The 1981 NFL season was one of those seminal moments in the history of the league. The NFC Championship Game produced the triumph of the new dynasty (the Bill Walsh 49ers) over the fading old dynasty (the Tom Landry Cowboys).
This game produced the iconic image of 49er receiver Dwight Clark leaping to snare Joe Montana’s pass for the winning touchdown. That was just the most enduring moment of a season that produced a lot of great storylines…
*San Diego and Miami played one of the most dramatic playoff games in NFL history, a 41-38 overtime win for the Chargers.
*The city of New York was united in the final week of the season. The Giants had never made the playoffs in the Super Bowl era that started in 1966 and the Jets had been out of the postseason since 1969. When the Jets played the Packers in the finale, they were playing to put both themselves and the Giants in the playoffs. When the Jets won, the singing of New York, New York was never more appropriate.
*We haven’t even gotten to the league’s MVP. Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback Ken Anderson had a brilliant season and took home the award. He also led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl, where only a dramatic goal line stand by San Francisco probably kept Cincy from the Lombardi Trophy.
*The surprise fade of the Philadelphia Eagles was another significant development. Dick Vermeil had turned this team into a consistent playoff team that had reached the Super Bowl in 1980. After a 6-0 start, the Eagles looked here to stay. But they faded, barely hung on to make the playoffs and lost the first game. Then they faded from the scene and Vermeil went into early retirement.
*Other playoff teams included the Buffalo Bills, with their last good team of the Chuck Knox era. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Doug Williams at quarterback and Lee Roy Selmon at defensive end won a close NFC Central race marked by four teams of roughly equivalent mediocrity.
This compilationincludes the game-by-game narrative of all ten playoff teams. Each article is published individually on TheSportsNotebook.com, drawn together here and edited to form a cohesive story of the 1981 NFL season through the eyes of its best teams. Download it from Amazon today.
The tension was high between the Washington Redskins quarterback and his head coach. It was said that the quarterback’s outside business interests were a sore subject with the coach, along with the fact that the coach needed a different type of quarterback to run his system. Washington Redskins history has seen this movie before—and both RG3 and Jay Gruden could take a cue from how Joe Gibbs and Joe Theisman handled a similar dynamic in 1981.
When Gibbs arrived to coach the Redskins for the 1981 season, he was a highly accomplished offensive coordinator. Gibbs oversaw the “Air Coryell” attack of the San Diego Chargers, the most feared and innovative passing game of its era, with quarterback Dan Fouts. But the start of Gibbs’ Redskins tenure went poorly, with an 0-5 start and the head coach felt the quarterback he inherited—Joe Theisman—was more interested in off-the-field moneymaking ventures.
There were also practical considerations. Air Coryell was a pure dropback passing game. Fouts, a proto-type NFL quarterback could simply drop back into the pocket and fire downfield. Theisman was shorter, his vision often blocked in the pocket, and the passing game wasn’t working in San Diego the way it had in Washington.
So how did Gibbs and Theisman handle it? Did the quarterback retreat into himself, not dealing with the problems between him and his coach? Did the head coach repeatedly make brash public statements denigrating his quarterback and lament that he needed someone else to run his system? No. Here’s what happened…
Theisman, in a story he’s often recounted, drove over to Gibbs house one day to clear the air. The quarterback assured his coach that whatever outside commercial interests he had, his biggest focus was on winning.
It’s worth noting that Theisman did not apologize for having other business interests nor did he give them up. But he sought to address the misperception that simply having these interests meant he didn’t want to win football games, first and foremost. “You’ve been sold a bill of goods about me”, is what Theisman reportedly began the air-clearing conversation with.
Now, how about Gibbs? Well, he took at the skillsets of the players he actually had. He began putting his quarterback on the move a little bit more, giving Theisman some better passing angles outside the pocket. He also saw that throwing the ball early in the game—and getting defensive lineman tired by not only rushing the passer, but having to chase this little guy around—could open up the running game later. At which point, Gibbs pounded fatigued defensive fronts with big John Riggins.
It was passing to set up the run and the early 1980s Washington Redskins were the first modern team to do it. The formula was in place for a championship team.
The lessons are obvious. I like RG3 as a person a lot. I see him as a hard worker who comes from a solid family and who got royally screwed by his first head coach, who was a pompous egomaniac living off of accomplishments from the previous century, who first got RG3 hurt and then spent more time trying to orchestrate a media campaign against him rather than coaching him.
But from a steady flow of media reports, it seems that RG3 is also extremely passive in dealing with the tensions that exist. At some point, if you want to be the face of a franchise, you have to show you can deal with that and it’s up to him to reach out to his second head coach. For all of Jay Gruden’s faults, I don’t doubt that he wants to win more than he wants to win a PR war, and that’s something I couldn’t say of Jay’s illustrious predecessor.
Now, on to Jay Gruden. His constant emphasis on “the pocket, the pocket, the pocket” is getting tiresome. Yes, we know you have to throw from the pocket. We also know that RG3 is much more effective from there when you incorporate read-option, bootlegs, roll-outs and everything else along with it.
Even in 2013, a year RG3 was allegedly bad, his passer rating was 11th in the NFL on plays from the pocket. But that’s because, even with his brace, he was still being moved around more, keeping defenses honest and making pocket throws easier. RG3 is not going to be Peyton Manning. But he might be pretty good as Robert Griffin III. There’s a life lesson in there for all of us.
More to the point of this article, if Joe Gibbs could adjust his system to the talent on hand, why can’t Jay Gruden? Even with only 1981 knowledge about Gibbs he was still considerably more accomplished than Gruden. As noted, Gibbs orchestrated the most cutting-edge passing offense of its day. Whatever nice things you want to say about Gruden’s time with the Cincinnati Bengals, I don’t think anyone has called Andy Dalton’s offense the defining attack of this decade.
It’s time for RG3 to step up to the plate and it’s time for Jay Gruden to humble himself. More accomplished men than either one of them are today did so in 1981, and the greatest era of Washington Redskins history was ushered in. I’m under no illusions that would happen this time around—we’d have to get a modern-day Hogs to come along with it—but at this point, if you offered me a string of 8-8 seasons, I think I’d feel like glory days were back again. There’s no reason some air-clearing and system-altering can’t at least make that happen.
The tension was high between the Washington Redskins quarterback and his head coach. It was said that the quarterback’s outside business interests were a sore subject with the coach, along with the fact that the coach needed a different type of quarterback to run his system. Washington Redskins history has seen this movie before—and both RG3 and Jay Gruden could take a cue from how Joe Gibbs and Joe Theisman handled a similar dynamic in 1981.
When Gibbs arrived to coach the Redskins for the 1981 season, he was a highly accomplished offensive coordinator. Gibbs oversaw the “Air Coryell” attack of the San Diego Chargers, the most feared and innovative passing game of its era, with quarterback Dan Fouts. But the start of Gibbs’ Redskins tenure went poorly, with an 0-5 start and the head coach felt the quarterback he inherited—Joe Theisman—was more interested in off-the-field moneymaking ventures.
There were also practical considerations. Air Coryell was a pure dropback passing game. Fouts, a proto-type NFL quarterback could simply drop back into the pocket and fire downfield. Theisman was shorter, his vision often blocked in the pocket, and the passing game wasn’t working in San Diego the way it had in Washington.
So how did Gibbs and Theisman handle it? Did the quarterback retreat into himself, not dealing with the problems between him and his coach? Did the head coach repeatedly make brash public statements denigrating his quarterback and lament that he needed someone else to run his system? No. Here’s what happened…
Theisman, in a story he’s often recounted, drove over to Gibbs house one day to clear the air. The quarterback assured his coach that whatever outside commercial interests he had, his biggest focus was on winning.
It’s worth noting that Theisman did not apologize for having other business interests nor did he give them up. But he sought to address the misperception that simply having these interests meant he didn’t want to win football games, first and foremost. “You’ve been sold a bill of goods about me”, is what Theisman reportedly began the air-clearing conversation with.
Now, how about Gibbs? Well, he took at the skillsets of the players he actually had. He began putting his quarterback on the move a little bit more, giving Theisman some better passing angles outside the pocket. He also saw that throwing the ball early in the game—and getting defensive lineman tired by not only rushing the passer, but having to chase this little guy around—could open up the running game later. At which point, Gibbs pounded fatigued defensive fronts with big John Riggins.
It was passing to set up the run and the early 1980s Washington Redskins were the first modern team to do it. The formula was in place for a championship team.
The lessons are obvious. I like RG3 as a person a lot. I see him as a hard worker who comes from a solid family and who got royally screwed by his first head coach, who was a pompous egomaniac living off of accomplishments from the previous century, who first got RG3 hurt and then spent more time trying to orchestrate a media campaign against him rather than coaching him.
But from a steady flow of media reports, it seems that RG3 is also extremely passive in dealing with the tensions that exist. At some point, if you want to be the face of a franchise, you have to show you can deal with that and it’s up to him to reach out to his second head coach. For all of Jay Gruden’s faults, I don’t doubt that he wants to win more than he wants to win a PR war, and that’s something I couldn’t say of Jay’s illustrious predecessor.
Now, on to Jay Gruden. His constant emphasis on “the pocket, the pocket, the pocket” is getting tiresome. Yes, we know you have to throw from the pocket. We also know that RG3 is much more effective from there when you incorporate read-option, bootlegs, roll-outs and everything else along with it.
Even in 2013, a year RG3 was allegedly bad, his passer rating was 11th in the NFL on plays from the pocket. But that’s because, even with his brace, he was still being moved around more, keeping defenses honest and making pocket throws easier. RG3 is not going to be Peyton Manning. But he might be pretty good as Robert Griffin III. There’s a life lesson in there for all of us.
More to the point of this article, if Joe Gibbs could adjust his system to the talent on hand, why can’t Jay Gruden? Even with only 1981 knowledge about Gibbs he was still considerably more accomplished than Gruden. As noted, Gibbs orchestrated the most cutting-edge passing offense of its day. Whatever nice things you want to say about Gruden’s time with the Cincinnati Bengals, I don’t think anyone has called Andy Dalton’s offense the defining attack of this decade.
It’s time for RG3 to step up to the plate and it’s time for Jay Gruden to humble himself. More accomplished men than either one of them are today did so in 1981, and the greatest era of Washington Redskins history was ushered in. I’m under no illusions that would happen this time around—we’d have to get a modern-day Hogs to come along with it—but at this point, if you offered me a string of 8-8 seasons, I think I’d feel like glory days were back again. There’s no reason some air-clearing and system-altering can’t at least make that happen.
A new era of Washington Redskins history started in 1981, when they hired the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers, Joe Gibbs, as their new head coach. Gibbs had overseen the most explosive attack in the NFL to put him on the map as head coach material. The 1981 Washington Redskins didn’t have the most auspicious of beginnings—to put it mildly—but they eventually generated the momentum that started the most glorious era in franchise history.
Washington was a young team and started four rookies on offense. Two of them, Virgil Seay at wide receiver and right guard Melvin Jones, didn’t have long runs in D.C. But two others, the left side of the offensive line, Joe Jacoby and Russ Grimm did. They, along with fellow offensive line rookie Mark May, would eventually form the “Hogs”, one of the great offensive fronts in NFL history.
Joe Washington was the most productive runner, going for 916 yards. Gibbs also got two accomplished veterans to come out of retirement. One of them, Terry Metcalf, didn’t last past this season. The other one was John Riggins and this one worked out considerably better for the Redskins.
The quarterback was Joe Theismann, now 32-years old, and he threw for over 3,500 yards, albeit with a TD/INT ratio of 19/20. Art Monk, his 24-year-old wide receiver accumulated 894 yards through the air.
On the other side of the ball, there was a talented rookie defensive end in Dexter Manley. On balance though, this was not a team exploding with great talent—at least full developed talent. Not a single Redskin starter made the Pro Bowl, and the only player on the team to do so was their great return specialist, Mike Nelms.
The season started with a home game against the archrival Dallas Cowboys, who were on their way to another vintage 12-4 season under head coach Tom Landry. After a scoreless first quarter, the Cowboys took over the line of scrimmage, winning the rushing battle 206-44. The Redskins committed six turnovers, four of them interceptions by Theismann. The game ended 26-10.
Three more losses to NFC East rivals followed. The Redskins were tied at home with the New York Giants, 7-7 in the fourth quarter, but one of their four turnovers was a fumble inside the 10-yard line that turned into an easy defensive touchdown. Washington lost 17-7. Theismann threw for 388 yards at the St .Louis Cardinals, but the ‘Skins fell behind 40-17 and lost by ten points. They were competitive at Philadelphia for three quarters, trailing 14-13. But it all got away in the fourth quarter of a 36-13 loss.
Gibbs was still looking for his first win when the San Francisco 49ers came to town. The 49ers would win the Super Bowl this season and put Joe Montana and Bill Walsh on the map. But they weren’t quite on the map by Week 5—the winless Redskins were still a two-point favorite. It was a big miscalculation by the oddsmakers.
Washington trailed 7-0 and was driving, when a fumble was returned 80 yards for a San Francisco touchdown and the rout was on. The score got to 30-3, before a couple meaningless Redskin touchdowns made the final look respectable at 30-17.
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The new head coach and the fans were wondering if a win would ever come. Finally, on the road at a bad Chicago Bears team, it did. The ‘Skins led 3-0 early in the game, when linebacker Neal Olkewicz returned an interception for a touchdown. It was one of four times the Redskins picked off Chicago quarterback Vince Evans. Riggins pounded out 126 yards, while Joe Washington had 88. The final was 24-7 and Gibbs was off the schneid.
Washington played well at Miami one week later, being tied 10-10 into the fourth quarter against a team that would win the AFC East. The Dolphins kicked a late field goal and won 13-10, but it seemed possible the ‘Skins were getting on a roll. But one week later, playing an absolutely awful New England Patriots team at home, Washington trailed 15-7 in the second quarter. The home fans still hadn’t seen a win yet, and it looked like this whole Gibbs thing was going to get flushed down the drain before it started.
Then Nelms turned the momentum. He returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown, the Redskins got it rolling and escaped with a 24-22 win. It wasn’t pretty, but at least it was a win. It obviously presumes a lot to think that had the Redskins not won this game, they wouldn’t have eventually closed this season strong or gone on to their future glory under this coaching staff. It’s fair to say this though—in a town where media sharks swirl, it made everyone’s life a lot easier not to blow this game.
And then the winning really started. Theismann threw two long touchdown passes early in a home game against St. Louis, 38 yards to Monk and 51 to Seay. The quarterback finished the game 14/19 for 219 yards and led an easy 42-21 win.
A wild back-and-forth home game with the Detroit Lions followed. Joe Washington and Detroit counterpart Billy Sims each piled up big yardage on the ground. Seay and Lion receiver Freddie Scott had big days catching passes. But the Lions made mistakes—six turnovers—and it allowed the Redskins to get the final blow, a 44-yard field goal from Mark Moseley to win 33-31. Moseley came through again in New York against the Giants, tying the game 27-27 with a 49-yard field goal. Then he won it with a 48-yarder in overtime.
The ‘Skins were closing in on .500 at 5-6, but then tough road games against playoff-bound teams set them back. They were tied in Dallas 10-10 in the third quarter, but again got outmuscled by the Cowboys, giving up 258 rushing yards and losing 24-10. Washington gave up 188 more on the ground in Buffalo, losing four fumbles themselves, in a 21-14 defeat. The bright side was that these losses were clearly more competitive than what had happened early in the season.
Philadelphia, who had won the NFC title the year before and would make it back to the playoffs this year, came to old RFK Stadium. The Redskins trailed 13-9, but linebacker Monte Coleman intercepted Eagle quarterback (and future ESPN analyst and self-proclaimed film guru) Ron Jaworski, took it to the house and Washington won 15-13. Then they blasted a very bad team, the Baltimore Colts 38-14, as Theismann threw an early TD pass to Seay and went on to throw for 339 yards.
As improbable as it seemed, the Redskins were playing the final game of the 1981 season for the chance to get to .500. They were on the road at the Los Angeles Rams, who were also out of the mix, with a 6-9 record. The Redskins offensive line set the tone all day long. The team rushed for 241 yards, with Riggins, Joe Washington and even unknown Nick Giaquinto, getting in on what was a balanced attack. An easy 30-7 win capped Gibbs’ first year at 8-8
We all know how the Gibbs era turned out. Winning eight of the last eleven games in 1981 set the stage for winning the Super Bowl in 1982. It was one of four NFC crowns and three Super Bowl wins that Gibbs would oversee in Washington D.C. They came a long way from an October afternoon in Chicago when everyone wondered if they would ever win a game.
