1988 Detroit Lions season

1988 Detroit Lions season
OwnerWilliam Clay Ford Sr.
General managerRuss Thomas
Head coachDarryl Rogers
Wayne Fontes
Home fieldPontiac Silverdome
Results
Record4–12
Division place4th NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersLB Mike Cofer
P Jim Arnold
AP All-ProsP Jim Arnold (2nd team)

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

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NFL Draft

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1988 Detroit Lions draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
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

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

Personnel

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Staff

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1988 Detroit Lions staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – Carl Battershell

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning coordinator – Don Clemons


Roster

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1988 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad

47 active, 11 inactive Reserve

Rookies in italics

Regular season

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Schedule

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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

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Week 1

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1 234Total
Falcons 3 0014 17
Lions 0 10147 31

[5]

Week 8

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1 234Total
• Lions 0 700 7
Chiefs 0 330 6

[6]

Week 12

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1 234Total
• Lions 3 6010 19
Packers 0 036 9

[7]

Week 14

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1 234Total
Packers 0 0014 14
• Lions 10 1703 30

[8]

Standings

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NFC Central
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

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  1. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 114
  2. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1978 to 2011, in the regular season, sorted by ascending Total Yds.
  3. ^ In a 16-game season, Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1980 to 1989, in the regular season, sorted by ascending Points For.
  4. ^ "1988 Detroit Lions Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  5. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  6. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Dec-28.
  7. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-07.
  8. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-07.
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