# 1988 New York Jets season

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.

## Offseason
### Draft

1988 New York Jets draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 8 | Dave Cadigan | Offensive tackle | USC |
| 2 | 37 | Terry Williams | Cornerback | Bethune-Cookman |
| 3 | 63 | Erik McMillan | Safety | Missouri |
| 3 | 74 | James Hasty | Cornerback | Washington State |
| 5 | 119 | Mike Withycombe | Offensive guard | Fresno State |
| 6 | 146 | Paul Frase | Defensive end | Syracuse |
| 7 | 172 | Gary Patton | Running back | Eastern Michigan |
| 8 | 203 | Keith Neubert | Tight end | Nebraska |
| 9 | 230 | Ralph Tamm | Offensive guard | West Chester |
| 10 | 257 | John Booty | Cornerback | TCU |
| 11 | 287 | John Galvin | Linebacker | Boston College |
| 12 | 314 | Albert Goss | Defensive Tackle | Jackson State |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1988 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Phil Alfieri | Defensive end | Oregon |
| Kelly Averitt | Tackle/Guard | Tennessee Tech |
| Greg Calcagno | Quarterback | Santa Clara |
| Harold Collins | Wide receiver | UTEP |
| Byron Dixon | Cornerback/Safety | Holy Cross |
| Keith Ferrell | Linebacker | Morehead State |
| Ricky Flowers | Wide receiver | Jackson State |
| Blair Fowler | Defensive tackle | UTEP |
| John Garrett | Center | Syracuse |
| Leon Hall | Defensive end | East Carolina |
| Bruce Hatfield | Linebacker | Tennessee Tech |
| Dave Ingalls | Center | Maine |
| Greg Johns | Linebacker | Penn State |
| Matt Kemper | Guard/Tackle | Miami (OH) |
| Brad Lambert | Cornerback/Safety | Kansas State |
| Eric Lewis | Wide receiver | North Carolina |
| Darryl Pearson | Wide receiver | Alabama State |
| Richard Petitbon | Linebacker | Maryland |
| Edwin Ross | Safety | Alabama State |
| Tom Schulting | Wide receiver | Iowa State |
| Russell Sheffield | Defensive end | Baylor |
| Mike Swanson | Defensive Tackle | Temple |
| Darryl Wright | Punter | Maryland |

## Personnel
### 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 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 4 | at New England Patriots | L 3–28 | 0–1 | Sullivan Stadium | 44,027 |
| 2 | September 11 | at Cleveland Browns | W 23–3 | 1–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 74,434 |
| 3 | September 18 | Houston Oilers | W 45–3 | 2–1 | Giants Stadium | 64,483 |
| 4 | September 25 | at Detroit Lions | W 17–10 | 3–1 | Pontiac Silverdome | 29,250 |
| 5 | October 2 | Kansas City Chiefs | T 17–17 (OT) | 3–1–1 | Giants Stadium | 66,110 |
| 6 | October 9 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 19–36 | 3–2–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 57,482 |
| 7 | October 17 | Buffalo Bills | L 14–37 | 3–3–1 | Giants Stadium | 70,218 |
| 8 | October 23 | at Miami Dolphins | W 44–30 | 4–3–1 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 68,292 |
| 9 | October 30 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 24–20 | 5–3–1 | Giants Stadium | 64,862 |
| 10 | November 6 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 14–38 | 5–4–1 | Hoosier Dome | 59,233 |
| 11 | November 13 | New England Patriots | L 13–14 | 5–5–1 | Giants Stadium | 48,358 |
| 12 | November 20 | at Buffalo Bills | L 6–9 (OT) | 5–6–1 | Rich Stadium | 78,389 |
| 13 | November 27 | Miami Dolphins | W 38–34 | 6–6–1 | Giants Stadium | 52,752 |
| 14 | December 4 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 34–38 | 6–7–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | 30,059 |
| 15 | December 10 | Indianapolis Colts | W 34–16 | 7–7–1 | Giants Stadium | 46,284 |
| 16 | December 18 | New York Giants | W 27–21 | 8–7–1 | Giants Stadium | 69,770 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • Patriots | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 28 |

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Jets | 3 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 23 |
| Browns | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • Jets | 14 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 45 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Jets | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Lions | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Chiefs | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 17 |
| Jets | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 9 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 19 |
| • Bengals | 6 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 26 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bills | 17 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 37 |
| Jets | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Jets | 6 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 44 |
| Dolphins | 7 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 30 |

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| • Jets | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| • Colts | 7 | 3 | 21 | 7 | 38 |

#### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Patriots | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Jets | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Jets | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| • Bills | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 7 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 34 |
| • Jets | 7 | 17 | 0 | 14 | 38 |

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 34 |
| • Chiefs | 14 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 38 |

#### Week 15

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colts | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
| • Jets | 10 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 34 |

#### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| • Jets | 10 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 27 |

### 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 |