1988 New York Jets season

1988 New York Jets season
Head coach	Joe Walton
Home field	The Meadowlands
Results
Record	8–7–1
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Timeline
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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 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 Humphrey	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	1988-09-04	at New England Patriots	L 28–3	Sullivan Stadium	44,027
2	1988-09-11	at Cleveland Browns	W 23–3	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	74,434
3	1988-09-18	Houston Oilers	W 45–3	The Meadowlands	64,483
4	1988-09-25	at Detroit Lions	W 17–10	Pontiac Silverdome	29,250
5	1988-10-02	Kansas City Chiefs	T 17–17 (OT)	The Meadowlands	66,110
6	1988-10-09	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 36–19	Riverfront Stadium	57,482
7	1988-10-17	Buffalo Bills	L 37–14	The Meadowlands	70,218
8	1988-10-23	at Miami Dolphins	W 44–30	Joe Robbie Stadium	68,292
9	1988-10-30	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–20	The Meadowlands	64,862
10	1988-11-06	at Indianapolis Colts	L 38–14	Hoosier Dome	59,233
11	1988-11-13	New England Patriots	L 14–13	The Meadowlands	48,358
12	1988-11-20	at Buffalo Bills	L 9–6 (OT)	Rich Stadium	78,389
13	1988-11-27	Miami Dolphins	W 38–34	The Meadowlands	52,752
14	1988-12-04	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 38–34	Arrowhead Stadium	30,059
15	1988-12-10	Indianapolis Colts	W 34–16	The Meadowlands	46,284
16	1988-12-18	New York Giants	W 27–21	The Meadowlands	69,770

Game summaries

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

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