American Football Database
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1988 Chicago Bears season
Head Coach Mike Ditka
Home Field Soldier Field
Results
Record 12–4
Place 1st NFC Central
Playoff Finish Won Divisional Playoffs (Eagles) 20–12
Lost Conference Championship (49ers) 28–3
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1987 1989
Fog Bowl 1988

The Bears playing against the Philadelphia Eagles in the famous Fog Bowl divisional playoff game.

The 1988 Chicago Bears season was their 69th regular season and 19th postseason completed in the National Football League. The Bears looked to improve on an 11–4 finish that won them the NFC Central Division but where they were eliminated for the second consecutive year by the Washington Redskins. The Bears won 12 games and lost 4, tying for the best record in the league with the Buffalo Bills and the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals, and earned home field advantage in the NFC. However, the Bears failed to advance to the Super Bowl as one of the top two seeds for a third straight season, falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field. This was the second time that the 49ers and Bears had met for a trip to the Super Bowl during the decade, with the 49ers defeating the Bears on their way to Super Bowl XIX.

Coach Mike Ditka suffered a heart attack during the season, but was back on the sidelines 11 days later. Ditka was named coach of the year for the second time in his career. This was Jim McMahon's last season as starter for the Bears as he was traded during the following offseason to the San Diego Chargers.

1988 Chicago Bears draft choices[]

Round Pick Name Position College
1 23 Brad Muster FB Stanford
1 27 Wendell Davis WR LSU
2 51 Dante Jones LB Oklahoma
3 78 Ralph Jarvis DE Temple
4 105 James Thornton TE Cal State-Fullerton
5 133 Troy A. Johnson DB Oklahoma
6 161 Lemuel Stinson CB Texas Tech
7 189 Caesar Rentie T Oklahoma
8 208 David Tate DB Colorado
8 217 Harvey Reed RB Howard
9 245 Rogie Magee WR LSU
10 273 Joel Porter G Baylor
11 301 Steve Forch LB Nebraska
12 329 Greg Clark LB Arizona State

Roster[]

1988 Team Starters

Offense

  • 9 Jim McMahon QB
  • 35 Neal Anderson RB
  • 26 Matt Suhey FB
  • 85 Dennis McKinnon WR/PR
  • 29 Dennis Gentry WR/KR
  • 80 James Thornton TE
  • 73 John Wojciechowski LT
  • 62 Mark Bortz LG
  • 63 Jay Hilgenberg C
  • 57 Tom Thayer RG
  • 78 Keith Van Horne RT

Defense

  • 90 Al Harris LDE
  • 76 Steve McMichael LDT
  • 99 Dan Hampton RDT
  • 95 Richard Dent RDE
  • 59 Ron Rivera LB
  • 50 Mike Singletary LB
  • 51 Jim Morrissey LB
  • 27 Mike Richardson LCB
  • 24 Vestee Jackson RCB
  • 22 Dave Duerson SS
  • 37 Maurice Douglass FS
  • 6 Kevin Butler K
  • 15 Bryan Wagner P

Final roster[]

1988 Chicago Bears roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists



Practice squad



Rookies in italics
53 Active, 0 Inactive, 0 Practice squad

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 4, 1988 Miami Dolphins W 34–7
63,330
2 September 11, 1988 at Indianapolis Colts W 17–13
60,503
3 September 18, 1988 Minnesota Vikings L 31–7
63,990
4 September 25, 1988 at Green Bay Packers W 24–6
56,492
5 October 2, 1988 Buffalo Bills W 24–3
62,793
6 October 9, 1988 at Detroit Lions W 24–7
64,526
7 October 16, 1988 Dallas Cowboys W 17–7
64,759
8 October 24, 1988 San Francisco 49ers W 10–9
65,293
9 October 30, 1988 at New England Patriots L 30–7
60,821
10 November 6, 1988 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 28–10
56,892
11 November 13, 1988 at Washington Redskins W 34–14
52,418
12 November 20, 1988 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 27–15
67,070
13 November 27, 1988 Green Bay Packers W 16–0
62,026
14 December 5, 1988 at Los Angeles Rams L 23–3
65,579
15 December 11, 1988 Detroit Lions W 13–12
55,010
16 December 19, 1988 at Minnesota Vikings L 28–27
62,067

Game summaries[]

Week 1[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Dolphins 7 0 0 0 7
Bears 14 14 0 6 34

[1]

Week 4[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
• Bears 0 17 0 7 24
Packers 6 0 0 0 6

[2]

Week 13[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Packers 0 0 0 0 0
• Bears 7 0 7 2 16

[3]

Standings[]

Template:1988 NFC Central standings[4]

Playoffs[]

In the divisional playoffs, the Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the Fog Bowl, earning their first postseason victory since Super Bowl XX. A week later, Chicago was routed 28–3 by the San Francisco 49ers. This was the Bears' last appearance in the NFC Championship Game until 2006.

Divisional[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 3 6 3 0 12
Bears 7 10 0 3 20

[5]

NFC Championship[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
49ers 7 7 7 7 28
Bears 0 3 0 0 3
  • Date: January 8
  • Location: Soldier Field • Chicago, Illinois
  • Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 66,946
  • Referee: Bob McElwee

Awards and records[]

Milestones[]

References[]

  1. Pro-Football-Reference.com
  2. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Oct-02.
  3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Oct-02.
  4. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 293
  5. Pro-Football-Reference.com
AFC East Central West East Central West NFC
Buffalo Cincinnati Denver Dallas Chicago Atlanta
Indianapolis Cleveland Kansas City NY Giants Detroit LA Rams
Miami Houston LA Raiders Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans
New England Pittsburgh San Diego Phoenix Minnesota San Francisco
NY Jets Seattle Washington Tampa Bay
1988 NFL DraftNFL PlayoffsPro BowlSuper Bowl XXIII

External links[]

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