1987 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

Last updated

1987 St. Louis Cardinals season
Owner Bill Bidwill
Head coach Gene Stallings
Home field Busch Stadium
Results
Record7–8
Division place3rd NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers QB Neil Lomax
T Luis Sharpe
FB Ron Wolfley
PR Vai Sikahema

The 1987 St. Louis Cardinals season was the franchise's 68th season in the National Football League and the 28th and final season in St. Louis as the team moved to Tempe, Arizona in March 1988. This move left St. Louis without an NFL franchise until the Los Angeles Rams moved there in 1995 to play, only to relocate back to Los Angeles in 2016, once again leaving St. Louis without an NFL team.

Contents

Offseason

NFL draft

1987 St. Louis Cardinals draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
16 Kelly Stouffer   QB Colorado State Refused to sign with team [1]
234 Tim McDonald  *  S USC
362 Rob Awalt   TE San Diego State
370 Colin Scotts   DT Hawaii
490 Rod Saddler  DT Texas A&M
5118 George Swarn   RB Miami (OH)
5126 John Bruno   P Penn State
5127 Ilia Jarostchuk   LB New Hampshire
6146 Mark Garalczyk  DT Western Michigan
7174Tim Peoples  DB Washington
7195 William Harris  TE Bishop
8201 Steve Alvord  DTWashington
9229 Wayne Davis  LB Alabama
10257 Charles Wright  DB Tulsa
11285 Todd Peat   OG Northern Illinois
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1987 St. Louis Cardinals staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – Marv Braden

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – LeBaron Caruthers


NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

1987 St. Louis Cardinals replacement roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Roster

1987 St. Louis Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 13 Dallas Cowboys W 24–131–0 Busch Stadium 47,241
2September 20at San Diego Chargers L 24–281–1 Jack Murphy Stadium 47,988
September 27 Indianapolis Colts canceled1–1Busch Stadium
3October 4at Washington Redskins L 21–281–2 RFK Stadium 27,728
4October 11 New Orleans Saints W 24–192–2Busch Stadium11,795
5October 18at San Francisco 49ers L 28–342–3 Candlestick Park 38,094
6October 25at New York Giants L 7–302–4 Giants Stadium 74,391
7November 1 Philadelphia Eagles L 23–282–5Busch Stadium24,586
8November 8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 31–283–5Busch Stadium22,449
9November 15 Los Angeles Rams L 24–273–6Busch Stadium27,730
10November 22at Philadelphia Eagles W 31–194–6 Veterans Stadium 55,592
11November 29at Atlanta Falcons W 34–215–6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 15,909
12December 6 Washington Redskins L 17–345–7Busch Stadium31,324
13December 13 New York Giants W 27–246–7Busch Stadium29,623
14December 20at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 31–147–7 Tampa Stadium 32,046
15December 27at Dallas Cowboys L 16–217–8 Texas Stadium 36,788
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Dallas Cowboys

Week 1: Dallas Cowboys at St. Louis Cardinals
Quarter1234Total
Cowboys060713
Cardinals3002124

at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

  • Date: September 13
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. CDT
  • Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C)
  • Game attendance: 47,241

Week 3: at Washington Redskins

Week 3: St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Redskins
Quarter1234Total
Cardinals077721
Redskins7714028

at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Game information

Week 8: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 8: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at St. Louis Cardinals
Quarter1234Total
Buccaneers7714028
Cardinals0302831

at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Game information

Days before the game Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill announced that the team would be moving to another city. [2] [3] The announcement increased fan apathy, resulting in an official game attendance of only 22,449, the Cardinals' lowest in four years.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Cardinals were down 28–3 to the Buccaneers. St. Louis would score 28 unanswered points in the final quarter to win 31–28. Tampa kicker Donald Igwebuike attempted a 53-yard field goal to tie the game as time expired but the ball bounced off the crossbar. The Cardinals' 25-point fourth quarter comeback is the largest in NFL history. [4]

Week 13: vs. Washington Redskins

Week 13: Washington Redskins at St. Louis Cardinals
Quarter1234Total
Redskins10021334
Cardinals0143017

at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Game information

Week 14: vs. New York Giants

Week 14: New York Giants at St. Louis Cardinals
Quarter1234Total
Giants737724
Cardinals14130027

at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

  • Date: December 13
  • Game time: 3:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C)
  • Game attendance: 29,623
  • TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Terry Bradshaw

This would be the Cardinals' final home game in St. Louis as the franchise would relocate to the Phoenix metro area for the 1988 season. This would be the last NFL game played in St. Louis until September 10, 1995 when the Rams, who had relocated to St. Louis from Los Angeles following the 1994 season, hosted the New Orleans Saints. However, the Rams would move back to Los Angeles prior to the 2016 season.

Week 15: at Dallas Cowboys

Week 15: St. Louis Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys
Quarter1234Total
Cardinals370616
Cowboys0140721

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

  • Date: December 27
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: 35 °F (2 °C)
  • Game attendance: 36,788

Entering the final week of the season, the Cardinals needed a win over the Cowboys to secure the NFC's final wild card spot. The Cardinals wound up losing the regular season finale, knocking them out of playoff contention. This would be the final game for the St. Louis Cardinals NFL team. On March 15, 1988, NFL owners approved the Cardinals' move from St. Louis to Tempe, Arizona. [5] Starting with the following season, the Cardinals played as the Phoenix Cardinals before changing the franchise's geographic name to the Arizona Cardinals prior to the 1994 season. [6]

Standings

NFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Washington Redskins (3)1140.7337–19–3379285W1
Dallas Cowboys 780.4674–45–7340348W2
St. Louis Cardinals 780.4673–57–7362368L1
Philadelphia Eagles 780.4673–54–7337380W2
New York Giants 690.4003–54–8280312W2

Awards and records

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References

  1. Zimmerman, Paul (April 11, 1988). "A lonely road to the NFL". Sports Illustrated. p. 63.
  2. "NFL: Cowboys Cut Off At Pass by Lions". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 9, 1987. pp. 3 sec C. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  3. Eskenazi, Gerald (November 6, 1987). "NFL Matchups: Surprise: Colts and Chargers Spotlighted". The New York Times . pp. 36 sec A. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  4. Mizell, Hubert (November 9, 1987). "For 15 minutes, Bucs' play hit an all-time low". St. Petersburg Times .
  5. Eskenazi, Gerald (March 16, 1988). "N.F.L. Approves Team Shift". The New York Times . Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  6. "Arizona Cardinals Team History". ProFootballHOF.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  7. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 451
  8. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 452