1981 Denver Broncos season

1981 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Edgar Kaiser
General manager	Grady Alderman
Head coach	Dan Reeves
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1981 Denver Broncos season was the team's 22nd year in professional football and its 12th with the National Football League (NFL). The 1981 season depicted Denver trying to improve on their 8-8 record in 1980. They did improve on their record, finishing 10-6. However, they would miss the playoffs by virtue of their head to head loss to the Buffalo Bills during the season. After a very fast 8-3 start, Denver would lose 3 of their final 5 games, including a critical loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in week 12. Denver would finish 8-0 at home, but a 2-6 road record proved to doom the Broncos at season's end.

Personnel

Staff

1981 Denver Broncos staff

Front office Owner – Edgar Kaiser General Manager – Grady Alderman Director of Player Personnel – John Beake Director of Scouting – Carroll Hardy Head coaches Head Coach – Dan Reeves Special Assistant – Nick Nicolau Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers – Rod Dowhower Running Backs – Charlie Lee Tight Ends/Special Teams – Fran Polsfoot Offensive Line – Jerry Frei

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Joe Collier Defensive Line – Stan Jones Linebackers – Bob Zeman Defensive Backs – Richie McCabe Special teams coaches Special Teams – Reed Johnson

Roster

1981 Denver Broncos roster

	Quarterbacks 17 Steve DeBerg 7 Craig Morton Running backs 35 Larry Canada 41 Rob Lytle 24 Rick Parros 46 Dave Preston 32 Tony Reed Wide receivers 83 Wade Manning 25 Haven Moses 80 Rick Upchurch 81 Steve Watson Tight ends 85 Ron Egloff 88 Riley Odoms		Offensive linemen 64 Billy Bryan C 73 Kelvin Clark T 62 Tom Glassic G 65 Glenn Hyde G 60 Paul Howard G 76 Ken Lanier T 71 Claudie Minor T 70 Dave Studdard T Defensive linemen 77 Greg Boyd DE 79 Barney Chavous DE 68 Rubin Carter DT 75 Rulon Jones DE 72 Don Latimer DT 66 Brison Manor DE		Linebackers 58 Steve Busick 56 Larry Evans 53 Randy Gradishar 57 Tom Jackson 59 Mark Merrill 58 Rob Nairne 50 Jim Ryan 51 Bob Swenson Defensive backs 43 Steve Foley CB 31 Mike Harden FS 22 Aaron Kyle CB 49 Dennis Smith 36 Bill Thompson S 37 Steve Trimble 20 Louis Wright CB Special teams 11 Luke Prestridge P 19 Fred Steinfort K		Reserve lists {{{reserve_lists}}} Practice squad {{{practice_squad}}} Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record	Attendance
1	September 6	Oakland Raiders	W 9–7	Mile High Stadium	1–0	74,796
2	September 13	at Seattle Seahawks	L 10–13	Kingdome	1–1	58,513
3	September 20	Baltimore Colts	W 28–10	Mile High Stadium	2–1	74,804
4	September 27	San Diego Chargers	W 42–24	Mile High Stadium	3–1	74,822
5	October 4	at Oakland Raiders	W 17–0	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	4–1	51,035
6	October 11	Detroit Lions	W 27–21	Mile High Stadium	5–1	74,816
7	October 18	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 14–28	Arrowhead Stadium	5–2	74,672
8	October 25	at Buffalo Bills	L 7–9	Rich Stadium	5–3	77,757
9	November 2	Minnesota Vikings	W 19–17	Mile High Stadium	6–3	74,834
10	November 8	Cleveland Browns	W 23–20 (OT)	Mile High Stadium	7–3	74,859
11	November 15	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 24–7	Tampa Stadium	8–3	64,518
12	November 22	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 21–38	Riverfront Stadium	8–4	57,207
13	November 29	at San Diego Chargers	L 17–34	Jack Murphy Stadium	8–5	51,533
14	December 6	Kansas City Chiefs	W 16–13	Mile High Stadium	9–5	74,744
15	December 13	Seattle Seahawks	W 23–13	Mile High Stadium	10–5	74,527
16	December 20	at Chicago Bears	L 24–35	Soldier Field	10–6	40,125

Standings

AFC West
	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

External links

• 1981 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com