# 1988 Detroit Lions season

The 1988 Detroit Lions season was the 59th season in franchise history. The team fell a step further from their 4–11 record in the strike-affected 1987 season, losing 12 of 16 games and suffering their fifth successive losing record. Head coach Darryl Rogers, who had served since 1985, was fired after 11 games and replaced by defensive coordinator Wayne Fontes.
The 1988 Lions’ offense was historically inept; their 3,405 offensive yards gained is the second-lowest all-time in a 16-game season, and the lowest total of the 1980s. Their 220 points scored (13.75 per game) is the fifth-fewest of the 1980s. They scored 20 or more points only three times all season.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1988 Detroit Lions draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 3 | Bennie Blades * | S | Miami (FL) |
| 2 | 29 | Chris Spielman * | LB | Ohio State |
| 2 | 32 | Pat Carter | TE | Florida State |
| 3 | 58 | Ray Roundtree | WR | Penn State |
| 4 | 85 | William White | S | Ohio State |
| 5 | 111 | Eric Andolsek | G | LSU |
| 6 | 142 | Carl Painter | RB | Hampton |
| 7 | 169 | Jeff James | WR | Stanford |
| 8 | 196 | Gary Hadd | DT | Minnesota |
| 9 | 223 | Kip Corrington | S | Texas A&M |
| 9 | 234 | Todd Irvin | OT | Mississippi |
| 10 | 254 | Paco Craig | WR | UCLA |
| 11 | 281 | Danny McCoin | QB | Cincinnati |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1988 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Douglas Beaty | Fullback | Appalachian State |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 4 | Atlanta Falcons | W 31–17 | 1–0 | 31,075 |
| 2 | September 11 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 10–17 | 1–1 | 46,262 |
| 3 | September 18 | New Orleans Saints | L 14–22 | 1–2 | 32,943 |
| 4 | September 25 | New York Jets | L 10–17 | 1–3 | 29,250 |
| 5 | October 2 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 13–20 | 1–4 | 58,285 |
| 6 | October 9 | Chicago Bears | L 7–24 | 1–5 | 64,526 |
| 7 | October 16 | at New York Giants | L 10–30 | 1–6 | 74,813 |
| 8 | October 23 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 7–6 | 2–6 | 66,926 |
| 9 | October 30 | New York Giants | L 10–13 $_{OT}$ | 2–7 | 38,354 |
| 10 | November 6 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 17–44 | 2–8 | 55,573 |
| 11 | November 13 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 20–23 | 2–9 | 25,956 |
| 12 | November 20 | at Green Bay Packers | W 19–9 | 3–9 | 44,327 |
| 13 | November 24 | Minnesota Vikings | L 0–23 | 3–10 | 46,379 |
| 14 | December 4 | Green Bay Packers | W 30–14 | 4–10 | 28,124 |
| 15 | December 11 | at Chicago Bears | L 12–13 | 4–11 | 55,010 |
| 16 | December 18 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 10–21 | 4–12 | 37,778 |
| Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text. ||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Falcons | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 |
| • Lions | 0 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 31 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Lions | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Chiefs | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Lions | 3 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 19 |
| Packers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 |

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Packers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| • Lions | 10 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 30 |

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Chicago Bears$^{(1)}$ | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 312 | 215 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings$^{(4)}$ | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 406 | 233 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 4–4 | 4–8 | 261 | 350 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 2–6 | 3–11 | 220 | 315 | L2 |
| Green Bay Packers | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 2–6 | 3–9 | 240 | 313 | W2 |