# 1988 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1988 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's fifty-sixth season in the National Football League (NFL).

## Background

This season resulted in the team's appearance in the postseason for the first time since 1981. The Eagles won the NFC East for the first time since 1980, but lost to the Chicago Bears during the NFC Divisional round during the Fog Bowl.
In control of its own destiny for a playoff berth, but not the NFC East title on the final day of the regular season, Philadelphia dumped the Dallas Cowboys, 23–7. Guaranteed a minimum of a wild card berth following a New Orleans Saints win, the team had to wait for the end to the New York Jets-New York Giants game at Giants Stadium to learn if had clinched the division or not to avoid the Wild Card round. The Jets won the game, 27–21, on a late touchdown strike from Ken O'Brien to Al Toon, giving the Eagles the NFC East crown on the tiebreaker of having beaten the Giants in both regular-season meetings.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1988 Philadelphia Eagles Draft :
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 9 | Keith Jackson | TE | Oklahoma |
| 2 | 30 | Eric Allen | CB | Arizona State |
| 3 | 64 | Matt Patchan | T | Miami (Florida) |
| 5 | 122 | Eric Everett | DB | Texas Tech |
| 6 | 149 | Don McPherson | QB | Syracuse |
| 6 | 160 | Rob Sterling | CB | Maine |
| 7 | 176 | Todd White | WR | Cal State Fullerton |
| 8 | 207 | David Smith | RB | Western Kentucky |
| 10 | 261 | Joe Schuster | DT | Iowa |
| 11 | 288 | Izel Jenkins | CB | North Carolina State |
| 12 | 288 | Steve Kaufusi | DE | BYU |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 4 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 41–14 | 1–0 | Tampa Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 11 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 24–28 | 1–1 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | September 18 | at Washington Redskins | L 10–17 | 1–2 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | September 25 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 21–23 | 1–3 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | Recap |
| 5 | October 2 | Houston Oilers | W 32–23 | 2–3 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 6 | October 10 | New York Giants | W 24–13 | 3–3 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | October 16 | at Cleveland Browns | L 3–19 | 3–4 | Cleveland Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | October 23 | Dallas Cowboys | W 24–23 | 4–4 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | October 30 | Atlanta Falcons | L 24–27 | 4–5 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | November 6 | Los Angeles Rams | W 30–24 | 5–5 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 13 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 27–26 | 6–5 | Three Rivers Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | November 20 | at New York Giants | W 23–17 (OT) | 7–5 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | November 27 | Phoenix Cardinals | W 31–21 | 8–5 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 4 | Washington Redskins | L 19–20 | 8–6 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 15 | December 10 | at Phoenix Cardinals | W 23–17 | 9–6 | Sun Devil Stadium | Recap |
| 16 | December 18 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 23–7 | 10–6 | Texas Stadium | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Season summary
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Eagles | 21 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 41 |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
The Eagles played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tampa Stadium where temperatures reached 90-degrees. On the Eagles’ fourth play of the game, Bucs linebacker Kevin Murphy chased Cunningham out of the pocket, and he rolled to his left and floated a 37-yard TD to Mike Quick. The first quarter ended with the Eagles up 21 to 0 after Anthony Toney ran for a TD and Cunningham threw an 8-yard TD to Jackson. The Eagles even scored on a 38-yard TD run by safety Terry Hoage on the only carry of his 13-year career.

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| Eagles | 14 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 24 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Redskins | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| • Vikings | 10 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 23 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 16 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 23 |
| • Eagles | 0 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 32 |

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| • Eagles | 0 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 24 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • Browns | 3 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 19 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 17 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| • Eagles | 0 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 24 |

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Falcons | 0 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 27 |
| Eagles | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 24 |

#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 24 |
| • Eagles | 0 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |

#### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Eagles | 0 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 27 |
| Steelers | 10 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 26 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • Eagles | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 23 |
| Giants | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 17 |

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| • Eagles | 7 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 31 |

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Redskins | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 20 |
| Eagles | 3 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 19 |

#### Week 15

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Eagles | 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 23 |
| Cardinals | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 |

#### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Eagles | 0 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 23 |
| Cowboys | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### 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 |

## Playoffs
### Divisional

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| • Bears | 7 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
Known as The Fog Bowl in NFL lore, the Bears defeated the Eagles, 20–12, in a contest in which a heavy, dense fog rolled over Chicago's Soldier Field during the second quarter and cut visibility to about 15–20 yards for the rest of the game.

## Awards and honors

* NFL All-Rookie: Eric Allen
* Bert Bell Award: Randall Cunningham
* Sporting News Rookie of the Year: Keith Jackson