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Every 1981 NFL race charted week by week: AFC Central, AFC East, AFC West, AFC Wild Card, NFC Central, NFC East, NFC West and NFC Wild Card. Final standings, from a season that ran September 5 to December 21, 1981.
AFC Central AFC East AFC West AFC Wild Card NFC Central NFC East NFC West NFC Wild Card
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AFC Central standings, 1981
Team W L T Pct GB L10 Streak (CIN) b 12 4 0 .750 - 8-2 W2 (PIT) 8 8 0 .500 4 4-6 L3 (HOU) 7 9 0 .438 5 3-7 W1 (CLE) 5 11 0 .313 7 3-7 L5
Final standings.
Clinch key b clinched a first-round bye
Turning points Wire to wire: the Cincinnati Bengals held first place on every charted week. The Cincinnati Bengals won 5 games in a row from Week 9 to Week 13, the longest run of the race. The Cincinnati Bengals went 7-1 from Week 8 to Week 16, turning a level race into a lead of 4 games. Three teams held first place.
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Season race charts: every division race, conference race, and playoff chase since 1970
Standings Chart › NFL › 1981 Data from FiveThirtyEight's openly licensed NFL data and the devstopfix results set . Charts update nightly after the last game goes final. The league's own current standings are at NFL.com .
The numbers carry a few honest asterisks, from 1927 darkness ties to the only forfeit in WNBA history: all of them are disclosed in the data notes .
This site is not affiliated with MLB, the NHL, the NBA, the WNBA, the NFL, MLS, the Premier League, the EFL, or any of their teams and clubs. Scores and standings are facts of history; team names appear only to identify them.
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1981 NFL races AFC Central The Cincinnati Bengals won the 1981 NFL AFC Central division race at 12-4, 4 games ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers. AFC East The Miami Dolphins won the 1981 NFL AFC East division race at 11-4-1, 1 game ahead of the New York Jets. AFC West The San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos finished tied atop the 1981 NFL AFC West division race, both at 10-6. The San Diego Chargers won the division on an NFL tiebreaker these standings do not carry. AFC Wild Card The New York Jets took a wild card spot in the 1981 NFL AFC wild card race; the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos finished level at 10-6 for the last wild card spot. The Buffalo Bills took the last wild card spot on an NFL tiebreaker these standings do not carry. NFC Central The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the 1981 NFL NFC Central division race at 9-7, 1 game ahead of the Detroit Lions. NFC East The Dallas Cowboys won the 1981 NFL NFC East division race at 12-4, 2 games ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles. NFC West The San Francisco 49ers won the 1981 NFL NFC West division race at 13-3, 6 games ahead of the Atlanta Falcons. NFC Wild Card The Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants took the 2 wild card spots in the 1981 NFL NFC wild card race, finishing 1 game ahead of the Detroit Lions. 🏆 PlayoffsEvery playoff game, charted. 57 NFL seasons since 1970 Closest NFL races · Biggest NFL comebacks and collapses · Weeks in first place