1988 Washington Redskins season

1988 Washington Redskins season
OwnerJack Kent Cooke
General managerBobby Beathard
PresidentJohn Kent Cooke
Head coachJoe Gibbs
Offensive coordinatorJoe Bugel
Defensive coordinatorRichie Petitbon
Home fieldRFK Stadium
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1988 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 57th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 53rd in Washington, D.C. They failed to improve on their 11–4 record from 1987, when they won Super Bowl XXII, and finished 7-9. The Redskins failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1985. They were the seventh team in NFL history to enter a season as the defending Super Bowl champion and miss the playoffs.[1]

The Week 8 meeting against Green Bay at Lambeau Field would be the two teams' final meeting for 13 years.

The 7-9 finish would be the only time during Gibbs' first stint with the Redskins that the team finished with a losing record.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Roster

1988 Washington Redskins 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

None

47 active, 19 inactive Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 5 at New York Giants L 20–27 0–1 Giants Stadium 76,417 Recap
2 September 11 Pittsburgh Steelers W 30–29 1–1 RFK Stadium 54,083 Recap
3 September 18 Philadelphia Eagles W 17–10 2–1 RFK Stadium 53,920 Recap
4 September 25 at Phoenix Cardinals L 21–30 2–2 Sun Devil Stadium 61,973 Recap
5 October 2 New York Giants L 23–24 2–3 RFK Stadium 54,601 Recap
6 October 9 at Dallas Cowboys W 35–17 3–3 Texas Stadium 63,325 Recap
7 October 16 Phoenix Cardinals W 33–17 4–3 RFK Stadium 54,402 Recap
8 October 23 at Green Bay Packers W 20–17 5–3 Lambeau Field 51,767 Recap
9 October 30 at Houston Oilers L 17–41 5–4 Astrodome 48,781 Recap
10 November 6 New Orleans Saints W 27–24 6–4 RFK Stadium 54,183 Recap
11 November 13 Chicago Bears L 14–34 6–5 RFK Stadium 52,418 Recap
12 November 21 at San Francisco 49ers L 21–37 6–6 Candlestick Park 59,268 Recap
13 November 27 Cleveland Browns L 13–17 6–7 RFK Stadium 51,604 Recap
14 December 4 at Philadelphia Eagles W 20–19 7–7 Veterans Stadium 65,947 Recap
15 December 11 Dallas Cowboys L 17–24 7–8 RFK Stadium 51,526 Recap
16 December 17 at Cincinnati Bengals L 17–20 (OT) 7–9 Riverfront Stadium 52,157 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 234Total
Redskins 6 707 20
• Giants 0 31014 27

Week 2

1 234Total
Steelers 3 10610 29
• Redskins 7 3713 30

Week 14

1 234Total
• Redskins 7 0310 20
Eagles 3 1330 19

Standings

NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Philadelphia Eagles(3) 10 6 0 .625 6–2 8–4 379 319 W2
New York Giants 10 6 0 .625 5–3 9–5 359 304 L1
Washington Redskins 7 9 0 .438 4–4 6–6 345 387 L2
Phoenix Cardinals 7 9 0 .438 3–5 6–6 344 398 L5
Dallas Cowboys 3 13 0 .188 2–6 3–9 265 381 L1

1988 Team Starters

Offense

17 Doug Williams     QB
32 Craig McEwan      RB
36 Timmy Smith       FB
81 Art Monk          WR
84 Gary Clark        WR
85 Don Warren        TE
66 Joe Jacoby        LT
63 Raleigh McKenzie  LG
53 Jeff Bostic       C
73 Mark May          RG
79 Jim Lachey        RT

Defense

71 Charles Mann     LDE
65 Dave Butz        LDT
77 Darryl Grant     RDT
72 Dexter Manley    RDT
51 Monte Coleman    LB
52 Neal Olkewicz    LB
58 Wilber Marshall  LB
45 Barry Wilburn    LCB
28 Darrell Green    RCB
40 Alvin Walton     SS
23 Todd Bowles      FS
8 Chip Lohmiller    K
15 Greg Coleman     P
80 Derrick Shepherd PR
22 Jamie Morris     KR

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 256