1988 New Orleans Saints season

The 1988 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 22nd as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They were unable to match their previous season's output of 12–3, winning only ten games and missing the playoffs (and losing the division) by a tiebreaker, going 6–6 vs. NFC opponents compared to 8–4 for the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. Road losses to the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings, as well as a sweep by San Francisco, ended up being the difference in New Orleans staying home and the California teams advancing.1988 New Orleans Saints

With the Louisiana Superdome hosting the 1988 Republican National Convention; all but the last pre-season game (against the Pittsburgh Steelers) for the Saints were played on the road.

Offseason

NFL draft

Training Camp Prior to the start of the 1988 season, the Saints held training camp for the first time at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The team would hold training camp in La Crosse through the 1999 season.

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 4 San Francisco 49ers L 33–34 0–1 Louisiana Superdome 66,357 2 September 11 at Atlanta Falcons W 29–21 1–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 48,901 3 September 18 at Detroit Lions W 22–14 2–1 Pontiac Silverdome 32,943 4 September 25 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 13–9 3–1 Louisiana Superdome 66,671 5 Dallas Cowboys W 20–17 4–1 Louisiana Superdome 68,474 6 October 9 at San Diego Chargers W 23–17 5–1 Jack Murphy Stadium 42,693 7 October 16 at Seattle Seahawks W 20–19 6–1 Kingdome 63,569 8 October 23 Los Angeles Raiders W 20–6 7–1 Louisiana Superdome 66,249 9 October 30 Los Angeles Rams L 10–12 7–2 Louisiana Superdome 68,238 10 November 6 at Washington Redskins L 24–27 7–3 RFK Stadium 54,183 11 November 13 at Los Angeles Rams W 14–10 8–3 Anaheim Stadium 63,305 12 November 20 Denver Broncos W 42–0 9–3 Louisiana Superdome 68,075 13 November 27 New York Giants L 12–13 9–4 Louisiana Superdome 66,526 14 December 4 at Minnesota Vikings L 3–45 9–5 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 61,215 15 December 11 at San Francisco 49ers L 17–30 9–6 Candlestick Park 62,977 16 December 18 Atlanta Falcons W 10–9 10–6 Louisiana Superdome 60,566 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday, September 4, 1988): vs. San Francisco 49ers The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Dec-16.

Point spread: Saints Pick'em Over/under: 43.0 (over) Time of game: 3 hours, 7 minutes

49ersGame statisticsSaints21 First downs 2332–124 Rushes–yards 31–147165 Passing yards 24514–26–1 22–31–20–0 Sacked–yards 5–48165 Net passing yards 197289 Total yards 344128 Return yards 3101–24.0 3–40.01–1 Fumbles–lost 2–12–12 Penalties–yards 10–7723:50 Time of possession 36:10

Starting Lineups Position Starting Lineups – Week 1: vs. San Francisco Offense QB #3 Bobby Hebert RB #21 Dalton Hilliard FB #34 Craig Heyward WR #87 Lonzell Hill WR #84 Eric Martin TE #85 Hoby Brenner LT #72 Jim Dombrowski LG #63 Brad Edelman C #60 Steve Korte RG #65 Steve Trapilo RT #67 Stan Brock Defense LDE #97 Jumpy Geathers NT #99 Tony Elliott RDE #94 Jim Wilks LOLB #57 Rickey Jackson LILB #51 Sam Mills RILB #53 Vaughn Johnson ROLB #56 Pat Swilling LCB #44 Dave Waymer RCB #22 Van Jakes SS #27 Antonio Gibson FS #39 Brett Maxie

Individual stats Saints Passing C/ATT1YdsTDINTSkYdsLG3RateHebert22/312454254833106.9

Saints Rushing Car2YdsTDLG3Hilliard1995022Heyward827011Hebert116016Hill1505Mayes2403

Saints ReceivingRec4YdsTDLG3Hill774118Martin768119Clark345121Perriman248133Tice2508Hilliard1505

Saints Kick ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngGray614424.000Mayes24522.500

Saints PuntingPntYdsY/PLngBlckHansen312040.000

Saints KickingXPM–XPAFGM–FGAAnderson4–41–1

Saints InterceptionsIntYdsTDLGPDWaymer144044

Week 2