1988 Los Angeles Rams season
The 1988 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 51st year with the National Football League and the 43rd season in Los Angeles. The team improved on a disappointing 6–9 record the previous year, going 10–6 and qualifying as a Wild Card before losing to the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Wild Card game.
Regular season
1988 Team Starters
Offense
11 Jim Everett QB
42 Greg Bell RB
24 Buford McGee FB
80 Henry Ellard WR
84 Aaron Cox WR
86 Damone Johnson TE
75 Irv Pankey LT
66 Tom Newberry LG
56 Doug Smith C
67 Duval Love RG
78 Jackie Slater RT
Defense
93 Doug Reed LDE
99 Alvin Wright NT
98 Shawn Miller RDE
91 Kevin Greene LB
55 Carl Ekern LB
59 Mark Jerue LB
54 Mike Wilcher LB
25 Jerry Gray CB
47 LeRoy Irvin CB
23 Michael Stewart SS
20 Johnnie Johnson FS
Kicking Team
1 Mike Lansford K
3 Rich Camarillo P
28 Cliff Hicks PR
89 Ron Brown KR
Schedule
Week |
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
Summary |
Attendance |
1 |
September 4, 1988 |
at Green Bay Packers |
W 34–7 |
Jim Everett passed for two touchdowns and Rams defense had seven sacks and 3 interceptions. |
53,769 |
2 |
September 11, 1988 |
Detroit Lions |
W 17–10 |
In a tight defensive struggle, Greg Bell ran for 139 yards and a TD. |
46,262 |
3 |
September 18, 1988 |
at Los Angeles Raiders |
W 22–17 |
Rams overcame a career-high 375 yards passing from Steve Beuerlein by sacking him nine times. A Kevin Greene sack for a safety in the third quarter broke a 10–10 tie and the Rams took it from there. Bell had 109 yards and another TD. |
84,870 |
4 |
September 25, 1988 |
at New York Giants |
W 45–31 |
In perhaps his finest performance as Rams QB to date, Everett passed for 236 yards and 5 TD's |
75,617 |
5 |
October 2, 1988 |
Phoenix Cardinals |
L 41–27 |
Everett had another strong game (25–33 passing, 300 yards, no INT's) and Bell ran for 3 TD's, but the Rams couldn't overcome 519 total yards of offense from the Cardinals. Neil Lomax passed for 342 yards and two touchdowns. |
49,830 |
6 |
October 9, 1988 |
at Atlanta Falcons |
W 33–0 |
Everett continued to play a hot hand, passing for 3 TD's. Rams defense totally dominated the Falcons, holding them to 150 total net yards (77 passing) and accumulating nine sacks. |
30,852 |
7 |
October 16, 1988 |
San Francisco 49ers |
L 24–21 |
In an early battle for NFC West supremacy, the Rams were done in by 190 yards rushing and 3 TD's by Roger Craig. Everett kept it close with 3 TD passes, but Rams only rushed for 42. |
65,450 |
8 |
October 23, 1988 |
Seattle Seahawks |
W 31–10 |
Everett passed for 3 more TD's and Rams picked off 4 passes and kept Seattle offense out of the end zone. |
57,033 |
9 |
October 30, 1988 |
at New Orleans Saints |
W 12–10 |
Kicker Mike Lansford provided all the points for the Rams is a tough defensive struggle. Saints were driving toward a possible winning TD in the 4th when LB Brett Faryniarz broke through with a sack to force the Saints to kick a FG. Rams held on from there. |
68,238 |
10 |
November 6, 1988 |
at Philadelphia Eagles |
L 30–24 |
Randall Cunningham's passing (323 yards, 3 TD's) and running (53 yards) helped the Eagles upend the Rams. Everett passed for 377 yards and 2 TD's, but also threw 4 interceptions. |
65,624 |
11 |
November 13, 1988 |
New Orleans Saints |
L 14–10 |
Saints held Everett in check at Anaheim (198 yds. passing, no TD's) and won a tight defensive contest. |
63,305 |
12 |
November 20, 1988 |
San Diego Chargers |
L 38–24 |
Lowly Chargers shocked the Rams at home with a kickoff return TD by Anthony Miller, an interception return TD by Sam Seale, and two rushing TD's by former Ram Barry Redden. |
45,462 |
13 |
November 27, 1988 |
at Denver Broncos |
L 35–24 |
John Elway passed for 3 TD's and ran for another as the suddenly-slumping Rams lost their fourth straight. |
74,141 |
14 |
December 5, 1988 |
Chicago Bears |
W 23–3 |
Rams broke their losing streak on Monday night with a solid defensive effort. This was QB Jim Harbaugh's first career NFL start. |
65,579 |
15 |
December 11, 1988 |
Atlanta Falcons |
W 22–7 |
Lansford kicked 3 FG's and Everett passed for a TD. Defense kept Falcons' offense out of the end zone. |
42,828 |
16 |
December 18, 1988 |
at San Francisco 49ers |
W 38–16 |
Rams qualified for the wildcard and avenged their earlier loss to the 49ers with 4 passing TD's from Everett and nine sacks from the defense. |
62,444 |
Season summary
Week 4
|
1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|
• Rams |
7 |
21 | 7 | 10 |
45 |
Giants |
0 |
10 | 14 | 7 |
31 |
- Date: September 25
- Location: Giants Stadium
- Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 64°F; wind 11
|
|
Scoring summary |
---|
|
Q1 |
| LA | Holohan 14 yard pass from Everett (Lansford kick) | LA 7–0 |
|
Q2 |
| NYG | Allegre 34 yard field goal | LA 7–3 |
|
Q2 |
| LA | Delpino 5 yard pass from Everett (Lansford kick) | LA 14–3 |
|
Q2 |
| LA | Bell 2 yard run (Lansford kick) | LA 21–3 |
|
Q2 |
| LA | Cox 69 yard pass from Everett (Lansford kick) | LA 28–3 |
|
Q2 |
| NYG | Ingram 9 yard pass from Simms (Allegre kick) | LA 28–10 |
|
Q3 |
| NYG | Johnson 33 yard interception return (Allegre kick) | LA 28–17 |
|
Q3 |
| LA | Bell 2 yard pass from Everett (Lansford kick) | LA 35–17 |
|
Q3 |
| NYG | Morris 3 yard run (Allegre kick) | LA 35–24 |
|
Q4 |
| LA | Lansford 41 yard field goal | LA 38–24 |
|
Q4 |
| LA | Ellard 41 yard pass from Everett (Lansford kick) | LA 45–24 |
|
Q4 |
| NYG | Bavaro 16 yard pass from Simms (Allegre kick) | LA 45–31 |
|
[1]
Standings
Playoffs
Week |
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
Attendance |
Wildcard |
December 26, 1988 |
at Minnesota Vikings |
L 28–17 |
57,666 |
Awards and records
See also
- Other Anaheim–based teams in 1988
External links
References
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Franchise | |
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Stadiums | |
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Culture | |
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Lore | |
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Rivalries | |
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Retired numbers | |
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Division championships (13) | |
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Conference championships (8) | |
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League championships (3) | |
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Current league affiliations | |
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Former league affiliation | |
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Seasons (80) | |
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Championship seasons in bold |