# 1988 New England Patriots season

The 1988 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 19th season in the National Football League, the 29th overall and the 5th under head coach Raymond Berry. With a record of nine wins and seven losses, they finished tied for second in the AFC East Division. It would take until 1994 for the Patriots to record another winning season. The Patriots improved on its 8–7 record from 1987, winning one more game due to one game being cancelled the previous season. Despite the winning record, the Patriots did not reach the postseason. They finished tied for 2nd in the AFC East with the arch rival Colts, but were relegated to 3rd place because the Colts had a better record against common opponents than the Patriots did.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1988 New England Patriots draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 17 | John Stephens * | Running back | Northwestern State |
| 2 | 43 | Vincent Brown | Linebacker | Mississippi Valley State |
| 3 | 69 | Tom Rehder | Tackle | Notre Dame |
| 4 | 87 | Tim Goad | Nose tackle | North Carolina |
| 4 | 97 | Sammy Martin | Wide receiver | LSU |
| 4 | 100 | Teddy Garcia | Kicker | Northeast Louisiana |
| 5 | 115 | Troy Wolko | Guard | Minnesota |
| 6 | 154 | Steve Johnson | Tight end | Virginia Tech |
| 7 | 181 | Darryl Usher | Wide receiver | Illinois |
| 9 | 240 | Neil Galbraith | Defensive back | Central State (OK) |
| 10 | 267 | Rodney Lossow | Center | Wisconsin |
| 11 | 294 | Marvin Allen | Running back | Tulane |
| 12 | 321 | Dave Nugent | Defensive tackle | Boston College |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 4 | New York Jets | W 28–3 | 1–0 | Sullivan Stadium | 44,027 | Recap |
| 2 | September 11 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 6–36 | 1–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 55,545 | Recap |
| 3 | September 18 | Buffalo Bills | L 14–16 | 1–2 | Sullivan Stadium | 55,945 | Recap |
| 4 | September 25 | at Houston Oilers | L 6–31 | 1–3 | Houston Astrodome | 38,646 | Recap |
| 5 | October 2 | Indianapolis Colts | W 21–17 | 2–3 | Sullivan Stadium | 58,050 | Recap |
| 6 | October 9 | at Green Bay Packers | L 3–45 | 2–4 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 51,932 | Recap |
| 7 | October 16 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 27–21 | 3–4 | Sullivan Stadium | 59,969 | Recap |
| 8 | October 23 | at Buffalo Bills | L 20–23 | 3–5 | Rich Stadium | 76,824 | Recap |
| 9 | October 30 | Chicago Bears | W 30–7 | 4–5 | Sullivan Stadium | 60,821 | Recap |
| 10 | November 6 | Miami Dolphins | W 21–10 | 5–5 | Sullivan Stadium | 60,840 | Recap |
| 11 | November 13 | at New York Jets | W 14–13 | 6–5 | Giants Stadium | 48,358 | Recap |
| 12 | November 20 | at Miami Dolphins | W 6–3 | 7–5 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 53,526 | Recap |
| 13 | November 27 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 21–24 | 7–6 | Hoosier Dome | 58,157 | Recap |
| 14 | December 4 | Seattle Seahawks | W 13–7 | 8–6 | Sullivan Stadium | 59,086 | Recap |
| 15 | December 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 10–7 (OT) | 9–6 | Sullivan Stadium | 39,889 | Recap |
| 16 | December 17 | at Denver Broncos | L 10–21 | 9–7 | Mile High Stadium | 70,910 | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Game summaries
#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colts | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| • Patriots | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |

### 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 |