 29 WR 13 12 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 34 505 14.9 5 44 2.6 38.8 505 5 1
84 Randy Grossman 29 te 16 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 3 19 6.3 1 14 0.2 1.2 19 1 0
85 Calvin Sweeney 26 14 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 53 26.5 0 32 0.1 3.8 53 0 1
74 Ray Pinney 27 LT 16 11 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 1 1.0 1 1 0.1 0.1 1 1 0
Team Total 27.3 16 554 2372 21 50 4.3 148.3 34.6 247 3457 14.0 25 90 15.4 216.1 5829 46 39
Opp Total 16 500 1869 10 3.7 116.8 31.3 302 3783 12.5 22 18.9 236.4 5652 32 31

Kick & Punt Returns

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
30 Larry Anderson 25 KR 16 0 20 208 0 33 10.4 37 825 0 35 22.3 1033
86 Jim Smith 26 PR 15 3 30 204 0 28 6.8 790
27 Greg Hawthorne 25 10 0 7 138 0 30 19.7 219
87 Johnnie Dirden 29 6 0 3 45 0 22 15.0 45
39 Rick Moser 25 6 0 3 76 0 29 25.3 85
45 Russell Davis 25 16 0 1 8 0 8 8.0 312
16 Mark Malone 23 qb 8 2 1 3 0 3 3.0 161
38 Sidney Thornton 27 rb 16 6 1 1 0 1 1.0 281
Team Total 27.3 16 50 412 0 33 8.2 53 1096 0 35 20.7 7337
Opp Total 16 34 2 52 1253 0 24.1

Kicking & Punting

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
No. Age Pos G GS FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
5 Craig Colquitt 27 P 16 0 84 3641 74 0 43.3
1 David Trout 24 K 16 0 3 3 6 5 2 1 5 3 1 17 12 70.6% 46 38 82.6%
Team Total 27.3 16 3 3 6 5 2 1 5 3 1 17 12 70.6% 46 38 82.6% 84 3641 74 0 43.3
Opp Total 16 33 18 54.5% 35 33 94.3% 78 3284 42.1

Defense & Fumbles

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
No. Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
12 Terry Bradshaw 33 QB 14 14 0 7 3 -23 0
58 Jack Lambert*+ 29 MLB 16 16 6 76 0 31 0 0 0 2 38 0
31 Donnie Shell* 29 SS 14 14 5 52 0 25 0 0 0 2 0 0
38 Sidney Thornton 27 rb 16 6 0 6 1 0 0
47 Mel Blount*+ 33 RCB 16 16 6 106 1 50 0
32 Franco Harris 31 FB 16 16 0 6 0 0 0
45 Russell Davis 25 16 0 0 3 2 0 0
44 Frank Pollard 24 RB 14 10 0 5 0 -12 0
24 J.T. Thomas 30 FS 16 16 4 18 0 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
59 Jack Ham 33 LLB 12 11 1 23 0 23 0 0 0 3 0 0
82 John Stallworth 29 WR 16 16 0 4 0 0 0
42 Anthony Washington 23 db 16 1 3 46 0 35 0
49 Dwayne Woodruff 24 LCB 16 14 1 17 0 17 0 0 1 1 0 0
56 Robin Cole 26 RLB 14 13 1 29 0 29 0 0 0 1 0 0
77 Steve Courson 26 RG 16 16 0 0 2 0 0
29 Ron Johnson 25 db 12 3 2 8 0 8 0
16 Mark Malone 23 qb 8 2 0 2 0 0 0
86 Jim Smith 26 PR 15 3 0 1 1 0 0
88 Lynn Swann 29 WR 13 12 0 1 1 0 0
54 Zack Valentine 24 16 0 0 0 2 0 0
30 Larry Anderson 25 KR 16 0 0 1 0 0 0
76 John Banaszak 31 RDE 12 12 0 0 1 0 0
89 Bennie Cunningham 27 TE 15 15 0 0 1 0 0
67 Gary Dunn 28 RDT 16 15 0 0 1 1 0
27 Greg Hawthorne 25 10 0 0 1 0 0 0
62 Tunch Ilkin 24 t 16 1 0 0 1 0 0
90 Bob Kohrs 23 lde 16 6 0 0 1 0 0
50 David Little 22 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
85 Calvin Sweeney 26 14 0 0 1 0 0 0
51 Loren Toews 30 lb 16 4 0 0 1 0 0
1 David Trout 24 K 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
53 Dirt Winston 26 lb 14 4 1 1 0 1 0
Team Total 27.3 16 30 376 1 50 0 0 39 30 4 0
Opp Total 16 27 31 15

Scoring Summary

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
No. Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
1 David Trout 24 K 16 0 38 12 74
32 Franco Harris 31 FB 16 16 8 1 9 54
86 Jim Smith 26 PR 15 3 7 7 42
82 John Stallworth 29 WR 16 16 5 5 30
88 Lynn Swann 29 WR 13 12 5 5 30
38 Sidney Thornton 27 rb 16 6 4 4 24
89 Bennie Cunningham 27 TE 15 15 3 3 18
16 Mark Malone 23 qb 8 2 2 1 3 18
12 Terry Bradshaw 33 QB 14 14 2 2 12
27 Greg Hawthorne 25 10 0 2 2 12
44 Frank Pollard 24 RB 14 10 2 2 12
47 Mel Blount*+ 33 RCB 16 16 1 1 6
45 Russell Davis 25 16 0 1 1 6
84 Randy Grossman 29 te 16 1 1 1 6
39 Rick Moser 25 6 0 1 1 6
74 Ray Pinney 27 LT 16 11 1 1 6
Team Total 27.3 16 21 25 1 47 38 12 356
Opp Total 16 10 22 2 33 18 297