1988 New York Giants season

1988 New York Giants season
Owner	Wellington Mara
General manager	George Young
Head coach	Bill Parcells
Offensive coordinator	Ron Erhardt
Defensive coordinator	Bill Belichick
Home field	Giants Stadium
Local radio	WNEW–AM 1130
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	2 LB Lawrence Taylor FS Terry Kinard

The 1988 New York Giants season was the franchise's 64th season in the National Football League (NFL). The team would finish with 10–6, but a loss to the New York Jets in the season finale would keep them out of the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Although the Philadelphia Eagles also finished 10-6, Philadelphia's season sweep of New York gave the Eagles the NFC East title, while the Giants lost the conference tiebreaker to the Los Angeles Rams for the final wild card berth. The season was marked early by the suspension for substance abuse of star linebacker Lawrence Taylor by the NFL for the first four games of the season. Following the end of the season, the Giants would see two longtime defensive stalwarts; defensive end George Martin and future Hall-of-Fame inside linebacker Harry Carson, announce their retirement.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1988 NFL draft

1988 New York Giants draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	10	Eric Moore	G	Indiana
2	36	John Elliott *	T	Michigan
3	62	Sheldon White	CB	Miami (OH)
4	92	Ricky Shaw	LB	Oklahoma State
5	118	Jon Carter	DE	Pittsburgh
6	145	David Houle	G	Michigan State
7	175	Mike Perez	QB	San Jose State
7	186	Danta Whitaker	TE	Mississippi Valley State
8	202	Sammy Lilly	CB	Georgia Tech
10	259	Eric Hickerson	DB	Indiana
10	265	Steve Wilkes	TE	Appalachian State
11	286	Greg Harris	WR	Troy State
12	313	David Futrell	DT	Brigham Young
12	323	Brendan McCormack	DT	South Carolina
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

Staff

1988 New York Giants staff

Front office President – Wellington Mara General manager – George Young Director of pro personnel – Tim Rooney Head coaches Head coach – Bill Parcells Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Ron Erhardt Offensive backfield – Ray Handley Receivers – Tom Coughlin Tight ends – Mike Pope Offensive line – Fred Hoaglin

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Bill Belichick Defensive line – Lamar Leachman Defensive backfield – Len Fontes Defensive assistant – Mike Sweatman Special teams coaches Special teams – Romeo Crennel Assistant special teams – Mike Sweatman Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Johnny Parker

Roster

1988 New York Giants roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Jeff Hostetler 17 Jeff Rutledge 11 Phil Simms Running backs (RB) 33 George Adams 24 Ottis Anderson 44 Maurice Carthon FB 20 Joe Morris 22 Lee Rouson Wide receivers (WR) 85 Stephen Baker 82 Mark Ingram Sr. 86 Lionel Manuel 80 Phil McConkey PR 81 Stacy Robinson Tight ends (TE) 89 Mark Bavaro 88 Brad Beckman 84 Zeke Mowatt

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Billy Ard G 76 Jumbo Elliott T 69 Joe Fields C/G 60 Eric Moore G 63 Karl Nelson T 72 Doug Riesenberg T 66 William Roberts T Defensive linemen (DL) 64 Jim Burt NT 77 Eric Dorsey DE 74 Erik Howard NT 70 Leonard Marshall DE 75 George Martin DE 73 John Washington DE

Linebackers (LB) 58 Carl Banks OLB 53 Harry Carson ILB 98 Johnie Cooks OLB 52 Pepper Johnson ILB 55 Gary Reasons ILB 51 Ricky Shaw ILB 56 Lawrence Taylor OLB Defensive backs (DB) 28 Tom Flynn FS 41 Neal Guggemos CB/S 37 Wayne Haddix CB 48 Kenny Hill SS 43 Terry Kinard FS 36 Adrian White SS 39 Sheldon White CB 23 Perry Williams CB Special teams  8 Maury Buford P  6 Paul McFadden K 65 Bart Oates LS

Practice squad None 47 active, 15 inactive Reserve  2 Raúl Allegre K (IR) -- Mike Ariey T (IR) -- Henry Brown DE (IR) 78 Jon Carter DE (IR) 25 Mark Collins CB (IR) 68 Damian Johnson G (IR)  5 Sean Landeta P (IR) 38 Sammy Lilly CB (IR) 12 Mike Perez QB (IR) 62 Gary Schippang T (IR) 87 Tim Sherwin TE (IR) 83 Odessa Turner WR (IR) 27 Herb Welch S (IR) -- Danta Whitaker TE (IR) 71 Robb White DE (IR) Rookies in italics

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Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue
1	August 7	at Green Bay Packers	W 34–3	1–0	Lambeau Field
2	August 14	New York Jets	W 24–21	2–0	Giants Stadium
3	August 20	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 28–17	3–0	Giants Stadium
4	August 27	at Cleveland Browns	L 13–17	3–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 5	Washington Redskins	W 27–20	1–0	Giants Stadium	Recap
2	September 11	San Francisco 49ers	L 17–20	1–1	Giants Stadium	Recap
3	September 18	at Dallas Cowboys	W 12–10	2–1	Texas Stadium	Recap
4	September 25	Los Angeles Rams	L 31–45	2–2	Giants Stadium	Recap
5	October 2	at Washington Redskins	W 24–23	3–2	RFK Stadium	Recap
6	October 10	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 13–24	3–3	Veterans Stadium	Recap
7	October 16	Detroit Lions	W 30–10	4–3	Giants Stadium	Recap
8	October 23	at Atlanta Falcons	W 23–16	5–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	Recap
9	October 30	at Detroit Lions	W 13–10 (OT)	6–3	Pontiac Silverdome	Recap
10	November 6	Dallas Cowboys	W 29–21	7–3	Giants Stadium	Recap
11	November 13	at Phoenix Cardinals	L 17–24	7–4	Sun Devil Stadium	Recap
12	November 20	Philadelphia Eagles	L 17–23 (OT)	7–5	Giants Stadium	Recap
13	November 27	at New Orleans Saints	W 13–12	8–5	Louisiana Superdome	Recap
14	December 4	Phoenix Cardinals	W 44–7	9–5	Giants Stadium	Recap
15	December 11	Kansas City Chiefs	W 28–12	10–5	Giants Stadium	Recap
16	December 18	at New York Jets	L 21–27	10–6	Giants Stadium	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 6 7 0 7 20 • Giants 0 3 10 14 27 Date: September 5 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 8:00 p.m. Game weather: 72 °F (22.2 °C), wind 17 miles per hour (27 km/h; 15 kn) Referee: Dick Jorgensen TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf

Scoring summary 1 WSH Chip Lohmiller 26 yard field goal Redskins 3–0 1 WSH Chip Lohmiller 25 yard field goal Redskins 6–0 2 WSH Ricky Sanders 29 yard pass from Doug Williams (Chip Lohmiller kick) Redskins 13–0 2 NYG Raúl Allegre 23 yard field goal Redskins 13–3 3 NYG Joe Morris 9 yard run (Raúl Allegre kick) Redskins 13–10 3 NYG Raúl Allegre 32 yard field goal Tie 13–13 4 NYG Tom Flynn 27 yard blocked punt return (Raúl Allegre kick) Giants 20–13 4 NYG Jim Burt 39 yard fumble return (Raúl Allegre kick) Giants 27–13 4 WSH Kelvin Bryant 19 yard pass from Doug Williams (Chip Lohmiller kick) Giants 27–20

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Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total • Giants 5 0 7 0 12 Cowboys 3 0 7 0 10 Date: September 18 Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 82 °F (28 °C); Wind 16 mph (26 km/h) Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Week 9

1 2 3 4 OT Total • Giants 0 3 7 0 3 13 Lions 0 7 0 3 0 10 Date: October 30 Location: Pontiac Silverdome Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 38,354 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Jerry Seeman TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Dan Jiggetts

Scoring summary Q2 DET Chadwick 15 yard pass from Hilger (Murray kick) DET 7–0 Q2 NYG McFadden 42 yard field goal DET 7–3 Q3 NYG Morris 1 yard run (McFadden kick) NYG 10–7 Q4 DET Murray 37 yard field goal Tie 10–10 OT NYG McFadden 33 yard field goal NYG 13–10

[4]

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total • Giants 0 7 0 6 13 Saints 3 6 0 3 12 Date: November 27 Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana Game start: 7:00 p.m. Game attendance: 66,526 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Fred Silva TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann

Scoring summary Q1 NO Morten Andersen 27 yard field goal NO 3–0 Q2 NO Morten Andersen 41 yard field goal NO 6–0 Q2 NYG Stephen Baker 85 yard pass from Jeff Hostetler (Paul McFadden kick) NYG 7–6 Q2 NO Morten Andersen 26 yard field goal NO 9–7 Q4 NYG Paul McFadden 46 yard field goal NYG 10–9 Q4 NO Morten Andersen 45 yard field goal NO 12–10 Q4 NYG Paul McFadden 35 yard field goal NYG 13–12

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Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	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

References

1. "1991 New York Giants Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
2. "1988 New York Giants starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com
4. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-Dec-03.
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jan-20.

External links

• 1988 New York Giants at Pro-Football-Reference.com