1988 Chicago Bears season

1988 Chicago Bears season
Head coach	Mike Ditka
Home field	Soldier Field
Results
Record	12–4
Division place	1st NFC Central
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (Eagles) 20–12 Lost Conference Championship (49ers) 28–3

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.

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 final roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

54 John Adickes C
79 Kurt Becker G
62 Mark Bortz G
74 Jim Covert T
63 Jay Hilgenberg C
71 Caesar Rentie T
57 Tom Thayer G
78 Keith Van Horne T
73 John Wojciechowski T

Defensive linemen

94 Dick Chapura DT
95 Richard Dent DE
99 Dan Hampton DT
76 Steve McMichael DT
72 William Perry DT
75 John Shannon DT
97 Sean Smith DE

Linebackers

98 Greg Clark LB
92 Troy Johnson LB
53 Dante Jones MLB
51 Jim MorrisseyOLB
46 Mickey Pruitt LB
59 Ron Rivera OLB
50 Mike Singletary MLB

Defensive backs

37 Maurice DouglassCB
22 Dave Duerson SS
23 Shaun Gayle SS
24 Vestee Jackson CB
44 Todd Krumm DB
31 Greg Lasker DB
43 Lorenzo Lynch DB
27 Mike Richardson CB
32 Lemuel Stinson CB
49 David Tate DB

Special teams

15 Bryan Wagner P
6 Kevin Butler K

Reserve lists

Practice squad

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

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

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

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

Date: September 4
Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
Game start: 12:00 p.m.
Game weather: 66°F • Wind 16

Scoring summary

1	CHI	Neal Anderson 2-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 7–0

1	CHI	Neal Anderson 1-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 14–0

1	MIA	Mark Clayton 28-yard pass from Dan Marino (Fuad Reveiz kick)	Bears 14–7

2	CHI	Jim McMahon 1-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 21–7

2	CHI	Jim McMahon 2-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 28–7

4	CHI	Thomas Sanders 20-yard run (kick failed)	Bears 34–7

^[1]

Week 4

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

Date: September 25
Location: Lambeau Field
Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 58°F; wind 10

Scoring summary

Q1	GB	Fullwood 2 yard run (kick failed)	GB 6–0

Q2	CHI	Anderson 45 yard run (Butler kick)	CHI 7–6

Q2	CHI	Anderson 4 yard run (Butler kick)	CHI 14–6

Q2	CHI	Butler 35 yard field goal	CHI 17–6

Q4	CHI	Sanders 5 yard run (Butler kick)	CHI 24–6

^[2]

Week 13

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

Date: November 27
Location: Soldier Field
Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 43°F; wind 20

Scoring summary

Q1	CHI	Anderson 1 yard run (Butler kick)	CHI 7–0

Q3	CHI	Anderson 80 yard run (Butler kick)	CHI 14–0

Q4	CHI	Safety, Majkowski stepped out of end zone	CHI 16–0

^[3]

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears⁽¹⁾	12	4	0	.750	6–2	9–3	312	215	L1
Minnesota Vikings⁽⁴⁾	11	5	0	.688	6–2	9–3	406	233	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	11	0	.313	4–4	4–8	261	350	W1
Detroit Lions	4	12	0	.250	2–6	3–11	240	315	L2
Green Bay Packers	4	12	0	.250	2–6	3–9	220	313	W2

^[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

For more details on this topic, see Fog Bowl (American football).

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

Date: December 31
Location: Soldier Field • Chicago, Illinois
Game start: 12:30 p.m. EST
Game attendance: 65,534
Game weather: Fog • 25°F • Wind 7
Referee: Jim Tunney
TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist & Terry Bradshaw

Scoring summary

1	CHI	Dennis McKinnon 64-yard pass from Mike Tomczak (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 7–0

1	PHI	Luis Zendejas 42-yard field goal	Bears 7–3

2	PHI	Luis Zendejas 29-yard field goal	Bears 7–6

2	CHI	Neal Anderson 4-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 14–6

2	CHI	Kevin Butler 46-yard field goal	Bears 17–6

2	PHI	Luis Zendejas 30-yard field goal	Bears 17–9

3	PHI	Luis Zendejas 35-yard field goal	Bears 17–12

4	CHI	Kevin Butler 27-yard field goal	Bears 20–12

^[5]

NFC Championship

	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
TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall & John Madden

References

↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Oct-02.
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Oct-02.
↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 293
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com

Chicago Bears

Founded in 1919 Formerly the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Staleys Based in Chicago, Illinois Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois

Franchise	History Coaches Seasons Current season

Records	Records and statistics Franchise records All-time record versus NFL Team awards and honors Players Head coaches Pro Football Hall of Famers First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks

Stadiums	Staley Field Wrigley Field Soldier Field Memorial Stadium Soldier Field II

Lore	Fog Bowl 1932 Playoff Game First NFL Championship Game "The Sneakers Game" Monsters of the Midway T formation 46 defense 15–1 Super Bowl XX Bears 73, Redskins 0 Staley Swindle Cardiac Kids George S. Halas Trophy Brian Piccolo Award 75th Anniversary League Team NFL All-Time Team 2006 game vs. Arizona Cardinals

Culture	Brian's Song 1971 2001 "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" "The Super Bowl Shuffle" Bill Swerski's Superfans Chuck Swirsky Staley Da Bear Logos and uniforms Halas Hall A. E. Staley Jack Brickhouse Papa Bear Mike Ditka Roosevelt/Wabash 85386 Payton Chicago Honey Bears Jim Cornelison

Rivalries	Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings

Retired numbers	3 5 7 28 34 40 41 42 51 56 61 66 77 89

Key personnel	Chairman: George McCaskey President/CEO: Ted Phillips General Manager: Ryan Pace Head Coach: John Fox

Division championships (18)	1933 1934 1937 1940 1941 1942 1943 1946 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1990 2001 2005 2006 2010

Conference championships (4)	1956 1963 1985 2006

League championships (9)	1921 1932 1933 1940 1941 1943 1946 1963 1985 (XX)

Media	Radio: WBBM (AM) WCFS-FM (FM simulcast of WBBM) Personnel: Jeff Joniak (play-by-play) Tom Thayer (analyst) Zach Zaidman (sideline reporter and radio coach's show host) Television: WFLD (pre-season and most regular season games through Fox, official pre-game and post-game) Comcast SportsNet Chicago (in-season team programming) Personnel: Lou Canellis (gameday television host, pre-season sideline reporter) Sam Rosen (pre-season play-by-play) Jim Miller (pre-season analyst)

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division

Seasons (96)	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold Book:Chicago Bears :Category:Chicago Bears WikiProject Chicago Bears

Decatur / Chicago Staleys–Chicago Bears seasons

Decatur Staleys 1920 Chicago Staleys 1921 Chicago 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance

1988 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
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

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: 1988 Chicago Bears season

1988 Chicago Bears Season at www.bearshistory.com

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