1981 Denver Broncos season

Denver Broncos
1981 Denver Broncos season
Head coach	Dan Reeves
General manager	Grady Alderman
Owner	Edgar Kaiser
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify
	← 1980; Broncos seasons; 1982 →;

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[edit]

Roster[edit]

1981 Denver Broncos roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Rookies in italics

Staff[edit]

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

Offensive coaches

Running Backs – Charlie Lee
Wide Receivers – Rod Dowhower
Tight Ends – Fran Polsfoot
Offensive Line – Jerry Frei
Special Assistant – Nick Nicolau

Defensive coaches

Defensive Coordinator – Joe Collier
Defensive Line – Stan Jones
Linebackers – Bob Zeman
Defensive Backs – Richie McCabe

Special teams coaches

Special Teams – Reed Johnson

^[1]

Schedule[edit]

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[edit]

AFC West
view talk edit	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[edit]

^ 2010 Denver Broncos Media Guide. p. 365. Retrieved March 6, 2011.

External links[edit]

1981 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com

[1] 2010 Denver Broncos Media Guide. p. 365. Retrieved March 6, 2011.

[1]

v t e Denver Broncos
Founded in 1960 Based in Denver, Colorado Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado
Franchise	History Players Starting quarterbacks Coaches Seasons First-round draft picks Broadcasters
Stadiums	Mile High Stadium Sports Authority Field at Mile High
Key personnel	Owner Pat Bowlen President/CEO Joe Ellis Executive Vice President/General Manager John Elway Head Coach Vance Joseph
Culture	Miles Thunder Orange Crush Defense No Fly Zone The Barrel Man Cheerleaders "You Only Move Twice" (The Simpsons episode) South Park Mork & Mindy
Lore	Snowball Game The Drive The Fumble The Helicopter Mile High Miracle
Rivalries	Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Chargers Oakland Raiders New England Patriots Manning vs. Brady
Retired numbers	7 18 44
Ring of Fame	Steve Atwater Pat Bowlen Terrell Davis Jason Elam John Elway Simon Fletcher Goose Gonsoulin Randy Gradishar Rich Jackson Tom Jackson Charley Johnson Floyd Little John Lynch Karl Mecklenburg Gene Mingo Craig Morton Haven Moses Tom Nalen Gerald Phipps Dan Reeves Shannon Sharpe Dennis Smith Paul Smith Rod Smith Lionel Taylor Billy Thompson Frank Tripucka Jim Turner Rick Upchurch Louis Wright Gary Zimmerman
Division championships	1977 1978 1984 1986 1987 1989 1991 1996 1998 2005 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Conference championships	1977 1986 1987 1989 1997 1998 2013 2015
League championships	1997 (XXXII) 1998 (XXXIII) 2015 (50)
Media	Broadcasters Dave Logan Brian Griese Scott Hastings Ed McCaffrey Alan Roach TV: KUSA 9News Radio: 850 KOA (AM)
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: West Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)
Seasons (56)	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Championship seasons in bold