1988 New York Jets season

1988 New York Jets season
Head coach	Joe Walton
Owner	Leon Hess
Home field	The Meadowlands
Results
Record	8–7–1
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1988 New York Jets season was the 29th season for the team and the 19th in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 6–9 record from 1987 under head coach Joe Walton. The Jets finished the season with a record of 8–7–1. Although for the second straight year they failed to qualify for the playoffs, they would play the spoiler, as a victory over their cross-town rival New York Giants in Week 16 kept the Giants out of the playoffs due to a series of tiebreakers. For the third time in his career, Ken O'Brien had the lowest rate of interceptions among quarterbacks. He had 7 interceptions in 424 passing attempts.

The Jets endured a major distraction when Mark Gastineau, the team's main pass rusher who appeared to be experiencing a career-renaissance, abruptly retired in midseason to tend to ailing actress Brigitte Nielsen.

Personnel

Staff

• Head Coach: Joe Walton
• Offensive Coordinator: Rich Kotite
• Defensive Coordinator: Bud Carson

Starters

POS	Name	GS
QB	7 Ken O'Brien	12
RB	24 Freeman McNeil	16
FB	43 Roger Vick	12
WR	88 Al Toon	15
WR	85 Wesley Walker	10
TE	82 Mickey Shuler	15
LT	61 Jeff Criswell	12
LG	79 Mike Haight	9
C	53 Jim Sweeney	16
RG	60 Dan Alexander	13
RT	68 Reggie McElroy	16

POS	Name	GS
LDE	99 Mark Gastineau	7
NT	94 Scott Mersereau	15
RDE	93 Marty Lyons	16
LOLB	55 Alex Gordon	13
LILB	54 Troy Benson	16
RILB	59 Kyle Clifton	15
ROLB	57 Kevin McArthur	16
LCB	48 Bobby Humphery	16
RCB	40 James Hasty	15
SS	36 Rich Miano	16
FS	22 Erik McMillan	13

Kicking Team

5 Pat Leahy       K
6 Joe Prokup      P
83 Jo-Jo Townsell PR/KR

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
1	September 4, 1988	at New England Patriots	L 28–3	Sullivan Stadium	44,027
2	September 11, 1988	at Cleveland Browns	W 23–3	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	74,434
3	September 18, 1988	Houston Oilers	W 45–3	The Meadowlands	64,483
4	September 25, 1988	at Detroit Lions	W 17–10	Pontiac Silverdome	29,250
5	October 2, 1988	Kansas City Chiefs	T 17–17 (OT)	The Meadowlands	66,110
6	October 9, 1988	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 36–19	Riverfront Stadium	57,482
7	October 17, 1988	Buffalo Bills	L 37–14	The Meadowlands	70,218
8	October 23, 1988	at Miami Dolphins	W 44–30	Joe Robbie Stadium	68,292
9	October 30, 1988	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–20	The Meadowlands	64,862
10	November 6, 1988	at Indianapolis Colts	L 38–14	Hoosier Dome	59,233
11	November 13, 1988	New England Patriots	L 14–13	The Meadowlands	48,358
12	November 20, 1988	at Buffalo Bills	L 9–6 (OT)	Rich Stadium	78,389
13	November 27, 1988	Miami Dolphins	W 38–34	The Meadowlands	52,752
14	December 4, 1988	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 38–34	Arrowhead Stadium	30,059
15	December 10, 1988	Indianapolis Colts	W 34–16	The Meadowlands	46,284
16	December 18, 1988	New York Giants	W 27–21	The Meadowlands	69,770

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 3 0 0 0 3 • Patriots 3 3 10 12 28 Date: September 4 Location: Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 63°F, wind 14

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Jets 3 3 3 14 23 Browns 3 0 0 0 3 Date: September 11 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 65°F • Wind 5

Scoring summary 1 NYJ Pat Leahy 22 yard field goal Jets 3–0 1 CLE Matt Bahr 47 yard field goal Tie 3–3 2 NYJ Pat Leahy 29 yard field goal Jets 6–3 3 NYJ Pat Leahy 23 yard field goal Jets 9–3 4 NYJ Roger Vick 1 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 16–3 4 NYJ Roger Vick 3 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 23–3

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Oilers 3 0 0 0 3 • Jets 14 14 3 14 45 Date: September 18 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 67°F, wind 12

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total • Jets 3 7 0 7 17 Lions 3 0 7 0 10 Date: September 25 Location: Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan Game weather: indoors (dome)

Week 5

1 2 3 4 OT Total Chiefs 0 0 3 14 0 17 Jets 3 7 0 7 0 17 Date: October 2 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 70°F, wind 14

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 9 3 7 0 19 • Bengals 6 13 7 0 26 Date: October 9 Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 51°F, wind 9

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total • Bills 17 14 3 3 37 Jets 0 7 7 0 14 Date: October 17 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 63°F, wind 13 Television network: ABC

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total • Jets 6 24 7 7 44 Dolphins 7 3 13 7 30 Date: October 23 Location: Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 77°F, wind 11

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 10 0 0 10 20 • Jets 0 10 7 7 24 Date: October 30 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 46°F, wind 14 mph

Scoring summary 1 PIT Gary Anderson 25 yard field goal Steelers 3–0 1 PIT Rodney Carter 24 yard pass from Bubby Brister (Gary Anderson kick) Steelers 10–0 2 NYJ Pat Leahy 41 yard field goal Steelers 10–3 2 NYJ Mickey Shuler 2 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) Tie 10–10 3 NYJ Johnny Hector 2 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 17–10 4 PIT Gary Anderson 21 yard field goal Jets 17–13 4 NYJ Freeman McNeil 5 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 24–13 4 PIT Earnest Jackson 17 yard run (Gary Anderson kick) Jets 24–20

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 0 14 0 0 14 • Colts 7 3 21 7 38 Date: November 6 Location: Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: indoors (dome)

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total • Patriots 0 0 7 7 14 Jets 0 3 3 7 13 Date: November 13 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 50°F, wind 18

Week 12

1 2 3 4 OT Total Jets 0 3 0 3 0 6 • Bills 0 0 3 3 3 9 Date: November 20 Location: Rich Stadium • Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 78,389 Game weather: 43°F • Wind 10

Scoring summary 2 NYJ Pat Leahy 23 yard field goal Jets 3–0 3 BUF Scott Norwood 25 yard field goal Tie 3–3 4 BUF Scott Norwood 26 yard field goal Bills 6–3 4 NYJ Pat Leahy 40 yard field goal Tie 6–6 OT BUF Scott Norwood 30 yard field goal Bills 9–6

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Dolphins 7 7 20 0 34 • Jets 7 17 0 14 38 Date: November 27 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 54°F, wind 9

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 10 10 7 7 34 • Chiefs 14 7 0 17 38 Date: December 4 Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri Game start: 3:00 p.m. Game weather: 35°F, wind 11

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total Colts 6 7 3 0 16 • Jets 10 0 21 3 34 Date: December 10 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 12:30 p.m. Game weather: 31°F, wind 14

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total Giants 0 7 7 7 21 • Jets 10 3 7 7 27 Date: December 18 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 25°F, wind 15 mph TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw

Scoring summary 1 NYJ Pat Leahy 41 yard field goal Jets 3–0 1 NYJ Mickey Shuler 5 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 10–0 2 NYJ Pat Leahy 20 yard field goal Jets 13–0 2 NYG Stephen Baker 5 yard pass from Phil Simms (Paul McFadden kick) Jets 13–7 3 NYJ Freeman McNeil 6 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 20–7 3 NYG Stephen Baker 9 yard pass from Phil Simms (Paul McFadden kick) Jets 20–14 4 NYG Lionel Manuel 9 yard pass from Phil Simms (Paul McFadden kick) Giants 21–20 4 :37 NYJ Al Toon 5 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 27–21

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Buffalo Bills(2)	12	4	0	.750	7–1	10–2	329	237	L1
Indianapolis Colts	9	7	0	.563	5–3	7–5	354	315	W1
New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	5–3	7–5	250	284	L1
New York Jets	8	7	1	.531	3–5	6–7–1	372	354	W2
Miami Dolphins	6	10	0	.375	0–8	3–9	319	380	L1

External links

• 1988 New York Jets at Pro-Football-Reference.com