The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 62nd season the franchise was in the league. The team improved on their previous output of 5–11, winning seven games.1981 St. Louis Cardinals Despite the improvement the team failed for the sixth consecutive season to reach the playoffs.
After a 3–7 start, including a horrendous 52–10 loss to the Eagles on November 8, Head Coach Jim Hanifan benched Jim Hart for Neil Lomax. The team would win four of its last six games.
Offseason NFL draft
Undrafted free agents + 1981 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeJohn AllmanDefensive backIndiana StateTom BrazillDefensive backWisconsin–La CrosseJim SchletzerPunterNorth Carolina
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 6 Miami Dolphins L 7–20 0–1 Busch Memorial Stadium 50,351 2 September 13 at Dallas Cowboys L 17–30 0–2 Texas Stadium 63,602 3 September 20 Washington Redskins W 40–30 1–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,592 4 September 27 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–20 1–3 Tampa Stadium 65,850 5 October 4 Dallas Cowboys W 20–17 2–3 Busch Memorial Stadium 49,477 6 October 11 at New York Giants L 14–34 2–4 Giants Stadium 67,128 7 October 18 at Atlanta Falcons L 20–41 2–5 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 51,458 8 October 25 Minnesota Vikings W 30–17 3–5 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,039 9 November 1 at Washington Redskins L 21–42 3–6 RFK Stadium 50,643 10 November 8 Philadelphia Eagles L 10–52 3–7 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,421 11 November 15 Buffalo Bills W 24–0 4–7 Busch Memorial Stadium 46,214 12 November 22 at Baltimore Colts W 35–24 5–7 Memorial Stadium 24,784 13 November 29 at New England Patriots W 27–20 6–7 Schaefer Stadium 39,946 14 December 6 New Orleans Saints W 30–3 7–7 Busch Memorial Stadium 46,923 15 December 13 New York Giants L 10–20 7–8 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,358 16 December 20 at Philadelphia Eagles L 0–38 7–9 Veterans Stadium 56,656 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
References