1988 Season

The 1988 Dallas Cowboys season was the final year for Cowboys head coach Tom Landry. After the season, the team underwent drastic changes including a new head coach, and change of ownership from Bum Bright to current owner Jerry Jones. Notable additions to the team in 1988 included wide receiver Michael Irvin, linebacker Ken Norton Jr. and defensive tackle Chad Hennings. It was the first time since 1976 that future hall-of-fame running back Tony Dorsett was not on the Dallas roster. Dorsett had been relegated to a backup role to Herschel Walker for most of 1987 and was traded to the Denver Broncos during the offseason.

The 1988 season faced hardship from the release of the schedule. In 1987, Dallas had finished at 7–8, in a 3-way tie for second place in the NFC East and tiebreaking rules gave Dallas the "second place position", even though Dallas finished fifth (last) in the NFC East in 1987 in "union games" (i.e. a strong replacement team had inflated the Boys' '87 record). As a result, their 1988 schedule was primarily against teams that were strong in 1987 (and also in 1988).

Steve Pelluer had won the starting quarterback job from veteran Danny White late in the 1987 season and won the job in training camp for 1988. Early in the season, White appeared briefly in relief roles before suffering a season-ending injury in week 7, which elevated Kevin Sweeney to the backup position. Sweeney briefly took over the starting job for Pelluer in weeks 11 and 12, but the results were poor and Pelluer regained the job.

In the season opener, Dallas lost to Pittsburgh, 24–21. The Cowboys had the ball inside the Pittsburgh 10 in the game's closing seconds (in position to tie or win) but Steve Pelluer was intercepted. After a close win over Phoenix in week two, Dallas lost to the New York Giants, 12–10 (the margin of defeat being a strange safety on the opening kickoff). A last-second goal line stand brought victory over Atlanta in week four but the following week, the Cowboys lost to New Orleans on a last-second Morten Andersen field goal. Two convincing losses followed and at 2–5, the season was in jeopardy.

In week 8, Dallas traveled to Philadelphia. Bad blood still existed from 1987, when Philadelphia coach Buddy Ryan had (in the game's closing seconds) called a deep pass play while already leading by 10. The Cowboys roared to a 20–0 lead in the first half, but the Eagles came back to win 24–23 by scoring a touchdown on the game's final play. The next week, Dallas blew a 10–0 second-half lead to lose to the Phoenix Cardinals and fell to 2–7. Five more losses followed (and the losing streak extended to 10 games) before Dallas upset the defending Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins in Week 15 in RFK Stadium (eliminating the Redskins from playoff contention). The Redskins win marked the end of an era (and Landry's last win) but was also a harbinger as rookie (and future hall-of-fame) wide receiver Irvin caught three touchdown passes. The team lost the next week at Texas Stadium to Philadelphia and finished 3–13, the worst record in the entire NFL and the team's worst record since 1960, when they were an expansion team. A bright spot for the season was Walker, who led the NFC in rushing yards.

In addition to Landry, this was also the final season for long-time Cowboys such as president-general manager Tex Schramm, personnel director Gil Brandt, defensive tackle Randy White, quarterback Danny White, linebacker Mike Hegman, and defensive coordinator Ernie Stautner.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
September 4, 1988	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 24–21	56,813
September 12, 1988	at Phoenix Cardinals	W 17–14	67,139
September 18, 1988	New York Giants	L 12–10	55,325
September 25, 1988	Atlanta Falcons	W 26–20	39,702
October 3, 1988	at New Orleans Saints	L 20–17	68,474
October 9, 1988	Washington Redskins	L 35–17	63,325
October 16, 1988	at Chicago Bears	L 17–7	64,759
October 23, 1988	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 24–23	66,309
October 30, 1988	Phoenix Cardinals	L 16–10	42,196
November 6, 1988	at New York Giants	L 29–21	75,826
November 13, 1988	Minnesota Vikings	L 43–3	57,830
November 20, 1988	Cincinnati Bengals	L 38–24	37,865
November 24, 1988	Houston Oilers	L 25–17	50,845
December 4, 1988	at Cleveland Browns	L 24–21	77,683
December 11, 1988	at Washington Redskins	W 24–17	51,526
December 18, 1988	Philadelphia Eagles	L 23–7	46,131

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1988 roster
Quarterbacks 16 Steve Pelluer 10 Scott Secules 19 Kevin Sweeney Running Backs 42 Darryl Clack KR 46 Todd Fowler FB/TE 21 Mark Higgs 34 Herschel Walker Wide Receivers 87 Ray Alexander 82 Cornell Burbage 80 Everett Gay 88 Michael Irvin 83 Kelvin Martin PR Tight Ends 89 Thornton Chandler 85 Steve Folsom		Offensive Linemen 62 Bob Brotzki T 66 Kevin Gogan T/G 68 Crawford Ker G 61 Nate Newton G 64 Tom Rafferty C 79 Daryle Smith T 63 Glen Titensor C/G 65 Bob White G/T 78 Dave Widell T Defensive Linemen 99 Kevin Brooks DT 77 Jim Jeffcoat DE 72 Ed Jones DE 73 Danny Noonan DT 95 Mark Walen DE 54 Randy White DT		Linebackers 57 Ron Burton OLB 59 Garry Cobb OLB 55 Steve DeOssie MLB 53 Garth Jax OLB 56 Eugene Lockhart MLB Defensive Backs 36 Vince Albritton SS 40 Bill Bates SS 26 Michael Downs FS 38 Ron Francis CB 45 Manny Hendrix CB 31 Billy Owens FS 24 Everson Walls CB 23 Robert Williams CB Special Teams  9 Roger Ruzek K  4 Mike Saxon P		Reserve Lists -- Rod Barksdale WR (IR)  84 Doug Cosbie TE (IR)  81 Kelvin Edwards WR (IR)  52 Jeff Hurd OLB (IR)  79 Mark Hutson G (IR)  51 Ken Norton, Jr. OLB (IR)  50 Jeff Rohrer OLB (IR)  22 Victor Scott FS (IR)  86 Mike Sherrard WR (IR)  11 Danny White QB (IR)  76 Jeff Zimmerman G (IR)  Rookies in italics 44 Active, 11 Inactive