The 1981 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 49th in the National Football League. After enduring an injury plagued 9–7 season the previous year and missing the playoffs for the first time since 1971, the Steelers had hoped that the 1980 season was just a small hiatus from contending for championships. However, while the Steelers had flashes of their former glory years after starting the season with 2 unimpressive losses, the 1981 season would end in an 8–8 record and eventually prove the end of the Steelers great dynasty of the 1970s. The Steelers had a chance to make the playoffs with an 8–5 start to the year but lost all of their last three games to miss the playoffs.

Offseason

NFL draft

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Schedule

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday, September 6, 1981): vs. Kansas City Chiefs

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Scoring drives:

Week 2 (Thursday, September 10, 1981): at Miami Dolphins

at Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida Scoring drives:

Week 3 (Sunday, September 20, 1981): vs. New York Jets

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Scoring drives:

Week 4 (Sunday, September 27, 1981): vs. New England Patriots

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Scoring drives:

Week 5 (Sunday, October 4, 1981): at New Orleans Saints

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana Scoring drives:

Week 6 (Sunday, October 11, 1981): vs. Cleveland Browns

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Scoring drives:

Week 7 (Sunday, October 18, 1981): at Cincinnati Bengals

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio Scoring drives:

Week 8 (Monday, October 26, 1981): vs. Houston Oilers

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Scoring drives:

Week 9 (Sunday, November 1, 1981): vs. San Francisco 49ers

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Scoring drives:

Week 10 (Sunday, November 8, 1981): at Seattle Seahawks

at The Kingdome, Seattle, Washington Scoring drives:

Week 11 (Sunday, November 15, 1981): at Atlanta Falcons

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia Scoring drives:

Week 12 (Sunday, November 22, 1981): at Cleveland Browns

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Scoring drives:

Week 13 (Sunday, November 29, 1981): vs. Los Angeles Rams

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Scoring drives:

Week 14 (Monday, December 7, 1981): at Oakland Raiders

at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Scoring drives:

Week 15 (Sunday, December 13, 1981): vs. Cincinnati Bengals

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Scoring drives:

Week 16 (Sunday, December 20, 1981): at Houston Oilers

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas Scoring drives:

Standings