1988 New Orleans Saints season explained

Team:New Orleans Saints
Year:1988
Record:10–6
Division Place:3rd NFC West
Coach:Jim Mora
General Manager:Jim Finks
Owner:Tom Benson
Stadium:Louisiana Superdome
Playoffs:Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers:TE Hoby Brenner
WR Eric Martin
LB Sam Mills
K Morten Andersen
Shortnavlink:Saints seasons

The 1988 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 22nd as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They were unable to match their previous season's output of 12–3, winning only ten games and missing the playoffs (and losing the division) by a tiebreaker, going 6–6 vs. NFC opponents compared to 8–4 for the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. Road losses to the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings, as well as a sweep by San Francisco, ended up being the difference in New Orleans staying home and the California teams advancing.[1]

With the Louisiana Superdome hosting the 1988 Republican National Convention; all but the last pre-season game (against the Pittsburgh Steelers) for the Saints were played on the road.[2]

Offseason

NFL Draft

See main article: 1988 NFL draft. [3]

Training Camp

Prior to the start of the 1988 season, the Saints held training camp for the first time at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The team would hold training camp in La Crosse through the 1999 season.[4]

Personnel

Staff

[5]

Roster

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentTimeTVResultRecordGame SiteAttendanceRecap
1September 4San Francisco 49ers12Noon CDTCBSL 33–340–1Louisiana Superdome66,357
2September 11at Atlanta Falcons12Noon CDTCBSW 29–211–1Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium48,901
3September 18at Detroit Lions12Noon CDTCBSW 22–142–1Pontiac Silverdome32,943
4September 25Tampa Bay Buccaneers12Noon CDTCBSW 13–93–1Louisiana Superdome66,671
5Dallas Cowboys8:00p.m. CDTABCW 20–174–1Louisiana Superdome68,474
6October 9at San Diego Chargers3:00p.m. CDTCBSW 23–175–1Jack Murphy Stadium42,693
7October 16at Seattle Seahawks3:00p.m. CDTCBSW 20–196–1Kingdome63,569
8October 23Los Angeles Raiders12Noon CDTNBCW 20–67–1Louisiana Superdome66,249
9October 30Los Angeles Rams12Noon CSTCBSL 10–127–2Louisiana Superdome68,238
10November 6at Washington Redskins3:00p.m. CSTCBSL 24–277–3RFK Stadium54,183
11November 13at Los Angeles Rams3:00p.m. CSTCBSW 14–108–3Anaheim Stadium63,305
12November 20Denver Broncos3:00p.m. CSTNBCW 42–09–3Louisiana Superdome68,075
13November 27New York Giants7:00p.m. CSTESPNL 12–139–4Louisiana Superdome66,526
14December 4at Minnesota Vikings3:00p.m. CSTL 3–459–5Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome61,215
15December 11at San Francisco 49ers3:00p.m. CSTCBSL 17–309–6Candlestick Park62,977
16December 18Atlanta Falcons12Noon CSTCBSW 10–910–6Louisiana Superdome60,566
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

[6]

Saints Pick'em

49ersGame StatisticsSaints
21First downs23
32–124Rushes–yards31–147
165Passing yards245
14–26–122–31–2
0–0Sacked–yards5–48
165Net passing yards197
289Total yards344
128Return yards310
1–24.03–40.0
1–1Fumbles–lost2–1
2–12Penalties–yards10–77
23:50Time of possession36:10

Starting Lineups

Position Starting Lineups – Week 1: vs. San Francisco
Offense
QB
  1. 3 Bobby Hebert
RB
  1. 21 Dalton Hilliard
FB
  1. 34 Craig Heyward
WR
  1. 87 Lonzell Hill
WR
  1. 84 Eric Martin
TE
  1. 85 Hoby Brenner
LT
  1. 72 Jim Dombrowski
LG
  1. 63 Brad Edelman
C
  1. 60 Steve Korte
RG
  1. 65 Steve Trapilo
RT
  1. 67 Stan Brock
Defense
LDE
  1. 97 Jumpy Geathers
NT
  1. 99 Tony Elliott
RDE
  1. 94 Jim Wilks
LOLB
  1. 57 Rickey Jackson
LILB
  1. 51 Sam Mills
RILB
  1. 53 Vaughn Johnson
ROLB
  1. 56 Pat Swilling
LCB
  1. 44 Dave Waymer
RCB
  1. 22 Van Jakes
SS
  1. 27 Antonio Gibson
FS
  1. 39 Brett Maxie

Individual stats

Saints Rushing
Car2YdsTDLG3
Hilliard1995022
Heyward827011
Hebert116016
Hill1505
Mayes2403
Saints Receiving
Rec4YdsTDLG3
Hill774118
Martin768119
Clark345121
Perriman248133
Tice2508
Hilliard1505
Saints Kick Returns
RetYdsY/RtTDLng
Gray614424.000
Mayes24522.500

Week 2

[7]

Week 3

The Saints won for the first time in Detroit going 0-4-1 in their previous five trips to Michigan (three to Tiger Stadium and two to the Pontiac Silverdome).

[8]

Week 4

[9]

Week 5

[10]

Week 6

[11]

Week 7

[12]

Week 8

The Saints defeated the Raiders for the first time in six meetings (the 1971 matchup, the first between the teams, ended in a 21-21 tie).

[13]

Week 11

[14]

Week 12

In the Broncos' first appearance in the Louisiana Superdome since Super Bowl XII 11 years earlier, the Saints defeated Denver for the first time in five tries, and posted their largest margin of victory at the time.

[15]

Week 14

[16]

Saints +6

SaintsGame Statistics49ers
15First downs20
24–70Rushes–yards35–152
197Passing yards233
20–35–118–29–1
2–15Sacked–yards2–12
182Net passing yards221
252Total yards373
127Return yards79
5–38.23–36.7
2–1Fumbles–lost1–1
2–11Penalties–yards1–0
26:35Time of possession33:25

Starting Lineups

Position Starting Lineups – Week 15: at San Francisco
Offense
QB
  1. 3 Bobby Hebert
RB
  1. 36 Rueben Mayes
RB
  1. 23 Buford Jordan
WR
  1. 84 Eric Martin
TE
  1. 82 John Tice
TE
  1. 85 Hoby Brenner
LT
  1. 72 Jim Dombrowski
LG
  1. 63 Brad Edelman
C
  1. 60 Steve Korte
RG
  1. 65 Steve Trapilo
RT
  1. 67 Stan Brock
Defense
LDE
  1. 73 Frank Warren
NT
  1. 97 Jumpy Geathers
RDE
  1. 94 Jim Wilks
LOLB
  1. 57 Rickey Jackson
LILB
  1. 51 Sam Mills
RILB
  1. 53 Vaughn Johnson
ROLB
  1. 56 Pat Swilling
LCB
  1. 44 Dave Waymer
RCB
  1. 22 Van Jakes
SS
  1. 27 Antonio Gibson
FS
  1. 39 Brett Maxie

Individual stats

Saints Passing
C/ATT1YdsTDINTSkYdsLG3Rate
Hebert19/34170112122867.0
Hilliard1/127100027158.3
Saints Rushing
Car2YdsTDLG3
Hilliard935010
Hebert31403
Mayes81004
Heyward3803
Martin1303
Saints Receiving
Rec4YdsTDLG3
Martin761020
Hill661127
Tice344028
Hilliard1909
Pattison1808
Perriman1808
Scales1616
Saints Kick Returns
RetYdsY/RtTDLng
Atkins45814.500
Gray24422.000
Saints Punt Returns
RetYdsY/RtTDLng
Gray144.004
Hill144.004
Saints Sacks
Sacks
Swilling1.0
Wilks1.0

Week 16

[17]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nor/1988.htm 1988 New Orleans Saints
  2. Web site: 1988 New Orleans Saints (NFL) . Pro Football Archives . May 2, 2023.
  3. Web site: 1988 New Orleans Saints draftees . Pro-Football-Reference.com . November 5, 2014 .
  4. Web site: New Orleans Saints Training Camp Locations . Pro-Football-Reference.com .
  5. Web site: All-Time Roster . NewOrleansSaints.com . February 28, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120618110940/http://www.neworleanssaints.com/team/history/all-time-roster.html . 2012-06-18 . dead .
  6. https://www.footballdb.com/games/boxscore.html?gid=1988090408 The Football Database
  7. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198809110atl.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com
  8. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198809180det.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com
  9. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198809250nor.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com
  10. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198810030nor.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com
  11. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198810090sdg.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com
  12. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198810160sea.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com
  13. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198810230nor.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com
  14. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198811130ram.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com
  15. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198811200nor.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com
  16. https://www.footballdb.com/games/boxscore.html?gid=1988121108 The Football Database
  17. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198812180nor.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com

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