1981 Oakland Raiders season

The 1981 season was the Oakland Raiders' 22nd, its 12th in the National Football League and third under head coach Tom Flores. The team failed to improve on its 1980 record of 11–5, finishing 7–9, becoming 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 losing three consecutive shutout games. The passing game deteriorated badly, finishing 26th in the league with 28 interceptions. After the defense led the NFL in interceptions and takeaways in 1980, it was last in the league 1981 with a –16 turnover differential. The 1981 season was the team's last in Oakland until 1995, and the Raiders' losing record snapped a streak of 16 consecutive winning seasons. This was the only season from 1965 to 1986 in which the Raiders finished with a losing record.

1981 Oakland Raiders season
Owner	Al Davis
General manager	Al Davis
Head coach	Tom Flores
Home field	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th AFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1981 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 (QB) 16 Jim Plunkett  6 Marc Wilson Running backs (RB) 27 Frank Hawkins 33 Kenny King 31 Derrick Jensen 43 Ira Matthews 30 Mark van Eeghen FB 22 Arthur Whittington Wide receivers (WR) 80 Malcolm Barnwell 81 Morris Bradshaw 21 Cliff Branch 85 Bob Chandler Tight ends (TE) 88 Raymond Chester 46 Todd Christensen 84 Derrick Ramsey

Offensive linemen (OL) 50 Dave Dalby C 79 Bruce Davis T 70 Henry Lawrence T 60 Curt Marsh G 65 Mickey Marvin G 71 Lindsey Mason T 78 Art Shell T 66 Steve Sylvester G 63 Gene Upshaw G Defensive linemen (DL) 73 Dave Browning DE 77 Joe Campbell DE 86 Cedrick Hardman DE 90 Willie Jones DE 75 Howie Long DE 72 John Matuszak DE 68 Johnny Robinson DT

Linebackers (LB) 52 Greg Bracelin 83 Ted Hendricks 53 Rod Martin 57 Randy McClanahan 55 Matt Millen Defensive backs (DB) 36 Mike Davis SS 37 Lester Hayes CB 42 Monte Jackson 23 Odis McKinney SS 35 Dwayne O'Steen CB 44 Burgess Owens FS 20 Ted Watts Special teams 10 Chris Bahr K 8 Ray Guy P

Reserve 45 James Davis CB (IR) 62 Reggie Kinlaw DT (IR) 38 Chester Willis RB (IR) 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 2 3 4 Total Raiders 7 0 0 0 7 • Broncos 6 3 0 0 9 Date: September 6 Location: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado Game start: 2:00 p.m. Game attendance: 74,796 Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C); wind 9 mph (14 km/h) Referee: Jerry Markbreit TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Len Dawson

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 3 13 7 13 36 Vikings 0 7 3 0 10 Date: September 14 Location: Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota Game start: 8:00 p.m. Game attendance: 47,186 Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C); wind 13 mph (21 km/h) Referee: Gene Barth Television network: ABC

Scoring summary Q1 OAK Chris Bahr 21 yard field goal OAK 3–0 Q2 OAK Burgess Owens 30 yard interception return (Chris Bahr kick) OAK 10–0 Q2 OAK Todd Christensen 21 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (kick failed) OAK 16–0 Q2 MIN Eddie Payton 99 yard kickoff return (Rick Danmeier kick) OAK 16–7 Q3 MIN Rick Danmeier 37 yard field goal OAK 16–10 Q3 OAK Morris Bradshaw 12 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Chris Bahr kick) OAK 23–10 Q4 OAK Cedrick Hardman 52 yard fumble return (Chris Bahr kick) OAK 30–10 Q4 OAK Malcolm Barnwell 61 yard pass from Marc Wilson (kick failed) OAK 36–10

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Seahawks 0 3 7 0 10 • Raiders 7 6 0 7 20 Date: September 20 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game attendance: 45,725 Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C); wind 10 mph (16 km/h) Referee: Pat Haggerty

Scoring summary Q1 OAK Jim Plunkett 13 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) OAK 7–0 Q2 SEA Efren Herrera 26 yard field goal OAK 7–3 Q2 OAK Morris Bradshaw 29 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (kick failed) OAK 13–3 Q3 SEA Sam McCullum 36 yard pass from Jim Zorn (Efren Herrera kick) OAK 13–10 Q4 OAK Derrick Jensen 1 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) OAK 20–10

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