1988 Cleveland Browns season

1988 Cleveland Browns season
Head Coach	Marty Schottenheimer
Home Field	Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Place	T-2nd AFC Central
Playoff Finish	Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
Uniform
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1987	1989

The 1988 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 39th season with the National Football League.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
21	Cleveland Browns	Clifford Charlton	Outside Linebacker	Florida
50	Cleveland Browns	Michael Dean Perry	Defensive Tackle	Clemson
77	Cleveland Browns	Van Waiters	Outside Linebacker	Indiana
103	Cleveland Browns	Anthony Blaylock	Corner Back	Winston-Salem
188	Cleveland Browns	Thane Gash	Defensive Back	East Tennessee State
216	Cleveland Browns	J. J. Birden	Wide Receiver	Oregon

Personnel

Staff

1988 Cleveland Browns staff
	Head Coaches Head Coach – Marty Schottenheimer Offensive Coaches Quarterbacks – Marc Trestman Running Backs – Joe Pendry Receivers – Richard Mann Tight Ends – Ray Braun Offensive Line – Howard Mudd			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Dave Adolph Defensive Line – Tom Pratt Secondary – Bill Cowher Special Assistant – Darvin Wallis Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Kurt Schottenheimer Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Dave Redding

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 4, 1988	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 6–3	55,654
2	September 11, 1988	New York Jets	L 23–3	74,434
3	September 19, 1988	Indianapolis Colts	W 23–17	75,148
4	September 25, 1988	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–17	54,943
5	October 2, 1988	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 23–9	56,410
6	October 9, 1988	Seattle Seahawks	L 16–10	78,605
7	October 16, 1988	Philadelphia Eagles	W 19–3	78,787
8	October 23, 1988	at Phoenix Cardinals	W 29–21	61,261
9	October 30, 1988	Cincinnati Bengals	W 23–16	79,147
10	November 7, 1988	at Houston Oilers	L 24–17	51,467
11	November 13, 1988	at Denver Broncos	L 30–7	75,806
12	November 20, 1988	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–7	77,131
13	November 27, 1988	at Washington Redskins	W 17–13	51,604
14	December 4, 1988	Dallas Cowboys	W 24–21	77,683
15	December 12, 1988	at Miami Dolphins	L 38–31	61,884
16	December 18, 1988	Houston Oilers	W 28–23	74,610

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result
Wild Card	December 24, 1988	Houston Oilers	L 24–23

Standings

AFC Central
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Cincinnati Bengals	12	4	0	.750	448	329
Cleveland Browns	10	6	0	.625	304	288
Houston Oilers	10	6	0	.625	424	365
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	11	0	.313	336	421

Roster

Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks  19 Bernie Kosar Running Backs Wide Receivers  84 Webster Slaughter Tight Ends		Offensive Linemen Defensive Linemen		Linebackers Defensive Backs Special Teams		Reserve Lists Currently vacant

Playoffs

AFC Wild Card Game

Houston Oilers 24, Cleveland Browns 23 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-field 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.