1988_Cleveland_Browns_season
1988 Cleveland Browns season
NFL team season
The 1988 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 39th season with the National Football League.
| 1988 Cleveland Browns season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Art Modell |
| General manager | Ernie Accorsi |
| Head coach | Marty Schottenheimer |
| Home field | Cleveland Municipal Stadium |
| Local radio | WWWE · WDOK |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–6 |
| Division place | 2nd AFC Central |
| Playoff finish | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Oilers) 23–24 |
| Pro Bowlers | OLB Clay Matthews Jr. CB Hanford Dixon CB Frank Minnifield |
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Despite taking the Browns to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, head coach Marty Schottenheimer was fired at the end of the 1988 season. He left the Browns having compiled a record of 44–27 (a 62% winning percentage) with the team. (Schottenheimer would later go through a similar scenario with the San Diego Chargers: they fired him after the 2006 season, during which the Chargers posted a 14–2 record and then lost their first playoff game.) The Browns finished the season with a 10–6 record, tied for second place in the AFC Central with the Houston Oilers. The Browns were awarded second place by posting a better division record than the Oilers. The Browns clinched a playoff berth for the 4th straight season. In the playoffs, they lost to the Oilers in the Wild Card game, 24–23. As of 2023, this remains the last time the Browns swept the Steelers.
NFL Draft
| 1988 Cleveland Browns draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Clifford Charlton | OLB | Florida | |
| 2 | 50 | Michael Dean Perry * | DT | Clemson | |
| 3 | 77 | Van Waiters | OLB | Indiana | |
| 4 | 103 | Anthony Blaylock | CB | Winston-Salem State | |
| 7 | 188 | Thane Gash | S | East Tennessee State | |
| 8 | 216 | J.J. Birden | WR | Oregon | |
| 9 | 244 | Danny Copeland | DB | Eastern Kentucky | |
| 10 | 272 | Brian Washington | DB | Nebraska | |
| 11 | 300 | Hendley Hawkins | WR | Nebraska | |
| 12 | 328 | Steve Slayden | QB | Duke | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Staff
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Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
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Roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Reserve lists
47 active, 9 inactive
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Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 4 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 6–3 | 1–0 | Arrowhead Stadium | 55,654 | Recap |
| 2 | September 11 | New York Jets | L 3–23 | 1–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 74,434 | Recap |
| 3 | September 19 | Indianapolis Colts | W 23–17 | 2–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 75,148 | Recap |
| 4 | September 25 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 17–24 | 2–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 54,943 | Recap |
| 5 | October 2 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 23–9 | 3–2 | Three Rivers Stadium | 56,410 | Recap |
| 6 | October 9 | Seattle Seahawks | L 10–16 | 3–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 78,605 | Recap |
| 7 | October 16 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 19–3 | 4–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 78,787 | Recap |
| 8 | October 23 | at Phoenix Cardinals | W 29–21 | 5–3 | Sun Devil Stadium | 61,261 | Recap |
| 9 | October 30 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 23–16 | 6–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 79,147 | Recap |
| 10 | November 7 | at Houston Oilers | L 17–24 | 6–4 | Houston Astrodome | 51,467 | Recap |
| 11 | November 13 | at Denver Broncos | L 7–30 | 6–5 | Mile High Stadium | 75,806 | Recap |
| 12 | November 20 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 27–7 | 7–5 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 77,131 | Recap |
| 13 | November 27 | at Washington Redskins | W 17–13 | 8–5 | RFK Stadium | 51,604 | Recap |
| 14 | December 4 | Dallas Cowboys | W 24–21 | 9–5 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 77,683 | Recap |
| 15 | December 12 | at Miami Dolphins | L 31–38 | 9–6 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 61,884 | Recap |
| 16 | December 18 | Houston Oilers | W 28–23 | 10–6 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 74,610 | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card | December 24 | Houston Oilers (5) | L 23–24 | 0–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | Recap |
Week 1
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Week 2
![[icon]](./File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (April 2015) |
Week 9
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Week 14
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Week 16
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| AFC Central | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Cincinnati Bengals(1) | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 448 | 329 | W1 |
| Cleveland Browns(4) | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 4–2 | 6–6 | 304 | 288 | W1 |
| Houston Oilers(5) | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 424 | 365 | L1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–5 | 4–8 | 336 | 421 | W1 |
AFC wild card game
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilers | 0 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
| Browns | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
- Game time: 1:30 p.m. EST
- Game attendance: 74,977
- Referee: Jerry Seeman
- TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy
Oilers cornerback Richard Johnson's interception set up kicker Tony Zendejas' game-clinching 49-yard field goal with 1:54 left in the game. After the Browns scored first on a 33-yard field goal by Matt Bahr, Houston marched 91 yards to score on quarterback Warren Moon's 14-yard touchdown pass to running back Allen Pinkett. Then on Cleveland's next drive, Oilers defensive lineman Richard Byrd recovered quarterback Don Strock's fumble to set up Pinkett's 16-yard touchdown run. Bahr later made two field goals to cut Houston's lead, 14–9, before halftime. In the third quarter, backup quarterback Mike Pagel, who replaced an injured Strock, threw a 14-yard touchdown completion to wide receiver Webster Slaughter to put the Browns ahead, 16–14. However, the Oilers marched on a 76-yard drive that was capped with running back Lorenzo White's 1-yard rushing touchdown. After Johnson's interception and Zendejas' subsequent game-clinching 49-yard field goal, Slaughter caught a 2-yard touchdown reception to close out the scoring.
- "All-Time Assistant Coaches". ClevelandBrowns.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
- Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Apr-12.
- Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-Dec-02.
- Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-Jan-31.
- Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-Dec-22.
- 1988 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference (Profootballreference.com)
- 1988 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
- 1988 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
- 1988 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com