1988 New England Patriots season

The 1988 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 19th season in the National Football League, the 29th overall and the 5th under head coach Raymond Berry. With a record of nine wins and seven losses, they finished tied for second in the AFC East Division. It would take until 1994 for the Patriots to record another winning season. The Patriots improved on its 8–7 record from 1987, winning one more game due to one game being cancelled the previous season. Despite the winning record, the Patriots did not reach the postseason. They finished tied for 2nd in the AFC East with the arch rival Colts, but were relegated to 3rd place because the Colts had a better record against common opponents than the Patriots did.

1988 New England Patriots season
Owner	Victor Kiam
General manager	Patrick Sullivan
Head coach	Raymond Berry
Home field	Sullivan Stadium
Local radio	WHDH–AM 850
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	T-2nd AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB John Stephens LB Johnny Rembert LB Andre Tippett
AP All-Pros	T Bruce Armstrong (2nd team) LB Andre Tippett (2nd team)
Uniform
← 1987 Patriots seasons 1989 →

The Patriots playing against the Indianapolis Colts, circa 1988.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1988 NFL draft

1988 New England Patriots draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	17	John Stephens *	Running back	Northwestern State
2	43	Vincent Brown	Linebacker	Mississippi Valley State
3	69	Tom Rehder	Tackle	Notre Dame
4	87	Tim Goad	Nose tackle	North Carolina
4	97	Sammy Martin	Wide receiver	LSU
4	100	Teddy Garcia	Kicker	Northeast Louisiana
5	115	Troy Wolko	Guard	Minnesota
6	154	Steve Johnson	Tight end	Virginia Tech
7	181	Darryl Usher	Wide receiver	Illinois
9	240	Neil Galbraith	Defensive back	Central State (OK)
10	267	Rodney Lossow	Center	Wisconsin
11	294	Marvin Allen	Running back	Tulane
12	321	Dave Nugent	Defensive tackle	Boston College
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1988 New England Patriots staff

Front office Chairman – Victor Kiam Vice Chairman – Fran Murray President – Billy Sullivan Vice President – Bucko Kilroy General Manager – Patrick Sullivan Director of Player Development – Dick Steinberg Director of Pro Scouting – Bill McPeak Director of College Scouting – Joe Mendes Head coaches Head Coach – Raymond Berry Assistant Head Coach-Offense – Rod Humenuik Special Assistant to Head Coach – John Polonchek Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Rod Humenuik Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator – Les Steckel Offensive Backfield/Running Game Coordinator – Bobby Grier Receivers – Harold Jackson Tight Ends – Dante Scarnecchia Assistant Offensive Line – Guy Morriss

Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Eddie Khayat Assistant Defensive Line – Ray Hamilton Linebackers – Don Shinnick Defensive Backfield – Jimmy Carr Staff Assistant – Don Blackmon Special teams coaches Special Teams – Dante Scarnecchia Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Jerry Simmons

Roster

1988 New England Patriots roster

	Quarterbacks 11 Tony Eason  2 Doug Flutie 14 Steve Grogan Running backs 40 Elgin Davis 21 Reggie Dupard 34 Bob Perryman FB 44 John Stephens 30 Mosi Tatupu Wide receivers 80 Irving Fryar PR 48 Dennis Gadbois 83 Cedric Jones 82 Sammy Martin KR 86 Stanley Morgan Tight ends 81 Russ Francis 85 Steve Johnson		Offensive linemen 78 Bruce Armstrong T 68 Mike Baab C 66 Paul Fairchild G 62 Sean Farrell G 64 Trevor Matich C/T 76 Tom Rehder T 73 Danny Villa T/LS 61 Ron Wooten G Defensive linemen 72 Tim Goad NT 97 Milford Hodge DE/NT 65 Edmund Nelson DE/NT 60 Garin Veris DE 96 Brent Williams DE 90 Toby Williams DE		Linebackers 53 Thomas Benson ILB 59 Vincent Brown ILB 93 Tim Jordan OLB 50 Larry McGrew OLB 52 Johnny Rembert ILB 95 Ed Reynolds ILB 56 Andre Tippett OLB Defensive backs 28 Jim Bowman SS 26 Raymond Clayborn CB 27 Howard Feggins CB 43 Ernest Gibson CB 41 Darryl Holmes FS 38 Roland James SS 42 Ronnie Lippett CB 31 Fred Marion FS 23 Rod McSwain CB Special teams  6 Jeff Feagles P  7 Teddy Garcia K  4 Jason Staurovsky K		Reserve lists 39 Marvin Allen RB/KR (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   87 Lin Dawson TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   99 Tom Gibson DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   32 Craig James RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   -- Kennard McGuire WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   -- Gerrick McPhearson CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   67 Steve Moore T (NF-Ill.Tooltip Non-football injury and illness)   91 Eric Naposki LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   88 Willie Scott TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   77 Kenneth Sims DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   18 Darryl Usher WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   94 David Ward LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   -- Kevin White WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   54 Ed Williams LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   63 Troy Wolkow G (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   Practice squad NONE 47 active, 15 inactive Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 4	New York Jets	W 28–3	1–0	Sullivan Stadium	44,027	Recap
2	September 11	at Minnesota Vikings	L 6–36	1–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	55,545	Recap
3	September 18	Buffalo Bills	L 14–16	1–2	Sullivan Stadium	55,945	Recap
4	September 25	at Houston Oilers	L 6–31	1–3	Houston Astrodome	38,646	Recap
5	October 2	Indianapolis Colts	W 21–17	2–3	Sullivan Stadium	58,050	Recap
6	October 9	at Green Bay Packers	L 3–45	2–4	Milwaukee County Stadium	51,932	Recap
7	October 16	Cincinnati Bengals	W 27–21	3–4	Sullivan Stadium	59,969	Recap
8	October 23	at Buffalo Bills	L 20–23	3–5	Rich Stadium	76,824	Recap
9	October 30	Chicago Bears	W 30–7	4–5	Sullivan Stadium	60,821	Recap
10	November 6	Miami Dolphins	W 21–10	5–5	Sullivan Stadium	60,840	Recap
11	November 13	at New York Jets	W 14–13	6–5	Giants Stadium	48,358	Recap
12	November 20	at Miami Dolphins	W 6–3	7–5	Joe Robbie Stadium	53,526	Recap
13	November 27	at Indianapolis Colts	L 21–24	7–6	Hoosier Dome	58,157	Recap
14	December 4	Seattle Seahawks	W 13–7	8–6	Sullivan Stadium	59,086	Recap
15	December 11	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 10–7 (OT)	9–6	Sullivan Stadium	39,889	Recap
16	December 17	at Denver Broncos	L 10–21	9–7	Mile High Stadium	70,910	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Colts 0 7 0 10 17 • Patriots 0 7 0 14 21 Date: October 2 Location: Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 68 °F (20 °C); wind 19 mph (31 km/h) Referee: Bob McElwee

Scoring summary Q2 NE Perryman 1 yard run (Garcia kick) NE 7–0 Q2 IND Dickerson 1 yard run (Biasucci kick) Tie 7–7 Q4 NE Morgan 26 yard pass from Flutie (Garcia kick) NE 14–7 Q4 IND Biasucci 20 yard field goal NE 14–10 Q4 IND Brooks 48 yard pass from Chandler (Biasucci kick) IND 17–14 Q4 NE Flutie 13 yard run (Garcia kick) NE 21–17

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Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Buffalo Bills^(2)	12	4	0	.750	7–1	10–2	329	237	L1
Indianapolis Colts	9	7	0	.563	5–3	7–5	354	315	W1
New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	5–3	7–5	250	284	L1
New York Jets	8	7	1	.531	3–5	6–7–1	372	354	W2
Miami Dolphins	6	10	0	.375	0–8	3–9	319	380	L1

See also

• New England Patriots seasons

References

1. "1988 New England Patriots starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-19.