# 1988 Edmonton Eskimos season

The 1988 Edmonton Eskimos season was the 31st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 40th overall. The Eskimos finished the season in first place with an 11–7 record. They appeared in the West Final where they lost to the BC Lions.
The Eskimos offense had 496 points for, while the defense had 445 points allowed. During the season, Tracy Ham emerged as the team's starting quarterback for the next five seasons.

## Off-season
### CFL Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 8 | Brian Forde | LB | Washington State |
| 2 | 16 | Branko Vincic | DL | Eastern Michigan |
| 3 | 24 | Greg Nyte | DB | Simon Fraser |
| 4 | 32 | Todd Middleton | LB | Dickinson State College |
| 5 | 40 | Greg Kratzer | WR | Dickinson State College |
| 6 | 48 | Terry Ainge | DB | British Columbia |
| 7 | 56 | Stephen Kasowski | P/K-WR | Alberta |
| 8 | 64 | Neil Ferguson | DB | Alberta |

## Regular season
### Standings

West Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 477 | 408 | 6–4 | W1 | Details |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 525 | 452 | 5–3 | W1 | Details |
| BC Lions | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 489 | 417 | 4–4 | W3 | Details |
| Calgary Stampeders | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 395 | 476 | 3–7 | L1 | Details |
Edmonton finished ahead of Saskatchewan in the standings by winning their 2-game head-to-head series by a point total of 58–53.
Edmonton set the CFL record for most consecutive seasons, .500 or better (17), breaking the record of 16 Saskatchewan set from 1962-1977.

### Season Schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | 1 | July 14 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | W 33–0 | 1–0 | Commonwealth Stadium | 27,889 |
| 2 | 2 | July 23 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 15–26 | 1–1 | Taylor Field | 22,682 |
| 3 | 3 | July 27 | at Ottawa Rough Riders | W 35–28 | 2–1 | Lansdowne Park | 19,947 |
| 4 | 4 | Aug 4 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 43–27 | 3–1 | Commonwealth Stadium | 35,383 |
| 5 | 5 | Aug 12 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 14–22 | 3–2 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 13,127 |
| 6 | 6 | Aug 19 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 46–21 | 4–2 | Commonwealth Stadium | 30,172 |
| 7 | 7 | Aug 25 | at BC Lions | L 10–28 | 4–3 | BC Place | 33,825 |
| 8 | 8 | Sept 1 | vs. BC Lions | W 17–9 | 5–3 | Commonwealth Stadium | 34,157 |
| 8 | 9 | Sept 5 | at Calgary Stampeders | W 27–11 | 6–3 | McMahon Stadium | 27,768 |
| 9 | 10 | Sept 11 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 37–13 | 7–3 | Commonwealth Stadium | 29,984 |
| 10 | 11 | Sept 18 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | W 38–21 | 8–3 | Commonwealth Stadium | 33,549 |
| 11 | 12 | Sept 25 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 22–35 | 8–4 | Varsity Stadium | 24,104 |
| 12 | 13 | Oct 2 | vs. Ottawa Rough Riders | W 40–12 | 9–4 | Commonwealth Stadium | 28,052 |
| 13 | 14 | Oct 10 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 17–21 | 9–5 | Winnipeg Stadium | 26,298 |
| 14 | 15 | Oct 16 | at Calgary Stampeders | W 32–29 | 10–5 | McMahon Stadium | 29,430 |
| 15 | 16 | Oct 23 | vs. BC Lions | L 15–35 | 10–6 | Commonwealth Stadium | 30,030 |
| 16 | 17 | Oct 29 | at BC Lions | L 16–51 | 10–7 | BC Place | 32,334 |
| 17 | 18 | Nov 6 | vs. Calgary Stamepders | W 20–19 | 11–7 | Commonwealth Stadium | 27,499 |
Total attendance: 276,715
Average attendance: 30,746 (51.2%)

## Statistics
### Punt Returns

| Player | Games Played | Number | Yards | Long | Touchdowns |
| Henry Gizmo Williams | 17 | 96 | 964 | 100 | 2 |

### Kickoff Returns

| Player | Games Played | Number | Yards | Long | Touchdowns |
| Henry Gizmo Williams | 17 | 15 | 379 | 34 | 0 |

### Missed Field Goal Returns

| Player | Games Played | Number | Yards | Long | Touchdowns |
| Henry Gizmo Williams | 17 | 5 | 90 | 22 | 0 |

## Awards

* CFLPA's Most Outstanding Community Service Award - Hector Pothier (OT)
* Norm Fieldgate Trophy - Danny Bass (LB)

## Playoffs
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| Division Final | Nov 20 | vs. BC Lions | L 19–37 | 0–1 | Commonwealth Stadium | 27,055 |
The West Final was the first time the Eskimos lost a playoff game at Commonwealth Stadium. The loss also ended the CFL's longest ever home playoff winning streak (12).