The 1981Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 14th year in professional football and its 12th with the National Football League.
The Bengals unveiled new uniforms with tiger-striped helmets, jerseys and pants. They had at least a share of the AFC Central lead the entire season and, on Dec. 13, Ken Anderson threw two touchdown passes as the Bengals clinched the division with a 17–10 win over the Steelers. Anderson led the NFL in passing with a 98.5 rating. On Jan. 3, the Bengals beat Buffalo, 28–21, in an AFC Divisional Playoff game. A week later, playing in their first AFC Championship Game, the Bengals defeated San Diego, 27–7, at Riverfront Stadium in a temperature of nine degrees below zero with a wind-chill factor of minus 59. In Super Bowl XVI on Jan. 24 in Pontiac, Mich., the Bengals trailed 20–0 at halftime and lost to San Francisco, 26–21.
