1988 NFL season Totally Explained

Everything about The 1988 Nfl Season totally explained

The 1988 NFL season was the 69th regular season of the National Football League. The Cardinals relocated from St. Louis, Missouri to the Phoenix, Arizona area becoming the Phoenix Cardinals but remained in the NFC East division.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXIII when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals.

Major rule changes

A standard system of two time intervals between plays are established (and would be timed using the Play Clock): For normal plays, the offensive team has 45 seconds to snap the ball after the previous play is signaled dead. After time outs and other administrative stoppages, the time limit is 30 seconds beginning after the Referee signals that the ball is ready to resume play.
If a fumble occurs during an extra point attempt, only the fumbling player can recover and/or advance the ball. This change closes a loophole in the "Stabler Fumble Rule" that was enacted during the 1979 NFL season in reaction to the Holy Roller Game.
The penalty for "Running into the kicker" is changed from five yards and a first down to just 5 yards.
Referees were outfitted with white hats while all other officials wore black hats, which was the standard practice in college and high school football. From 1979 through 1987, referees wore black hats while all other officials wore white hats.

Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Qualified for playoffs

Team				CT	F	A
AFC East
Buffalo Bills	12	4	0	.750	329	237
Indianapolis Colts	9	7	0	.563	354	315
New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	250	284
New York Jets	8	7	1	.531	372	354
Miami Dolphins	6	10	0	.375	319	380
AFC Central
Team				CT	F	A
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
AFC West
Team				CT	F	A
Seattle Seahawks	9	7	0	.563	339	329
Denver Broncos	8	8	0	.500	327	352
Los Angeles Raiders	7	9	0	.438	325	369
San Diego Chargers	6	10	0	.375	231	332
Kansas City Chiefs	4	11	1	.281	254	320

Team				CT	F	A
NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles	10	6	0	.625	379	319
New York Giants	10	6	0	.625	359	304
Washington Redskins	7	9	0	.438	345	387
Phoenix Cardinals	7	9	0	.438	344	398
Dallas Cowboys	3	13	0	.188	265	381
NFC Central
Team				CT	F	A
Chicago Bears	12	4	0	.750	312	215
Minnesota Vikings	11	5	0	.688	406	233
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	11	0	.313	261	350
Detroit Lions	4	12	0	.250	220	313
Green Bay Packers	4	12	0	.250	240	315
NFC West
Team				CT	F	A
San Francisco 49ers	10	6	0	.625	369	294
Los Angeles Rams	10	6	0	.625	407	293
New Orleans Saints	10	6	0	.625	312	283
Atlanta Falcons	5	11	0	.313	244	315

Tiebreakers

Cincinnati was the top AFC playoff seed ahead of Buffalo based on head-to-head victory (1-0).

Indianapolis finished ahead of New England in the AFC East based on better record against common opponents (7-5 to Patriots' 6-6).

Cleveland finished ahead of Houston in the AFC Central based on better division record (4-2 to Oilers' 3-3).

Philadelphia finished first in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep of N.Y. Giants (2-0).

Washington finished third in the NFC East based on better division record (4-4) than Phoenix (3-5).

Detroit finished fourth in the NFC Central based on head-to-head sweep of Green Bay (2-0).

San Francisco finished first in the NFC West based on better head-to-head record (3-1) against L.A. Rams (2-2) and New Orleans (1-3).

L.A. Rams finished second in the NFC West based on better division record (4-2) than New Orleans (3-3), and earned the last NFC Wild Card based on better conference record (8-4) than N.Y. Giants (9-5) and New Orleans (6-6).

Playoffs

� Home team in capitals

AFC

Wild-Card playoff: Houston 24, CLEVELAND 23

Divisional playoffs: CINCINNATI 21, Seattle 13; BUFFALO 17, Houston 10

AFC Championship: CINCINNATI 21, Buffalo 10 at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio, January 8, 1989

NFC

Wild-Card playoff: MINNESOTA 28, L.A. Rams 17

Divisional playoffs: CHICAGO 20, Philadelphia 12; SAN FRANCISCO 34, Minnesota 9

NFC Championship: San Francisco 28, CHICAGO 3 at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois, January 8, 1989

Super Bowl

Super Bowl XXIII: San Francisco (NFC) 20, Cincinnati (AFC) 16, at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida, January 22, 1989Further Information

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