# 1988 Indianapolis Colts season

The 1988 season was the 36th season for the Indianapolis Colts in the National Football League (NFL) and fifth in Indianapolis. The team finished the year with a record of 9 wins and 7 losses, and tied for second in the AFC East division with the New England Patriots. However, the Colts finished ahead of New England based on better record against common opponents (7–5 to Patriots' 6–6). At the start of the season, Ron Meyer demoted quarterback Gary Hogeboom to back up, and promoted Jack Trudeau to starter, which prompted Hogeboom to demand that he be either traded or released.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1988 Indianapolis Colts draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 3 | 76 | Chris Chandler * | Quarterback | Washington |
| 4 | 104 | Michael Ball | Cornerback | Southern |
| 5 | 129 | John Baylor | Cornerback | Southern Mississippi |
| 9 | 243 | Jeff Herrod | Linebacker | Mississippi |
| 10 | 270 | O'Brien Alston | Linebacker | Maryland |
| 11 | 297 | Donnie Dee | Tight end | Tulsa |
| 12 | 308 | Aatron Kenney | Wide receiver | Wisconsin–Stevens Point |
| 12 | 327 | Tim Vesling | Placekicker | Syracuse |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1988 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Christopher Coyne | Center | Delaware |
| Stoney Polite | Running back | North Carolina A&T |
| Richie Sims | Defensive back | Louisiana Tech |
| Michael Summers | Running back | South Carolina State |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 4 | Houston Oilers | L 14–17 (OT) | 0–1 | Hoosier Dome | 57,251 |
| 2 | September 11 | Chicago Bears | L 13–17 | 0–2 | Hoosier Dome | 60,503 |
| 3 | September 19 | at Cleveland Browns | L 17–23 | 0–3 | Cleveland Stadium | 75,148 |
| 4 | September 25 | Miami Dolphins | W 15–13 | 1–3 | Hoosier Dome | 59,638 |
| 5 | October 2 | at New England Patriots | L 17–21 | 1–4 | Sullivan Stadium | 58,050 |
| 6 | October 9 | at Buffalo Bills | L 23–24 | 1–5 | Rich Stadium | 76,018 |
| 7 | October 16 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 35–31 | 2–5 | Hoosier Dome | 53,135 |
| 8 | October 23 | at San Diego Chargers | W 16–0 | 3–5 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 37,722 |
| 9 | October 31 | Denver Broncos | W 55–23 | 4–5 | Hoosier Dome | 60,544 |
| 10 | November 6 | New York Jets | W 38–14 | 5–5 | Hoosier Dome | 59,233 |
| 11 | November 13 | at Green Bay Packers | W 20–13 | 6–5 | Lambeau Field | 53,492 |
| 12 | November 20 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 3–12 | 6–6 | Metrodome | 58,342 |
| 13 | November 27 | New England Patriots | W 24–21 | 7–6 | Hoosier Dome | 58,157 |
| 14 | December 4 | at Miami Dolphins | W 31–28 | 8–6 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 45,236 |
| 15 | December 10 | at New York Jets | L 16–34 | 8–7 | The Meadowlands | 46,284 |
| 16 | December 18 | Buffalo Bills | W 17–14 | 9–7 | Hoosier Dome | 59,908 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| • Colts | 3 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 15 |

#### Week 9 vs Broncos

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 0 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 23 |
| Colts | 21 | 24 | 3 | 7 | 55 |
at Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana
* Date: October 31
* Game time: 8:00 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Game attendance: 60,544
* TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
IND – Eric Dickerson 12-yard run (Dean Biasucci kick), 9:41. Colts 7–0.
IND – Eric Dickerson 11-yard run (Dean Biasucci kick), 5:39. Colts 14–0.
IND – Eric Dickerson 1-yard run (Dean Biasucci kick), 0:16. Colts 21–0.
Second quarter
IND – Dean Biasucci 31-yard field goal, 13:22. Colts 24–0.
IND – Eric Dickerson 41-yard run (Dean Biasucci kick), 11:47. Colts 31–0.
DEN – Steve Sewell 2-yard pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick, 9:54. Colts 31–7.
IND – Bill Brooks 53-yard pass from Gary Hogeboom (Dean Biasucci kick), 7:08. Colts 38–7.
DEN – Rich Karlis 27-yard field goal, 1:00. Colts 38–10.
IND – Clarence Verdin 40-yard pass from Chris Chandler (Dean Biasucci kick), 0:22. Colts 45–10.
Third quarter
IND – Dean Biasucci 27-yard field goal, 6:34. Colts 48–10.
Fourth quarter
IND – Albert Bentley 4-yard run (Dean Biasucci kick), 11:49. Colts 55–10.
DEN – Vance Johnson 7-yard pass from Gary Kubiak (kick failed), 6:07. Colts 55–17.
DEN – Steve Sewell 48-yard pass from Gary Kubiak (Rich Karlis kick), 5:39. Colts 55–23.
Top passers
DEN – John Elway – 15/27, 158 yards, TD
IND – Chris Chandler – 10/13, 167 yards, TD
Top rushers
DEN – Ricky Nattiel – 1 rush, 29 yards
IND – Eric Dickerson – 21 rushes, 159 yards, 4 TD
Top receivers
DEN – Steve Sewell – 6 receptions, 82 yards, 2 TD
IND – Bill Brooks – 3 receptions, 108 yards, TD :

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |

## Awards and records

* Eric Dickerson, Led AFC (tied), Touchdowns, 15 TD's