# 1988 New York Giants season

The 1988 New York Giants season was the franchise's 64th season in the National Football League (NFL). The team finished 10–6, but due to the Philadelphia Eagles, who also went 10–6, completed a season sweep of New York Giants, a loss to the New York Jets in the season finale kept them out of the playoffs for the second consecutive season due to them also losing the conference tiebreaker to the Los Angeles Rams for the final wild-card berth. The season was marked early by the suspension for substance abuse of star linebacker Lawrence Taylor by the NFL for the first four games of the season. Following the end of the season, the Giants would see two longtime defensive stalwarts; defensive end George Martin and future Hall-of-Fame inside linebacker Harry Carson, announce their retirement.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1988 New York Giants draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 10 | Eric Moore | G | Indiana |
| 2 | 36 | John Elliott * | T | Michigan |
| 3 | 62 | Sheldon White | CB | Miami (OH) |
| 4 | 92 | Ricky Shaw | LB | Oklahoma State |
| 5 | 118 | Jon Carter | DE | Pittsburgh |
| 6 | 145 | David Houle | G | Michigan State |
| 7 | 175 | Mike Perez | QB | San Jose State |
| 7 | 186 | Danta Whitaker | TE | Mississippi Valley State |
| 8 | 202 | Sammy Lilly | CB | Georgia Tech |
| 10 | 259 | Eric Hickerson | DB | Indiana |
| 10 | 265 | Steve Wilkes | TE | Appalachian State |
| 11 | 286 | Greg Harris | WR | Troy State |
| 12 | 313 | David Futrell | DT | Brigham Young |
| 12 | 323 | Brendan McCormack | DT | South Carolina |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue |
| 1 | August 7 | at Green Bay Packers | W 34–3 | 1–0 | Lambeau Field |
| 2 | August 14 | New York Jets | W 24–21 | 2–0 | Giants Stadium |
| 3 | August 20 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 28–17 | 3–0 | Giants Stadium |
| 4 | August 27 | at Cleveland Browns | L 13–17 | 3–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 5 | Washington Redskins | W 27–20 | 1–0 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 11 | San Francisco 49ers | L 17–20 | 1–1 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | September 18 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 12–10 | 2–1 | Texas Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | September 25 | Los Angeles Rams | L 31–45 | 2–2 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | October 2 | at Washington Redskins | W 24–23 | 3–2 | RFK Stadium | Recap |
| 6 | October 10 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 13–24 | 3–3 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | October 16 | Detroit Lions | W 30–10 | 4–3 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | October 23 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 23–16 | 5–3 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | October 30 | at Detroit Lions | W 13–10 (OT) | 6–3 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| 10 | November 6 | Dallas Cowboys | W 29–21 | 7–3 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 13 | at Phoenix Cardinals | L 17–24 | 7–4 | Sun Devil Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | November 20 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 17–23 (OT) | 7–5 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | November 27 | at New Orleans Saints | W 13–12 | 8–5 | Louisiana Superdome | Recap |
| 14 | December 4 | Phoenix Cardinals | W 44–7 | 9–5 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 15 | December 11 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 28–12 | 10–5 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 16 | December 18 | at New York Jets | L 21–27 | 10–6 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Redskins | 6 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| • Giants | 0 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 27 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Giants | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 12 |
| Cowboys | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • Giants | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| Lions | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Giants | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| Saints | 3 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 12 |

### Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Philadelphia Eagles$^{(3)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 6–2 | 8–4 | 379 | 319 | W2 |
| New York Giants | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 5–3 | 9–5 | 359 | 304 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 345 | 387 | L2 |
| Phoenix Cardinals | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–5 | 6–6 | 344 | 398 | L5 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 2–6 | 3–9 | 265 | 381 | L1 |