1988 Chicago Bears season

Last updated

1988 Chicago Bears season
Head coach Mike Ditka
Home stadium Soldier Field
Results
Record12–4
Division place1st NFC Central
PlayoffsWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Eagles) 20–12
Lost NFC Championship
(vs. 49ers) 3–28

The 1988 Chicago Bears season was their 69th regular season and 19th postseason completed in the National Football League. This season marked the first time since 1974 that Walter Payton was not on the Bears' opening day roster. The Bears looked to improve on an 11–4 finish that won them the NFC Central Division but ended abruptly when they were eliminated for the second consecutive year by the Washington Redskins.

Contents

The Bears won 12 games and lost 4, tying for the best record in the league with the Buffalo Bills and the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals. They earned home field advantage in the NFC. The Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 20–12 in the "Fog Bowl" game during the Divisional Round of the playoffs. However, the Bears failed to advance to the Super Bowl as one of the NFC's top two seeds for a third straight season, falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers 28–3 in the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field. This was the second time that the 49ers and Bears had met for a trip to the Super Bowl during the decade, with the 49ers previously defeating the Bears in the 1984 NFC Championship Game on their way to Super Bowl XIX.

Coach Mike Ditka suffered a heart attack during the season, but was back on the sidelines 11 days later. Ditka was named coach of the year for the second time in his career. 1988 also marked Jim McMahon's last season as starter for the Bears, as he was traded during the following offseason to the San Diego Chargers.

Offseason

NFL draft

1988 Chicago Bears draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
123 Brad Muster   Fullback Stanford
127 Wendell Davis   Wide receiver LSU
251 Dante Jones   Linebacker Oklahoma
378 Ralph Jarvis   Defensive end Temple
4105 James Thornton   Tight end Cal State-Fullerton
5133 Troy Johnson  LinebackerOklahoma
6161 Lemuel Stinson   Cornerback Texas Tech
7189 Caesar Rentie   Offensive tackle Oklahoma
8208 David Tate   Safety Colorado
8217Harvey Reed  Running back Howard
9245Rogie Magee Wide receiverLSU
10273Joe Porter  Guard Baylor
11301Steve Forch Linebacker Nebraska
12329 Greg Clark  Linebacker Arizona State
      Made roster  

Undrafted free agents

1988 undrafted free agents of note
PlayerPositionCollege
Mike BarnardTackle San Jose State
Keith BlueGuard Western Illinois
Jeff BurgerQuarterback Auburn
Richard EhmkeKicker Eastern Illinois
Phil WebbRunning back Michigan
Dan YoungDefensive tackle VMI

Roster

1988 Team Starters

Offense

Defense

Final roster

1988 Chicago Bears final 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 (ST)

Reserve lists


Rookies in italics
47 active, 10 inactive

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultAttendance
1September 4 Miami Dolphins W 34–763,330
2September 11at Indianapolis Colts W 17–1360,503
3September 18 Minnesota Vikings L 7–3163,990
4September 25at Green Bay Packers W 24–656,492
5October 2 Buffalo Bills W 24–362,793
6October 9at Detroit Lions W 24–764,526
7October 16 Dallas Cowboys W 17–764,759
8October 24 San Francisco 49ers W 10–965,293
9October 30at New England Patriots L 7–3060,821
10November 6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 28–1056,892
11November 13at Washington Redskins W 34–1452,418
12November 20at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 27–1567,070
13November 27 Green Bay Packers W 16–062,026
14December 5at Los Angeles Rams L 3–2365,579
15December 11 Detroit Lions W 13–1255,010
16December 19at Minnesota Vikings L 27–2862,067

Game summaries

Week 1

Team1234Total
Dolphins70007
•Bears14140634
  • Date: September 4
  • Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
  • Game start: 12:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C) • Wind 16 mph (26 km/h)
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
Scoring summary
1CHI Neal Anderson 2-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)Bears 7–0
1CHINeal Anderson 1-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)Bears 14–0
1MIA Mark Clayton 28-yard pass from Dan Marino (Fuad Reveiz kick)Bears 14–7
2CHI Jim McMahon 1-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)Bears 21–7
2CHIJim McMahon 2-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)Bears 28–7
4CHI Thomas Sanders 20-yard run (kick failed)Bears 34–7

[1]

Week 4

Team1234Total
• Bears0170724
Packers60006
  • Date: September 25
  • Location: Lambeau Field
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C); wind 10 mph (16 km/h)
  • Referee: Tom Dooley
  • Television network: CBS
Scoring summary
Q1GB Fullwood 2 yard run (kick failed)GB 6–0
Q2CHI Anderson 45 yard run (Butler kick)CHI 7–6
Q2CHIAnderson 4 yard run (Butler kick)CHI 14–6
Q2CHIButler 35 yard field goalCHI 17–6
Q4CHI Sanders 5 yard run (Butler kick)CHI 24–6

[2]

Week 13

Team1234Total
Packers00000
• Bears707216
  • Date: November 27
  • Location: Soldier Field
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 43 °F (6 °C); wind 20 mph (32 km/h)
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty
  • TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden
Scoring summary
Q1CHI Anderson 1 yard run (Butler kick)CHI 7–0
Q3CHIAnderson 80 yard run (Butler kick)CHI 14–0
Q4CHISafety, Majkowski stepped out of end zoneCHI 16–0

[3]

Standings

NFC Central
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Chicago Bears (1)1240.7506–29–3312215L1
Minnesota Vikings (4)1150.6886–29–3406233W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5110.3134–44–8261350W1
Detroit Lions 4120.2502–63–11220315L2
Green Bay Packers 4120.2502–63–9240313W2

[4]

Playoffs

In the divisional playoffs, the Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the Fog Bowl, earning their first postseason victory since Super Bowl XX. A week later, Chicago was routed 28–3 by the San Francisco 49ers. This was the Bears' last appearance in the NFC Championship Game until 2006.

Divisional

Team1234Total
Eagles363012
•Bears7100320
Scoring summary
1CHI Dennis McKinnon 64-yard pass from Mike Tomczak (Kevin Butler kick)Bears 7–0
1PHI Luis Zendejas 42-yard field goalBears 7–3
2PHILuis Zendejas 29-yard field goalBears 7–6
2CHI Neal Anderson 4-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)Bears 14–6
2CHIKevin Butler 46-yard field goalBears 17–6
2PHILuis Zendejas 30-yard field goalBears 17–9
3PHILuis Zendejas 35-yard field goalBears 17–12
4CHIKevin Butler 27-yard field goalBears 20–12

[5]

NFC Championship

Team1234Total
•49ers777728
Bears03003

Awards and records

References

  1. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  2. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Oct-02.
  3. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Oct-02.
  4. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 293
  5. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
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