1981 Baltimore Colts season

The 1981 Baltimore Colts season was the 29th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL). The Colts finished the NFL's 1981 season with a record of 2 wins and 14 losses, finishing in a tie with the New England Patriots for both last place in their division, the AFC East, and the worst record in the league. However, by virtue of beating the Patriots for their only two wins of the season, the Colts finished ahead of New England on a tiebreaker. Those wins came in the first and last weeks of the season, as the Colts lost their other fourteen games consecutively.

The Colts’ defense had one of the worst seasons in NFL history, setting records for points (533) and yards (6,793) allowed. (The yardage record was later surpassed by the 2012 New Orleans Saints, who allowed 7,042.) The Colts gave up more than twice as many points as they scored (259). Conversely, the Patriots, with whom they were tied in the AFC East, only gave up 48 more points than they scored. The Colts’ pass defense surrendered a staggering 8.19 yards-per-dropback, the most surrendered by any team in NFL history.

The Colts’ -274 point differential (points scored vs. points allowed) is the second-worst since the 1970 merger, second only to the 1976 expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who finished 0–14 (ironically, the next year's Colts team went winless as well). The 1981 Colts are the first of only two NFL teams since 1940 to suffer eleven losses in a season during which they never had a lead. The Colts allowed 40 points in 4 separate games during the season (including 3 games in a row from weeks 6-8), which is still an NFL record.

The season included a bizarre incident in which, during the Colts’ 38–13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on November 15, team owner Bob Irsay called plays from the coaches’ booth. Quarterback Bert Jones told Sports Illustrated in 1986:[Irsay] couldn’t have told you how many players there were on the field, never mind what plays we had. All he was trying to do was embarrass the coaches and the players. When he told me to run, I threw. When he told me to throw left, I ran right.

Week 1: at New England Patriots
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Week 2: vs. Buffalo Bills
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Week 3: at Denver Broncos
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Week 4: vs. Miami Dolphins
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Week 5: at Buffalo Bills
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Week 6: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
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Week 7: vs. San Diego Chargers
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Week 8: at Cleveland Browns
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Week 9: at Miami Dolphins
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Week 10: vs. New York Jets
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Week 11: at Philadelphia Eagles
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Week 12: vs. St. Louis Cardinals
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Week 13: at New York Jets
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Week 14: vs. Dallas Cowboys
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Week 15: at Washington Redskins
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Week 16: vs. New England Patriots
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The Colts ended the 1981 season by snapping their 14-game losing streak and swept the Patriots. However, the win would cause the Colts to lose out on the first overall pick in the following draft, which would go the Patriots, and the Colts would secure the second overall pick instead.

Records set

 * Most Points Allowed, Season, 533
 * Worst Point Differential, 16-game season, -274
 * Most First-Half Points Allowed, 16-game season, 307
 * Most Touchdowns Allowed, Season, 68
 * Most First Downs Allowed Season, 406
 * Fewest Punt Returns, Season, 12