1981 NFL season

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.

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.

Division Races
Starting in 1978, ten teams qualified for the playoffs: the winners of each of the divisions, and two wild-card teams in each conference. The two wild cards would meet for the right to face whichever of the three division winners had the best overall record. The tiebreaker rules were based on head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.

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

 – clinched wild card berth, – clinched division title

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).

Playoffs

 * Home team in capitals

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

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

Super Bowl

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