1988 New York Giants season

NFL team season

1988 New York Giants season
Owner	Wellington Mara
General manager	George Young
Head coach	Bill Parcells
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
← 1987 Giants seasons 1989 →

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. The Giants would finish second behind the Philadelphia Eagles in the division, losing the conference tiebreaker to the Los Angeles Rams for the final wild card. 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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1988 New York Giants draft
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 – strength coach Johnny Parker

Roster

**1988 New York Giants roster**

	Quarterbacks 15 Jeff Hostetler 17 Jeff Rutledge 11 Phil Simms Running backs 33 George Adams 24 Ottis Anderson 44 Maurice Carthon FB 20 Joe Morris 22 Lee Rouson Wide receivers 85 Stephen Baker 82 Mark Ingram Sr. 86 Lionel Manuel 80 Phil McConkey PR 81 Stacy Robinson Tight ends 89 Mark Bavaro 88 Brad Beckman 84 Zeke Mowatt		Offensive linemen 67 Billy Ard G 76 Jumbo Elliott T 69 Joe Fields C/G 60 Eric Moore G 63 Karl Nelson T 65 Bart Oates C/LS 72 Doug Riesenberg T 66 William Roberts T Defensive linemen 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 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 28 Tom Flynn FS 41 Neal Guggemos CB/S/KR 37 Wayne Haddix CB 48 Kenny Hill SS/KR 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		Reserve lists 2 Raúl Allegre K (IRTooltip Injured reserve) -- Mike Ariey T (IRTooltip Injured reserve) -- Henry Brown DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 78 Jon Carter DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 25 Mark Collins CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 68 Damian Johnson G (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 5 Sean Landeta P (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 38 Sammy Lilly CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 12 Mike Perez QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 62 Gary Schippang T (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 87 Tim Sherwin TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 83 Odessa Turner WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 27 Herb Welch S (IRTooltip Injured reserve) -- Danta Whitaker TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 71 Robb White DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad None 47 active, 15 inactive 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

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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

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

External links

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

v t e New York Giants
Founded in 1925 Based and headquartered in East Rutherford, New Jersey
Franchise	Franchise Seasons Coaches Players First-round draft picks Quarterbacks Logos and uniforms
History	1925–1978 1979–1993 1994–present Financial history
Stadiums	Polo Grounds Yankee Stadium Yale Bowl Shea Stadium Giants Stadium MetLife Stadium
Culture	Cleveland Bulldogs The Duke Crunch Bunch Gatorade shower Big Blue Wrecking Crew I'm going to Disney World! Little Giants "New York Groove" "We Fly High" "The Masseuse" (Seinfeld episode) Big Fan Bob Sheppard Jim Hall Yankee Stadium Legacy License Plate Guy The Best Man Holiday
Lore	Sneakers Game The Greatest Game Ever Played Chuck Bednarik's hit on Frank Gifford The Fumble Wide Right Snowball Game 2007 game vs. New England Patriots Helmet Catch Miracle at the New Meadowlands
Rivalries	Chicago Bears Dallas Cowboys Green Bay Packers New England Patriots New York Jets Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers Washington Commanders
Key personnel	Owners: John Mara & Steve Tisch General manager: Joe Schoen Head coach: Brian Daboll
Division championships (22)	1933 1934 1935 1938 1939 1941 1944 1946 1956 1958 1959 1961 1962 1963 1986 1989 1990 1997 2000 2005 2008 2011
Conference championships (11)	1956 1958 1959 1961 1962 1963 1986 1990 2000 2007 2011
League championships (8)	1927 1934 1938 1956 1986 (XXI) 1990 (XXV) 2007 (XLII) 2011 (XLVI)
Retired numbers	1 4 7 10 11 14 14 16 32 40 42 50 56 92
Media	Broadcasters Radio network Bob Papa Carl Banks Howard Cross
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: East Division

v t e New York Giants seasons
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Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–1969) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–1969) or Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance

New York Giants seasons

Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–1969) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory
Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–1969) 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