1988 Philadelphia Eagles season

1988 Philadelphia Eagles season
Owner	Norman Braman
Head coach	Buddy Ryan
Home field	Veterans Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Bears) 12–20
Uniform

The 1988 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's fifty-sixth season in the National Football League (NFL).

Background

This season resulted in the team's appearance in the postseason for the first time since 1981. The Eagles won the NFC East for the first time since 1980, but lost to the Chicago Bears during the NFC Divisional round during the Fog Bowl.

In control of its own destiny for a playoff berth, but not the NFC East title on the final day of the regular season, Philadelphia dumped the Dallas Cowboys, 23–7. Guaranteed a minimum of a wild card berth following a New Orleans Saints win, the team had to wait for the end to the New York Jets-New York Giants game at Giants Stadium to learn if had clinched the division or not to avoid the Wild Card round. The Jets won the game, 27–21, on a late touchdown strike from Ken O'Brien to Al Toon, giving the Eagles the NFC East crown on the tiebreaker of having beaten the Giants in both regular-season meetings.

Offseason

NFL draft

1988 Philadelphia Eagles Draft
Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	9	Keith Jackson	TE	Oklahoma
2	30	Eric Allen	CB	Arizona State
3	64	Matt Patchan	T	Miami (Florida)
5	122	Eric Everett	DB	Texas Tech
6	149	Don McPherson	QB	Syracuse
	160	Rob Sterling	CB	Maine
7	176	Todd White	WR	Cal State Fullerton
8	207	David Smith	RB	Western Kentucky
10	261	Joe Schuster	DT	Iowa
11	288	Izel Jenkins	CB	North Carolina State
12	288	Steve Kaufusi	DE	BYU

Personnel

Staff

1988 Philadelphia Eagles staff

Front office Owner – Norman Braman President and chief operating officer – Harry Gamble Director of player personnel – Joe Woolley Head coaches Head coach – Buddy Ryan Offensive coaches Assistant head coach/offense – Ted Plumb Quarterbacks – Doug Scovil Offensive backs – Dave Atkins Offensive line – Bill Walsh Assistant offensive line – Dan Neal

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/linebackers – Wade Phillips Defensive line – Dale Haupt Defensive backs – Jeff Fisher Special teams coaches Special teams – Al Roberts Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Ronnie Jones

Roster

1988 Philadelphia Eagles roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  6 Matt Cavanaugh 12 Randall Cunningham  9 Don McPherson Running backs (RB) 32 Walter Abercrombie 41 Keith Byars 26 Michael Haddix 35 Mark Konecny 25 Anthony Toney Wide receivers (WR) 81 Shawn Beals 80 Cris Carter 84 Kenny Jackson 85 Ron Johnson 82 Mike Quick Tight ends (TE) 83 Jimmie Giles 88 Keith Jackson 89 David Little LS

Offensive linemen (OL) 72 David Alexander G 63 Ron Baker G 78 Matt Darwin T 73 Ron Heller T 66 Ken Reeves T/G 50 Dave Rimington C 68 Reggie Singletary G 61 Ben Tamburello G Defensive linemen (DL) 99 Jerome Brown DT 90 Mike Golic DT 97 John Klingel DE 74 Mike Pitts DT 96 Clyde Simmons DE 92 Reggie White DE

Linebackers (LB) 58 Ty Allert MLB 52 Todd Bell OLB 91 Scott Curtis OLB 56 Byron Evans MLB 53 Dwayne Jiles OLB 59 Seth Joyner OLB 55 Mike Reichenbach MLB Defensive backs (DB) 21 Eric Allen CB 42 Eric Everett CB 33 William Frizzell SS 34 Terry Hoage FS 48 Wes Hopkins FS 46 Izel Jenkins CB 20 Andre Waters SS 43 Roynell Young CB Special teams 10 John Teltschik P  8 Luis Zendejas K

Reserve 87 Eric Bailey TE (IR) 95 Doug Bartlett DT (IR) 77 Donald Evans DE (IR) 86 Gregg Garrity WR (IR) 94 Steve Kaufusi DE (IR) 57 Ron Moten LB (IR) 98 Joe Schuster DT (IR) 65 Ron Solt G (IR) 47 Rob Sterling S (IR) 47 active, 9 inactive Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 4	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 41–14	1–0	Tampa Stadium	Recap
2	September 11	Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–28	1–1	Veterans Stadium	Recap
3	September 18	at Washington Redskins	L 10–17	1–2	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	Recap
4	September 25	at Minnesota Vikings	L 21–23	1–3	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	Recap
5	October 2	Houston Oilers	W 32–23	2–3	Veterans Stadium	Recap
6	October 10	New York Giants	W 24–13	3–3	Veterans Stadium	Recap
7	October 16	at Cleveland Browns	L 3–19	3–4	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
8	October 23	Dallas Cowboys	W 24–23	4–4	Veterans Stadium	Recap
9	October 30	Atlanta Falcons	L 24–27	4–5	Veterans Stadium	Recap
10	November 6	Los Angeles Rams	W 30–24	5–5	Veterans Stadium	Recap
11	November 13	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–26	6–5	Three Rivers Stadium	Recap
12	November 20	at New York Giants	W 23–17 (OT)	7–5	Giants Stadium	Recap
13	November 27	Phoenix Cardinals	W 31–21	8–5	Veterans Stadium	Recap
14	December 4	Washington Redskins	L 19–20	8–6	Veterans Stadium	Recap
15	December 10	at Phoenix Cardinals	W 23–17	9–6	Sun Devil Stadium	Recap
16	December 18	at Dallas Cowboys	W 23–7	10–6	Texas Stadium	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total • Eagles 21 13 7 0 41 Buccaneers 0 0 14 0 14 Date: September 4 Location: Tampa Stadium Game attendance: 43,502 Referee: Johnny Grier TV announcers (CBS): James Brown and Gary Fencik

Scoring summary Q1 13:30 PHI Quick 37 yard pass from Cunningham (Dorsey kick) PHI 7–0 Q1 3:40 PHI Toney 2 yard run (Dorsey kick) PHI 14–0 Q1 2:23 PHI Jackson 8 yard pass from Cunningham (Dorsey kick) PHI 21–0 Q2 7:10 PHI Dorsey 23 yard field goal PHI 24–0 Q2 2:22 PHI Dorsey 24 yard field goal PHI 27–0 Q2 0:30 PHI Cunningham 2 yard run (Dorsey kick) PHI 34–0 Q3 11:12 TB Hill 42 yard pass from Testaverde (Igwebuike kick) PHI 34–7 Q3 6:37 PHI Hoage 38 yard run (Dorsey kick) PHI 41–7 Q3 1:32 TB Carrier 56 yard pass from Testaverde (Igwebuike kick) PHI 41–14

The Eagles played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tampa Stadium where temperatures reached 90-degrees. On the Eagles’ fourth play of the game, Bucs linebacker Kevin Murphy chased Cunningham out of the pocket, and he rolled to his left and floated a 37-yard TD to Mike Quick. The first quarter ended with the Eagles up 21 to 0 after Anthony Toney ran for a TD and Cunningham threw an 8-yard TD to Jackson. The Eagles even scored on a 38-yard TD run by safety Terry Hoage on the only carry of his 13-year career.

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Bengals 7 7 0 14 28 Eagles 14 0 3 7 24 Date: September 11 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Bob McElwee TV announcers (NBC): Kevin Slaten and Dave Lapham

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 3 0 7 10 • Redskins 14 0 3 0 17 Date: September 18 Location: RFK Stadium Referee: Jerry Markbreit TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 14 0 7 21 • Vikings 10 0 7 6 23 Date: September 25 Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Dan Fouts

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Oilers 16 0 0 7 23 • Eagles 0 20 9 3 32 Date: October 2 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Dick Jorgensen Television network: NBC

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total Giants 3 0 3 7 13 • Eagles 0 14 3 7 24 Date: October 10 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Fred Wyant TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 3 0 0 3 • Browns 3 0 6 10 19 Date: October 16 Location: Cleveland Stadium Referee: Johnny Grier TV announcers (CBS): Steve Zabriskie and Will McDonough

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 17 3 3 0 23 • Eagles 0 7 3 14 24 Date: October 23 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Dick Hantak TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Dan Jiggetts

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 0 7 13 7 27 Eagles 3 7 0 14 24 Date: October 30 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (CBS): James Brown and Gary Fencik

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 3 7 0 14 24 • Eagles 0 10 10 10 30 Date: November 6 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Bob McElwee TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Dan Fouts

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total • Eagles 0 14 3 10 27 Steelers 10 6 7 3 26 Date: November 13 Location: Three Rivers Stadium Referee: Fred Wyant TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Dan Jiggetts

Week 12

1 2 3 4 OT Total • Eagles 7 3 0 7 6 23 Giants 7 3 7 0 0 17 Date: November 20 Location: Giants Stadium Referee: Tom Dooley TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 7 7 0 7 21 • Eagles 7 0 17 7 31 Date: November 27 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Gordon McCarter TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Dan Jiggets

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 7 0 3 10 20 Eagles 3 13 3 0 19 Date: December 4 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Dan Fouts

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total • Eagles 21 0 0 2 23 Cardinals 0 7 7 3 17 Date: December 10 Location: Sun Devil Stadium Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total • Eagles 0 10 7 6 23 Cowboys 7 0 0 0 7 Date: December 18 Location: Texas Stadium Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (CBS): Tim Brandt and Hank Stram

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

Playoffs

Divisional

Main article: Fog Bowl (American football)

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 3 6 3 0 12 • Bears 7 10 0 3 20 Date: December 31 Location: Soldier Field Game start: 11:30 a.m. CST Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw

Known as The Fog Bowl in NFL lore, the Bears defeated the Eagles, 20–12, in a contest in which a heavy, dense fog rolled over Chicago's Soldier Field during the second quarter and cut visibility to about 15–20 yards for the rest of the game.

Awards and honors

• NFL All-Rookie: Eric Allen
• Bert Bell Award: Randall Cunningham
• Sporting News Rookie of the Year: Keith Jackson

External links

• 1988 Philadelphia Eagles at Pro-Football-Reference.com