1988 Los Angeles Raiders season

NFL team season

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The 1988 Los Angeles Raiders season was the franchise's 29th season overall, and the franchise's 19th season in the National Football League. Mike Shanahan was hired as head coach, and the club finished with a 7–9 record. The Raiders drafted Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown, making Brown the third person on the Raiders roster to have won the Heisman Trophy, the others being Marcus Allen and Bo Jackson. Most of the team's success throughout the season came through their division, as the Raiders finished 6–2 against a weakening AFC West division, with their only 2 losses against the champions of the division, the Seattle Seahawks. However, the Raiders were only 1–7 against the rest of the NFL. Their only other win coming against the eventual champions, the 49ers in San Francisco in a game in which only field goals were kicked.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1988 Los Angeles Raiders draft
1	6	Tim Brown * ^†	WR	Notre Dame
1	9	Terry McDaniel *	CB	Tennessee
1	25	Scott Davis	DE	Illinois
4	90	Tim Rother	DT	Nebraska
5	131	Dennis Price	DB	UCLA
6	143	Erwin Grabisna	LB	Case Western Reserve
7	171	Derrick Crudup	DB	Oklahoma
8	199	Mike Alexander	WR	Penn State
9	227	Reggie Ware	RB	Auburn
9	229	Scott Tabor	P	California
10	255	Newt Harrell	OG	West Texas A&M
11	283	David Weber	QB	Carroll (WI)
12	311	Greg Kunkel	OG	Kentucky
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[1]

Personnel

Staff

**1988 Los Angeles Raiders staff**
	Front office President of the General Partner – Al Davis Executive Assistant – Al LoCasale Personnel Operations – Ron Wolf Senior Executive – John Herrera Head coaches Head Coach – Mike Shanahan Special Assistant to the Head Coach – Alex Gibbs Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Tom Walsh Offensive Backs – Joe Scannella Receivers – Nick Nicolau Offensive Line – Art Shell Coaches Assistant – Terry Robiskie			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Earl Leggett Linebackers – Sam Gruneisen Linebackers – Charlie Sumner Defensive Backs – Willie Brown Defensive Backs – Jimmy Warren Special teams coaches Special Teams – Pete Rodriguez Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – John Dunn

Roster

**1988 Los Angeles Raiders roster**

	Quarterbacks 7 Steve Beuerlein 11 Vince Evans 13 Jay Schroeder Running backs 32 Marcus Allen 34 Bo Jackson 42 Vance Mueller 35 Steve Smith 39 Steve Strachan Wide receivers 81 Tim Brown KR/PR 86 Mervyn Fernandez 83 Willie Gault 80 James Lofton Tight ends 46 Todd Christensen 87 Trey Junkin LS 81 Andy Parker		Offensive linemen 61 Mike Freeman G 60 Rory Graves T 51 Bill Lewis G 72 Don Mosebar T 77 Chris Riehm G 63 Dwight Wheeler G/T 68 Bruce Wilkerson G 66 Steve Wright T Defensive linemen 70 Scott Davis DE 75 Howie Long DE 71 Bill Pickel NT 96 Malcolm Taylor DE/NT 93 Greg Townsend DE 90 Mike Wise DE		Linebackers 64 Ron Brown OLB 52 Linden King OLB 53 Rod Martin OLB 56 Milt McColl OLB 54 Reggie McKenzie ILB/OLB 55 Matt Millen ILB 57 Jerry Robinson ILB Defensive backs 44 Stefon Adams CB/S 33 Eddie Anderson FS 29 Russell Carter SS 21 Ron Fellows CB 22 Mike Haynes CB 26 Vann McElroy FS 38 Dennis Price CB 30 Stacey Toran SS 48 Lionel Washington CB Special teams 10 Chris Bahr K 6 Jeff Gossett P		Reserve lists 89 Mike Alexander WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 23 Derrick Crudup S (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 84 Mike Dyal TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 63 John Gesek G/C (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 73 Charley Hannah G (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 62 Newt Harrell G (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 82 Charles Henry TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 59 Jamie Kimmel LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 40 Zeph Lee S (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 36 Terry McDaniel CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 20 Chris McLemore RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 79 Tim Rother DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 91 Eric Snelson LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 78 Tim Stone T (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 47 Reggie Ware RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 88 Chris Woods WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad None 47 active, 16 inactive Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 4	San Diego Chargers	W 24–13	1–0	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	39,029	Recap
2	September 11	at Houston Oilers	L 35–38	1–1	Houston Astrodome	46,050	Recap
3	September 18	Los Angeles Rams	L 17–22	1–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	84,870	Recap
4	September 26	at Denver Broncos	W 30–27	2–2	Mile High Stadium	75,964	Recap
5	October 2	Cincinnati Bengals	L 21–45	2–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	42,594	Recap
6	October 9	Miami Dolphins	L 14–24	2–4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	50,751	Recap
7	October 16	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–17	3–4	Arrowhead Stadium	77,078	Recap
8	October 23	at New Orleans Saints	L 6–20	3–5	Louisiana Superdome	66,249	Recap
9	October 30	Kansas City Chiefs	W 17–10	4–5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	36,103	Recap
10	November 6	at San Diego Chargers	W 13–3	5–5	Jack Murphy Stadium	55,134	Recap
11	November 13	at San Francisco 49ers	W 9–3	6–5	Candlestick Park	54,448	Recap
12	November 20	Atlanta Falcons	L 6–12	6–6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	40,967	Recap
13	November 28	at Seattle Seahawks	L 27–35	6–7	Kingdome	62,641	Recap
14	December 4	Denver Broncos	W 21–20	7–7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	65,561	Recap
15	December 11	at Buffalo Bills	L 21–37	7–8	Rich Stadium	77,348	Recap
16	December 18	Seattle Seahawks	L 37–43	7–9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	61,127	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chargers	0	3	3	7	13
• Raiders	0	14	0	10	24

Date: September 4
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles
Game start: 1:00 p.m. PST
Game weather: 82 °F (27.8 °C), wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)

Scoring summary

2	LA	Marcus Allen 11 yard run (Chris Bahr kick)	Raiders 7–0

2	SD	Vince Abbott 23 yard field goal	Raiders 7–3

2	LA	Tim Brown 97 yard kickoff return (Chris Bahr kick)	Raiders 14–3

3	SD	Vince Abbott 33 yard field goal	Raiders 14–6

4	LA	Chris Bahr 25 yard field goal	Raiders 17–6

4	SD	Jamie Holland 24 yard pass from Babe Laufenberg (Vince Abbott kick)	Raiders 17–13

4	LA	Marcus Allen 1 yard run (Chris Bahr kick)	Raiders 24–13

^[2]

Week 2

Week 3

Steve Beuerlein threw for 375 yards in a game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Week 4

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
• Raiders	0	0	14	13	3	30
Broncos	7	17	0	3	0	27

Date: September 26
Location: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
Game start: 6:00 p.m.
Game weather: 66 °F (18.9 °C), wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
Television network: ABC

Scoring summary

1	DEN	Tony Dorsett 1 yard run (Rich Karlis kick)	Broncos 7–0

2	DEN	Tony Dorsett 1 yard run (Rich Karlis kick)	Broncos 14–0

2	DEN	Steve Sewell 7 yard pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick)	Broncos 21–0

2	DEN	Rich Karlis 39 yard field goal	Broncos 24–0

3	LA	Steve Smith 40 yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Chris Bahr kick)	Broncos 24–7

3	LA	Steve Smith 42 yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Chris Bahr kick)	Broncos 24–14

4	LA	Chris Bahr 28 yard field goal	Broncos 24–17

4	LA	Marcus Allen 4 yard run (Chris Bahr kick)	Tie 24–24

4	DEN	Rich Karlis 25 yard field goal	Broncos 27–24

4	LA	Chris Bahr 44 yard field goal	Tie 27–27

OT	LA	Chris Bahr 35 yard field goal	Raiders 30–27

^[3]

Week 7

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Raiders	7	7	0	13	27
Chiefs	0	7	0	10	17

Date: October 16
Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game attendance: 77,078
Game weather: 64 °F (17.8 °C); wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)

Scoring summary

Q1		LA	Allen 1 yard run (Bahr kick)	LA 7–0

Q2	10:10	LA	Smith 1 yard run (Bahr kick)	LA 14–0

Q2	8:35	KC	Palmer 48 yard pass from DeBerg (Lowery kick)	LA 14–7

Q4		KC	Lowery 43 yard field goal	LA 14–10

Q4		LA	Junkin 4 yard pass from Beuerlein (kick blocked)	LA 20–10

Q4	5:49	LA	Jackson 1 yard run (Bahr kick)	LA 27–10

Q4	1:21	KC	Paige 25 yard pass from DeBerg (Lowery kick)	LA 27–17

Bo Jackson 70 Yds (season debut; reported to Raiders Wednesday)
The Raiders played without DE Howie Long, S Stacey Toran and TE Todd Christensen due to injuries while Marcus Allen was limited due to a wrist injury of his own.

^[4]

Standings

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Seattle Seahawks⁽³⁾	9	7	0	.563	6–2	8–4	339	329	W2
Denver Broncos	8	8	0	.500	3–5	5–7	327	352	W1
Los Angeles Raiders	7	9	0	.438	6–2	6–6	325	369	L2
San Diego Chargers	6	10	0	.375	3–5	4–8	231	332	W2
Kansas City Chiefs	4	11	1	.281	2–6	4–9–1	254	320	L2

Awards and records

Tim Brown, Pro Bowl selection
Tim Brown, led all AFC rookies in receiving yardage
Tim Brown, led NFL with 26.8 yard average on kickoff return
Tim Brown had more total yards rushing, receiving and returning kicks (2,317) than any other rookie in NFL history.^[5]

References

^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2014-Aug-17.
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
^ "Bo goes home, happy at hobby." Gainesville Sun. 1988 Oct 17.
^ 1990 NFL Pro Set trading card, Tim Brown, Card No. 150, Pro Set Properties

Raiders on Pro Football Reference
Raiders on jt-sw.com
Raiders stats on jt-sw.com

v t e Las Vegas Raiders
Founded in 1960 Played in Oakland, California (1960–1981, 1995–2019) and Los Angeles (1982–1994) Based in Paradise, Nevada Headquartered in Henderson, Nevada
Franchise	History in Oakland in Los Angeles relocation to Las Vegas NFL in Los Angeles Seasons Players First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Head coaches
Stadiums	Kezar Stadium Candlestick Park Frank Youell Field Oakland Coliseum Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Allegiant Stadium
Key personnel	Owner/CEO: Mark Davis President: Sandra Douglass Morgan General manager: Tom Telesco Head coach: Antonio Pierce
Culture	Las Vegas Raiderettes Raider Nation "The Autumn Wind" Mount Davis Ricky's Sports Theatre and Grill Straight Outta L.A. In the House
Lore	Heidi Game Immaculate Reception The Sea of Hands Ghost to the Post Holy Roller Red Right 88 Tuck Rule Game Lunatic Lateral
Rivalries	Denver Broncos Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Chargers Miami Dolphins (dormant) New England Patriots Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers (former) Seattle Seahawks (former)
Media	Broadcasters Television: KVVU KRON KTLA Radio: Radio network KRLV (AM) KOMP (FM) KSRO KLAA KENO (Spanish) Other: Compass Media Networks Personalities: Bill King Greg Papa J. T. the Brick Brent Musburger
Wild card berths (6)	1977 1980 1984 1991 1993 2016 2021
Division championships (15)	1967 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1983 1985 1990 2000 2001 2002
Conference championships (4)	1976 1980 1983 2002
League championships (4)	1967 1976 (XI) 1980 (XV) 1983 (XVIII)
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: West Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)

v t e Las Vegas Raiders seasons
Played in Oakland (1960–1981, 1995–2019) and Los Angeles (1982–1994)
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates AFL Championship (1960–1965) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory Italics indicates AFL Championship (1966–1969) and/or Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance

1988 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Buffalo	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Indianapolis	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	LA Rams
Miami	Houston	LA Raiders	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	Phoenix	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay