1981 Denver Broncos Season

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
	← 1980; Broncos seasons; 1982 →;

Led by first-year head coach Dan Reeves, the Broncos were 10–6, tied for first in the AFC West, but failed to make the postseason again due to their loss to the Buffalo Bills, who gained the final berth.

The Broncos were undefeated at home in 1981, but had six road losses. After a promising 8–3 start, Denver lost three of their final five games, including a critical loss against the Cincinnati Bengals in week 12. Entering the season finale against the Chicago Bears, they had a one-game lead over the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West, but the loss at Soldier Field ended their season, losing the tiebreakers for the division and wild card berths.

Prior to this season, ownership changed in February; coaching and front office changes were made in March.

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1981 Denver Broncos draft
1	15	Dennis Smith *	S	USC
2	42	Clay Brown	TE	BYU
4	106	Mark Herrmann	QB	Purdue
5	125	Ken Lanier	T	Florida State
6	151	Alvin Lewis	RB	Colorado State
7	181	Steve Busick	LB	USC
9	234	Rusty Olsen	DE	Washington
11	290	Pat Walker	WR	Miami (FL)
12	317	John Hankerd	LB	Notre Dame
12	321	Mandel Robinson	RB	Wyoming
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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 Running Backs – Charlie Lee Wide Receivers – Rod Dowhower Tight Ends – 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

Source:

Roster

**1981 Denver Broncos roster**

	Quarterbacks 17 Steve DeBerg 10 Mark Herrmann 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 87 James Wright		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 39 Roland Solomon 36 Bill Thompson S 37 Steve Trimble 20 Louis Wright CB Special teams 11 Luke Prestridge P 19 Fred Steinfort K		Reserve lists 54 Keith Bishop G (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 89 Clay Brown TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 84 Jimmy Robinson WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Source:

Regular season

Schedule

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

Standings

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

External links

Denver Broncos – 1981 media guide
1981 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com