1981 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration	September 6, 1981 - December 21, 1981
Playoffs
Start date	December 27, 1981
AFC Champions	Cincinnati Bengals
NFC Champions	San Francisco 49ers
Super Bowl XVI
Date	January 24, 1982
Site	Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan
Champions	San Francisco 49ers
Pro Bowl
Date	January 31, 1982
Site	Aloha Stadium
National Football League seasons  < 1980 1982 >

The 1981 NFL season was the 62nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVI when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals.

Contents 1 Major rule changes 2 Final standings 2.1 Tiebreakers 3 Playoffs 3.1 AFC 3.2 NFC 3.3 Super Bowl 4 References

[edit] Major rule changes

• It is illegal for any player to put adhesive or slippery substances such as the product "stickum" on his body, equipment or uniform. This rule is known as both the "Lester Hayes Rule" and the "Fred Biletnikoff Rule" since both players were notorious for using sticky substances to make it easier for them to catch passes.
• An offensive player who comes into the game wearing an illegal number for the position he takes must report to the Referee before the start of the next play.
• The penalty for an ineligible receiver who touches a forward pass is a loss of down.
• The penalty for illegal use of hands, arms, or body (including holding) is reduced from 15 yards to 10 yards.
• The penalty for intentional grounding is modified: loss of down and 10 yards penalty from the previous spot, or if the foul occurs more than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage, loss of down at the spot of the foul.

[edit] Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

  x  - clinched wild card berth,   y  - clinched division title

[edit] Tiebreakers

• Baltimore finished ahead of New England in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2-0).
• San Diego finished ahead of Denver in the AFC West based on better division record (6-2 to Broncos' 5-3).
• Buffalo was the second AFC Wild Card based on head-to-head victory over Denver (1-0).
• Detroit finished ahead of Green Bay in the NFC Central based on better record against common opponents (5-5 to Packers' 4-6).

[edit] Playoffs

Home team in capitals

[edit] AFC

• Wild-Card playoff: Buffalo 31, N.Y. JETS 27
• Divisional playoffs: San Diego 41, MIAMI 38 (OT) (The Epic in Miami, Kellen Winslow game); CINCINNATI 28, Buffalo 21
• AFC Championship: CINCINNATI 27, San Diego 7 (Freezer Bowl) at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio, January 10, 1982

[edit] NFC

• Wild-Card playoff: N.Y. Giants 27, PHILADELPHIA 21
• Divisional playoffs: DALLAS 38, Tampa Bay 0; SAN FRANCISCO 38, N.Y. Giants 24
• NFC Championship: SAN FRANCISCO 28, Dallas 27 (The Catch) at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California, January 10, 1982

[edit] Super Bowl

• Super Bowl XVI: San Francisco (NFC) 26, Cincinnati (AFC) 21, at Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan, January 24, 1982

[edit] References

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1981-1990 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• 1981 season in details
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)

1981 NFL season v • d • e
AFC	East	Central	West	East	Central	West	NFC
	Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
	Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
	Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
	New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
	NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay
1981 NFL Draft • NFL Playoffs • Pro Bowl • Super Bowl XVI

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