# 1988 Cleveland Browns season

The 1988 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 39th season with the National Football League.
Despite taking the Browns to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, head coach Marty Schottenheimer was fired at the end of the 1988 season. He left the Browns having compiled a record of 44–27 (a 62% winning percentage) with the team. (Schottenheimer would later go through a similar scenario with the San Diego Chargers: they fired him after the 2006 season, during which the Chargers posted a 14–2 record and then lost their first playoff game.) The Browns finished the season with a 10–6 record, tied for second place in the AFC Central with the Houston Oilers. The Browns were awarded second place by posting a better division record than the Oilers. The Browns clinched a playoff berth for the 4th straight season. In the playoffs, they lost to the Oilers in the Wild Card game, 24–23. As of 2023, this remains the last time the Browns swept the Steelers.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1988 Cleveland Browns draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 21 | Clifford Charlton | OLB | Florida |
| 2 | 50 | Michael Dean Perry * | DT | Clemson |
| 3 | 77 | Van Waiters | OLB | Indiana |
| 4 | 103 | Anthony Blaylock | CB | Winston-Salem State |
| 7 | 188 | Thane Gash | S | East Tennessee State |
| 8 | 216 | J.J. Birden | WR | Oregon |
| 9 | 244 | Danny Copeland | DB | Eastern Kentucky |
| 10 | 272 | Brian Washington | DB | Nebraska |
| 11 | 300 | Hendley Hawkins | WR | Nebraska |
| 12 | 328 | Steve Slayden | QB | Duke |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 4 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 6–3 | 1–0 | Arrowhead Stadium | 55,654 | Recap |
| 2 | September 11 | New York Jets | L 3–23 | 1–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 74,434 | Recap |
| 3 | September 19 | Indianapolis Colts | W 23–17 | 2–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 75,148 | Recap |
| 4 | September 25 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 17–24 | 2–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 54,943 | Recap |
| 5 | October 2 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 23–9 | 3–2 | Three Rivers Stadium | 56,410 | Recap |
| 6 | October 9 | Seattle Seahawks | L 10–16 | 3–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 78,605 | Recap |
| 7 | October 16 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 19–3 | 4–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 78,787 | Recap |
| 8 | October 23 | at Phoenix Cardinals | W 29–21 | 5–3 | Sun Devil Stadium | 61,261 | Recap |
| 9 | October 30 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 23–16 | 6–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 79,147 | Recap |
| 10 | November 7 | at Houston Oilers | L 17–24 | 6–4 | Houston Astrodome | 51,467 | Recap |
| 11 | November 13 | at Denver Broncos | L 7–30 | 6–5 | Mile High Stadium | 75,806 | Recap |
| 12 | November 20 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 27–7 | 7–5 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 77,131 | Recap |
| 13 | November 27 | at Washington Redskins | W 17–13 | 8–5 | RFK Stadium | 51,604 | Recap |
| 14 | December 4 | Dallas Cowboys | W 24–21 | 9–5 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 77,683 | Recap |
| 15 | December 12 | at Miami Dolphins | L 31–38 | 9–6 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 61,884 | Recap |
| 16 | December 18 | Houston Oilers | W 28–23 | 10–6 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 74,610 | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

## Postseason

| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| Wild Card | December 24 | Houston Oilers (5) | L 23–24 | 0–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | Recap |

## Game summaries
### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Browns | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Chiefs | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 0 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
| • Browns | 3 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 23 |

### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| • Browns | 7 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 24 |

### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 10 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 23 |
| • Browns | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

## Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cincinnati Bengals$^{(1)}$ | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 448 | 329 | W1 |
| Cleveland Browns$^{(4)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 4–2 | 6–6 | 304 | 288 | W1 |
| Houston Oilers$^{(5)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 424 | 365 | L1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–5 | 4–8 | 336 | 421 | W1 |

## Playoffs
### AFC wild card game

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 0 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
| Browns | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
* Game time: 1:30 p.m. EST
* Game attendance: 74,977
* Referee: Jerry Seeman
* TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy
Oilers cornerback Richard Johnson's interception set up kicker Tony Zendejas' game-clinching 49-yard field goal with 1:54 left in the game. After the Browns scored first on a 33-yard field goal by Matt Bahr, Houston marched 91 yards to score on quarterback Warren Moon's 14-yard touchdown pass to running back Allen Pinkett. Then on Cleveland's next drive, Oilers defensive lineman Richard Byrd recovered quarterback Don Strock's fumble to set up Pinkett's 16-yard touchdown run. Bahr later made two field goals to cut Houston's lead, 14–9, before halftime. In the third quarter, backup quarterback Mike Pagel, who replaced an injured Strock, threw a 14-yard touchdown completion to wide receiver Webster Slaughter to put the Browns ahead, 16–14. However, the Oilers marched on a 76-yard drive that was capped with running back Lorenzo White's 1-yard rushing touchdown. After Johnson's interception and Zendejas' subsequent game-clinching 49-yard field goal, Slaughter caught a 2-yard touchdown reception to close out the scoring.