1988 Dallas Cowboys season

1988 Dallas Cowboys season
Head coach Tom Landry
Owner Bum Bright
Home field Texas Stadium
Results
Record 3–13
Division place 5th NFC East
Playoff finish did not qualify

The 1988 Dallas Cowboys season was the final year for Cowboys head coach Tom Landry. After the season, the team underwent drastic changes including a new head coach, and change of ownership from Bum Bright to current owner Jerry Jones. Notable additions to the team in 1988 included wide receiver Michael Irvin, linebacker Ken Norton Jr. and defensive tackle Chad Hennings. It was the first time since 1976 that future hall-of-fame running back Tony Dorsett was not on the Dallas roster. Dorsett had been relegated to a backup role to Herschel Walker for most of 1987 and was traded to the Denver Broncos during the offseason.

The 1988 season faced hardship from the release of the schedule. In 1987, Dallas had finished at 7–8, in a 3-way tie for second place in the NFC East and tiebreaking rules gave Dallas the "second place position", even though Dallas finished fifth (last) in the NFC East in 1987 in "union games" (i.e. a strong replacement team had inflated the Boys' '87 record). As a result, their 1988 schedule was primarily against teams that were strong in 1987 (and also in 1988).

Steve Pelluer had won the starting quarterback job from veteran Danny White late in the 1987 season and won the job in training camp for 1988. Early in the season, White appeared briefly in relief roles before suffering a season-ending injury in week 7, which elevated Kevin Sweeney to the backup position. Sweeney briefly took over the starting job for Pelluer in weeks 11 and 12, but the results were poor and Pelluer regained the job.

In the season opener, Dallas lost to Pittsburgh, 24–21. The Cowboys had the ball inside the Pittsburgh 10 in the game's closing seconds (in position to tie or win) but Steve Pelluer was intercepted. After a close win over Phoenix in week two, Dallas lost to the New York Giants, 12–10 (the margin of defeat being a strange safety on the opening kickoff). A last-second goal line stand brought victory over Atlanta in week four but the following week, the Cowboys lost to New Orleans on a last-second Morten Andersen field goal. Two convincing losses followed and at 2–5, the season was in jeopardy.

In week 8, Dallas traveled to Philadelphia. Bad blood still existed from 1987, when Philadelphia coach Buddy Ryan had (in the game's closing seconds) called a deep pass play while already leading by 10. The Cowboys roared to a 20–0 lead in the first half, but the Eagles came back to win 24–23 by scoring a touchdown on the game's final play. The next week, Dallas blew a 10–0 second-half lead to lose to the Phoenix Cardinals and fell to 2–7. Five more losses followed (and the losing streak extended to 10 games) before Dallas upset the defending Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins in Week 15 in RFK Stadium (eliminating the Redskins from playoff contention). The Redskins win marked the end of an era (and Landry's last win) but was also a harbinger as rookie (and future hall-of-fame) wide receiver Irvin caught three touchdown passes. The team lost the next week at Texas Stadium to Philadelphia and finished 3–13, the worst record in the entire NFL and the team's worst record since 1960, when they were an expansion team. A bright spot for the season was Walker, who led the NFC in rushing yards.

In addition to Landry, this was also the final season for long-time Cowboys such as president-general manager Tex Schramm, personnel director Gil Brandt, defensive tackle Randy White, quarterback Danny White, linebacker Mike Hegman, and defensive coordinator Ernie Stautner.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Pick # NFL Team Player Position College
11Dallas CowboysMichael IrvinWide ReceiverMiami

Regular season

Schedule

Date Opponent Result Attendance
September 4, 1988 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 24–21
56,813
September 12, 1988 at Phoenix Cardinals W 17–14
67,139
September 18, 1988 New York Giants L 12–10
55,325
September 25, 1988 Atlanta Falcons W 26–20
39,702
October 3, 1988 at New Orleans Saints L 20–17
68,474
October 9, 1988 Washington Redskins L 35–17
63,325
October 16, 1988 at Chicago Bears L 17–7
64,759
October 23, 1988 at Philadelphia Eagles L 24–23
66,309
October 30, 1988 Phoenix Cardinals L 16–10
42,196
November 6, 1988 at New York Giants L 29–21
75,826
November 13, 1988 Minnesota Vikings L 43–3
57,830
November 20, 1988 Cincinnati Bengals L 38–24
37,865
November 24, 1988 Houston Oilers L 25–17
50,845
December 4, 1988 at Cleveland Browns L 24–21
77,683
December 11, 1988 at Washington Redskins W 24–17
51,526
December 18, 1988 Philadelphia Eagles L 23–7
46,131

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

[1]

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1988 roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

 Reserve Lists

Rookies in italics
46 Active, 0 Inactive

Publications

The Football Encyclopedia ISBN 0-312-11435-4
Total Football ISBN 0-06-270170-3
Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes ISBN 0-446-51950-2

References

  1. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 293

External links

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