1988 Detroit Lions season

1988 Detroit Lions season
1988 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford Sr.
General manager	Russ Thomas
Head coach	Darryl Rogers; Wayne Fontes
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	LB Mike Cofer; P Jim Arnold
AP All-Pros	P Jim Arnold (2nd team)
	← 1987; Lions seasons; 1989 →;

The 1988 Detroit Lions season was the 59th season in franchise history. The team fell a step further from their 4–11 record in the strike-affected 1987 season, losing 12 of 16 games and suffering their fifth successive losing record. Head coach Darryl Rogers, who had served since 1985, was fired after 11 games and replaced by defensive coordinator Wayne Fontes.^[1]

The 1988 Lions’ offense was historically inept; their 3,405 offensive yards gained is the second-lowest all-time in a 16-game season, and the lowest total of the 1980s.^[2] Their 220 points scored (13.75 per game) is the fifth-fewest of the 1980s.^[3] They scored 20 or more points only three times all season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1988 Detroit Lions draft
1	3	Bennie Blades *	S	Miami (FL)
2	29	Chris Spielman *	LB	Ohio State
2	32	Pat Carter	TE	Florida State
3	58	Ray Roundtree	WR	Penn State
4	85	William White	S	Ohio State
5	111	Eric Andolsek	G	LSU
6	142	Carl Painter	RB	Hampton
7	169	Jeff James	WR	Stanford
8	196	Gary Hadd	DT	Minnesota
9	223	Kip Corrington	S	Texas A&M
9	234	Todd Irvin	OT	Mississippi
10	254	Paco Craig	WR	UCLA
11	281	Danny McCoin	QB	Cincinnati
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[4]

Undrafted free agents

1988 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player	Position	College
Douglas Beaty	Fullback	Appalachian State

Personnel

Staff

**1988 Detroit Lions staff**
	Front office Owner and president – William Clay Ford Sr. Executive vice president and general manager – Russ Thomas Treasurer – William Clay Ford Jr. Vice president for finance – Chuck Schmidt Vice president for player personnel – Jerry Vainisi Director of player personnel – Joe Bushofsky Director of pro scouting – Ron Hughes Head coaches Head coach and director of football operations – Darryl Rogers Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Bob Baker Running backs – Vic Rapp Receivers – Lew Carpenter Tight ends/staff administrative assistant – Don Doll Offensive line – Bill Muir			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/secondary – Wayne Fontes Defensive line – Dick Modzelewski Inside linebackers – Mike Murphy Outside linebackers – Willie Shaw Special teams coaches Special teams – Carl Battershell Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning coordinator – Don Clemons

Roster

**1988 Detroit Lions final roster**

	Quarterbacks 12 Rusty Hilger 16 Chuck Long Running backs 32 Garry James 30 James Jones 42 Randall Morris 49 Tony Paige FB 26 Carl Painter KR 38 Scott Williams Wide receivers 80 Carl Bland KR 89 Jeff Chadwick 83 Gary Lee KR 82 Pete Mandley PR 81 Stephen Starring KR Tight ends 87 Pat Carter 84 Rob Rubick		Offensive linemen 65 Eric Andolsek G 61 Scott Barrows G 75 Lomas Brown T 53 Kevin Glover G 74 Joe Milinichik G 52 Steve Mott C 73 Harvey Salem T 64 Eric Sanders T/LS 72 Curt Singer T Defensive linemen 93 Jerry Ball NT 77 Keith Ferguson DE 71 Gary Hadd DE 97 Dan Saleaumua NT 94 Thomas Strauthers DE 76 Eric Williams DE		Linebackers 57 Dave Ahrens OLB 96 Paul Butcher OLB 55 Mike Cofer OLB 98 Dennis Gibson ILB 58 George Jamison OLB 50 Danny Lockett ILB 54 Chris Spielman ILB Defensive backs 36 Bennie Blades SS 45 Raphel Cherry FS 34 James Griffin FS/SS 43 Jerry Holmes CB 29 Bruce McNorton CB 31 Devon Mitchell FS 27 Bobby Watkins CB 35 William White CB Special teams 3 Eddie Murray K 6 Jim Arnold P		Reserve lists 68 Steve Baack NT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 25 Karl Bernard RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 40 Duane Galloway CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 62 Curtis Green DE/NT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 17 Eric Hipple QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 14 Danny McCoin QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 56 Shelton Robinson LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 60 Reggie Rogers DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 86 Ray Roundtree WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 59 Jimmy Williams LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 21 Butch Woolfolk RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 47 active, 11 inactive Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 4	Atlanta Falcons	W 31–17	1–0	31,075
2	September 11	at Los Angeles Rams	L 10–17	1–1	46,262
3	September 18	New Orleans Saints	L 14–22	1–2	32,943
4	September 25	New York Jets	L 10–17	1–3	29,250
5	October 2	at San Francisco 49ers	L 13–20	1–4	58,285
6	October 9	Chicago Bears	L 7–24	1–5	64,526
7	October 16	at New York Giants	L 10–30	1–6	74,813
8	October 23	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 7–6	2–6	66,926
9	October 30	New York Giants	L 10–13 _OT	2–7	38,354
10	November 6	at Minnesota Vikings	L 17–44	2–8	55,573
11	November 13	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 20–23	2–9	25,956
12	November 20	at Green Bay Packers	W 19–9	3–9	44,327
13	November 24	Minnesota Vikings	L 0–23	3–10	46,379
14	December 4	Green Bay Packers	W 30–14	4–10	28,124
15	December 11	at Chicago Bears	L 12–13	4–11	55,010
16	December 18	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 10–21	4–12	37,778
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	3	0	0	14	17
• Lions	0	10	14	7	31

Date: September 4
Location: Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: indoors (dome)

^[5]

Week 8

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Lions	0	7	0	0	7
Chiefs	0	3	3	0	6

Date: October 23
Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 58 °F or 14.4 °C; wind 20 miles per hour (32 km/h; 17 kn)

^[6]

Week 12

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Lions	3	6	0	10	19
Packers	0	0	3	6	9

Date: November 20
Location: Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, WI
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 38 °F or 3.3 °C; wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn)

^[7]

Week 14

	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	0	0	14	14
• Lions	10	17	0	3	30

Date: December 4
Location: Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, MI
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: Indoors (dome)

^[8]

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears⁽¹⁾	12	4	0	.750	6–2	9–3	312	215	L1
Minnesota Vikings⁽⁴⁾	11	5	0	.688	6–2	9–3	406	233	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	11	0	.313	4–4	4–8	261	350	W1
Detroit Lions	4	12	0	.250	2–6	3–11	220	315	L2
Green Bay Packers	4	12	0	.250	2–6	3–9	240	313	W2

References

External links

1988 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com

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