1981 Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) |
| 2nd place • American Football Conference • Central Division • 8-8-0 .500 |
| Head Coach: Chuck Noll |
| Rollie Dotsch | Offensive Line |
| Tony Dungy | Defensive Assistant |
| Dick Hoak | Offensive Backs |
| Tom Moore | Receivers |
| George Perles | Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line |
| Paul Uram | Conditioning |
| Dick Walker | Defensive Backs |
| Woody Widenhofer | Defensive Coordinator |
| SCORES | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | Venue | Attendance | ||||
| Sat | 8/8/1981 | A | Cleveland Browns | 35 | 31 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 78610 | |
| Sat | 8/15/1981 | A | Philadelphia Eagles | 20 | 36 | L | Philadelphia, PA | Veterans Stadium | 66712 | |
| Sat | 8/22/1981 | A | Dallas Cowboys | 14 | 24 | L | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 63504 | |
| Sat | 8/29/1981 | H | New York Giants | 31 | 6 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 51311 | |
| Sun | 9/6/1981 | H | Kansas City Chiefs | 33 | 37 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 53305 | |
| Thu | 9/10/1981 | A | Miami Dolphins | 10 | 30 | L | Miami, FL | Orange Bowl | 74190 | |
| Sun | 9/20/1981 | H | New York Jets | 38 | 10 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 52973 | |
| Sun | 9/27/1981 | H | New England Patriots | 27 | 21 | W | OT | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 53344 |
| Sun | 10/4/1981 | A | New Orleans Saints | 20 | 6 | W | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 64578 | |
| Sun | 10/11/1981 | H | Cleveland Browns | 13 | 7 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 53250 | |
| Sun | 10/18/1981 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 34 | L | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 57090 | |
| Mon | 10/26/1981 | H | Houston Oilers | 26 | 13 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 52732 | |
| Sun | 11/1/1981 | H | San Francisco 49ers | 14 | 17 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 52878 | |
| Sun | 11/8/1981 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 21 | 24 | L | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 59058 | |
| Sun | 11/15/1981 | A | Atlanta Falcons | 34 | 20 | W | Atlanta, GA | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 57485 | |
| Sun | 11/22/1981 | A | Cleveland Browns | 32 | 10 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 77958 | |
| Sun | 11/29/1981 | H | Los Angeles Rams | 24 | 0 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 51854 | |
| Mon | 12/7/1981 | A | Oakland Raiders | 27 | 30 | L | Oakland, CA | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 51769 | |
| Sun | 12/13/1981 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 10 | 17 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 50623 | |
| Sun | 12/20/1981 | A | Houston Oilers | 20 | 21 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 41056 | |
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Larry Anderson | 30 | RCB | 5-11 | 188 | 25 | Louisiana Tech | 16 | 0 |
| John Banaszak | 76 | RDE | 6-3 | 242 | 31 | Eastern Michigan | 12 | 12 |
| Tom Beasley | 65 | LDT-LDE | 6-5 | 248 | 27 | Virginia Tech | 13 | 9 |
| Mel Blount | 47 | RCB | 6-3 | 205 | 33 | Southern University | 16 | 16 |
| Terry Bradshaw | 12 | QB | 6-3 | 210 | 33 | Louisiana Tech | 14 | 14 |
| Larry Brown | 79 | ROT | 6-4 | 270 | 32 | Kansas | 14 | 14 |
| Robin Cole | 56 | RLB | 6-2 | 225 | 26 | New Mexico | 14 | 13 |
| Craig Colquitt | 5 | P | 6-2 | 183 | 27 | Cleveland State JC; Tennessee | 16 | 0 |
| Steve Courson | 77 | ROG | 6-1 | 270 | 26 | South Carolina | 16 | 16 |
| Bennie Cunningham | 89 | TE | 6-4 | 260 | 27 | Clemson | 15 | 15 |
| Russell Davis | 45 | FB | 6-1 | 215 | 25 | Michigan | 16 | 0 |
| Johnnie Dirden | 87 | WR | 6-0 | 190 | 29 | Sam Houston State | 6 | 0 |
| Gary Dunn | 67 | RDT | 6-3 | 270 | 28 | Miami (Florida) | 16 | 15 |
| John Goodman | 95 | LDE-RDE-LDT-RDT | 6-6 | 254 | 23 | Oklahoma | 15 | 10 |
| Joe Greene | 75 | LDT | 6-4 | 270 | 35 | North Texas | 14 | 7 |
| L.C. Greenwood | 68 | LDE | 6-6 | 246 | 35 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 14 | 5 |
| Randy Grossman | 84 | TE | 6-1 | 225 | 29 | Temple | 16 | 1 |
| Jack Ham | 59 | LLB | 6-3 | 224 | 33 | Penn State | 12 | 11 |
| Franco Harris | 32 | FB | 6-2 | 225 | 31 | Penn State | 16 | 16 |
| Greg Hawthorne | 27 | RB | 6-2 | 230 | 25 | Baylor | 10 | 0 |
| Tunch Ilkin | 62 | ROT | 6-3 | 267 | 24 | Indiana State | 16 | 1 |
| Ron Johnson | 29 | SS-LCB | 5-10 | 200 | 25 | Eastern Michigan | 12 | 3 |
| Bob Kohrs | 90 | RDE-LDE | 6-3 | 240 | 23 | Arizona State | 16 | 6 |
| Jon Kolb | 55 | LOT-ROT | 6-2 | 240 | 34 | Oklahoma State | 15 | 6 |
| Jack Lambert | 58 | MLB | 6-4 | 220 | 29 | Kent State | 16 | 16 |
| David Little | 48 | MLB | 6-1 | 240 | 22 | Florida | 16 | 0 |
| Mark Malone | 16 | QB-WR | 6-4 | 220 | 23 | Arizona State | 8 | 3 |
| Tyrone McGriff | 61 | OG | 6-0 | 270 | 23 | Florida A&M | 12 | 0 |
| Rick Moser | 39 | FB | 6-0 | 210 | 25 | Rhode Island | 6 | 0 |
| Ted Petersen | 66 | C-OT | 6-5 | 241 | 26 | Eastern Illinois | 2 | 0 |
| Ray Pinney | 74 | LOT-ROT | 6-4 | 274 | 27 | Washington | 16 | 11 |
| Frank Pollard | 44 | RB | 5-10 | 220 | 24 | Baylor | 14 | 10 |
| Donnie Shell | 31 | SS | 5-11 | 198 | 29 | South Carolina State | 14 | 14 |
| Jim Smith | 86 | WR | 6-2 | 205 | 26 | Michigan | 15 | 3 |
| John Stallworth | 82 | WR | 6-2 | 202 | 29 | Alabama A&M | 16 | 16 |
| Cliff Stoudt | 18 | QB | 6-4 | 216 | 26 | Youngstown State | 2 | 0 |
| Lynn Swann | 88 | WR | 6-0 | 180 | 29 | Southern California | 13 | 12 |
| Calvin Sweeney | 85 | WR | 6-2 | 192 | 26 | Riverside CC; UC Riverside; Southern California | 14 | 0 |
| J.T. Thomas | 24 | FS | 6-2 | 196 | 30 | Florida State | 16 | 16 |
| Sidney Thornton | 38 | RB | 5-11 | 230 | 27 | Northwestern State (Louisiana) | 16 | 6 |
| Loren Toews | 51 | RLB-LLB | 6-3 | 220 | 30 | California | 16 | 4 |
| David Trout | 1 | K | 5-6 | 165 | 24 | Pittsburgh | 16 | 0 |
| Zack Valentine | 54 | RLB | 6-2 | 222 | 24 | East Carolina | 16 | 0 |
| Anthony Washington | 42 | LCB | 6-1 | 204 | 23 | Fresno CC; California; Fresno State | 16 | 1 |
| Mike Webster | 52 | C | 6-2 | 260 | 29 | Wisconsin | 16 | 16 |
| Dennis Winston | 53 | LLB | 6-0 | 228 | 26 | Arkansas | 14 | 4 |
| Craig Wolfley | 73 | LOG | 6-1 | 268 | 23 | Syracuse | 16 | 16 |
| Dwayne Woodruff | 49 | LCB | 5-11 | 195 | 24 | Louisville | 16 | 14 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 17 | Keith Gary | DE | Oklahoma |
| 2 | 44 | Anthony Washington | DB | Fresno State |
| 3 | 73 | Rick Donnalley | C-OG | North Carolina |
| 4 | 100 | Robbie Martin | WR | Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) |
| 5 | 127 | Ricky Martin | WR | New Mexico |
| 6 | 156 | Bryan Hinkle | LB | Oregon |
| 7 | 183 | David Little | LB | Florida |
| 8 | 209 | Frank Wilson | RB | Rice |
| 9 | 239 | James Hunter | T | Southern California |
| 10 | 265 | Mike Mayock | DB | Boston College |
| 11 | 292 | Rick Trocano | QB | Pittsburgh |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 90 | 97 | 84 | 79 | 6 | 356 |
| Opponents Totals | 33 | 97 | 58 | 109 | 0 | 297 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 30:17 | 318 | 137 | 156 | 25 | 83/202 41.1% | / % | 97 | 840 |
| Opponents Totals | 29:43 | 323 | 114 | 181 | 28 | 90/230 39.1% | / % | 112 | 960 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Trout | 0 | 38 | 46 | 82.6 | 12 | 17 | 70.6 | 0 | 74 |
| Franco Harris | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | ||
| Jim Smith | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | ||
| John Stallworth | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Lynn Swann | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Sidney Thornton | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Bennie Cunningham | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Mark Malone | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Terry Bradshaw | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Greg Hawthorne | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Frank Pollard | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Mel Blount | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Russell Davis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Randy Grossman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Rick Moser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Ray Pinney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Team Totals | 47 | 38 | 46 | 82.6 | 12 | 17 | 70.6 | 0 | 356 |
| Opponents Totals | 35 | 33 | 35 | 94.3 | 18 | 33 | 54.5 | 0 | 297 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Trout | 12 | 17 | 70.6 | 0 | 48 | 3/3 | 5/6 | 1/2 | 3/5 | 0/1 |
| Team Totals | 12 | 17 | 70.6 | 0 | 48 | 3/3 | 5/6 | 1/2 | 3/5 | 0/1 |
| Opponents Totals | 18 | 33 | 54.5 | 0/0 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 6/14 | 0/4 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franco Harris | 242 | 987 | 4.1 | 50 | 8 |
| Frank Pollard | 123 | 570 | 4.6 | 29 | 2 |
| Russell Davis | 47 | 270 | 5.7 | 28 | 1 |
| Sidney Thornton | 56 | 202 | 3.6 | 17t | 4 |
| Terry Bradshaw | 38 | 162 | 4.3 | 16 | 2 |
| Mark Malone | 16 | 68 | 4.3 | 19 | 2 |
| Greg Hawthorne | 25 | 58 | 2.3 | 16 | 2 |
| John Stallworth | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| Jim Smith | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 |
| Cliff Stoudt | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 10 | 0 |
| Craig Colquitt | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Rick Moser | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 554 | 2372 | 4.3 | 50 | 21 |
| Opponents Totals | 500 | 1869 | 3.7 | 60 | 10 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Bradshaw | 370 | 201 | 54.3 | 155 | 2887 | 7.8 | 14.4 | 90t | 22 | 5.9 | 14 | 3.8 | 17 | 155 | 2732 | 83.9 |
| Mark Malone | 88 | 45 | 51.1 | 38 | 553 | 6.3 | 12.3 | 30 | 3 | 3.4 | 5 | 5.7 | 10 | 76 | 477 | 58.6 |
| Cliff Stoudt | 3 | 1 | 33.3 | 2 | 17 | 5.7 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 53.5 |
| Team Totals | 461 | 247 | 53.6 | 195 | 3457 | 7.5 | 14.0 | 90t | 25 | 5.4 | 19 | 4.1 | 27 | 231 | 3226 | 78.9 |
| Opponents Totals | 544 | 302 | 55.5 | 212 | 4108 | 7.6 | 13.6 | 73t | 22 | 4.0 | 30 | 5.5 | 40 | 325 | 3783 | 70.3 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Stallworth | 63 | 1098 | 17.4 | 55 | 5 |
| Bennie Cunningham | 41 | 574 | 14.0 | 30 | 3 |
| Franco Harris | 37 | 250 | 6.8 | 26 | 1 |
| Lynn Swann | 34 | 505 | 14.9 | 44 | 5 |
| Jim Smith | 29 | 571 | 19.7 | 46t | 7 |
| Frank Pollard | 19 | 156 | 8.2 | 26 | 0 |
| Sidney Thornton | 8 | 78 | 9.8 | 30 | 0 |
| Russell Davis | 4 | 34 | 8.5 | 19 | 0 |
| Greg Hawthorne | 4 | 23 | 5.8 | 12 | 0 |
| Randy Grossman | 3 | 19 | 6.3 | 14t | 1 |
| Calvin Sweeney | 2 | 53 | 26.5 | 32 | 0 |
| Mark Malone | 1 | 90 | 90.0 | 90t | 1 |
| Rick Moser | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5t | 1 |
| Ray Pinney | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1t | 1 |
| Team Totals | 247 | 3457 | 14.0 | 90t | 25 |
| Opponents Totals | 302 | 4108 | 13.6 | 73t | 22 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mel Blount | 6 | 106 | 17.7 | 50t | 1 |
| Jack Lambert | 6 | 76 | 12.7 | 31 | 0 |
| Donnie Shell | 5 | 52 | 10.4 | 25 | 0 |
| J.T. Thomas | 4 | 18 | 4.5 | 16 | 0 |
| Anthony Washington | 3 | 46 | 15.3 | 35 | 0 |
| Ron Johnson | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Robin Cole | 1 | 29 | 29.0 | 29 | 0 |
| Jack Ham | 1 | 23 | 23.0 | 23 | 0 |
| Dwayne Woodruff | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| Dennis Winston | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 30 | 376 | 12.5 | 50t | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 19 | 226 | 11.9 | 34 | 0 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Colquitt | 84 | 3641 | 43.3 | 74 | 0 | 16 | 25 | 358 | 2963 | 35.3 |
| Team Totals | 84 | 3641 | 43.3 | 74 | 0 | 16 | 25 | 358 | 2963 | 35.3 |
| Opponents Totals | 78 | 3286 | 42.1 | 62 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 412 | 2794 | 35.8 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Anderson | 20 | 8 | 208 | 10.4 | 33 | 0 |
| Jim Smith | 30 | 1 | 204 | 6.8 | 28 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 50 | 9 | 412 | 8.2 | 33 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 34 | 10 | 358 | 10.5 | 87t | 2 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Anderson | 37 | 0 | 825 | 22.3 | 35 | 0 |
| Greg Hawthorne | 7 | 0 | 138 | 19.7 | 30 | 0 |
| Rick Moser | 3 | 0 | 76 | 25.3 | 29 | 0 |
| Johnnie Dirden | 3 | 0 | 45 | 15.0 | 22 | 0 |
| Russell Davis | 1 | 0 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Mark Malone | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Sidney Thornton | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 53 | 0 | 1096 | 20.7 | 35 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 52 | 1253 | 24.1 | 51 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Gary Dunn | 6.5 | |
| Joe Greene | 5.5 | |
| Bob Kohrs | 5.0 | |
| Tom Beasley | 5.0 | |
| John Banaszak | 4.0 | |
| L.C. Greenwood | 3.0 | |
| John Goodman | 3.0 | |
| Robin Cole | 2.5 | |
| Jack Lambert | 2.0 | |
| Dennis Winston | 1.5 | |
| Dwayne Woodruff | 1.0 | |
| (Unknown) | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 40.0 | 325.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 27.0 | 231.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Anderson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Banaszak | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Bradshaw | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -23 | 0 | |
| Robin Cole | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Courson | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Bennie Cunningham | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Russell Davis | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gary Dunn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Ham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Franco Harris | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Greg Hawthorne | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tunch Ilkin | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Kohrs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Lambert | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 38 | 0 |
| David Little | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Malone | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Frank Pollard | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -12 | 0 | |
| Donnie Shell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Smith | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Stallworth | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lynn Swann | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Calvin Sweeney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| J.T. Thomas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sidney Thornton | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Loren Toews | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| David Trout | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Zack Valentine | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Dwayne Woodruff | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 39 | 25 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 4 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 31 | 16 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 1 |
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| Last Updated: November 20, 2025 |