1988–89 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 1988 season began on December 24, 1988. The postseason tournament concluded with the San Francisco 49ers defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII, 20–16, on January 22, 1989, at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
Due to Christmas falling on a Sunday, the two wild card playoff games were held in a span of three days.In the United States, CBS televised the NFC playoff games, while NBC broadcast the AFC games and Super Bowl XXIII.
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, December 24, 1988
AFC: Houston Oilers 24, Cleveland Browns 23
In a brutal game in which both teams combined for 22 penalties, including four personal fouls, Oilers cornerback Richard Johnson's interception set up kicker Tony Zendejas' game-clinching 49-yard field goal to give the Oilers a two-score lead with 1:54 left in the game. Houston won despite throwing three interceptions and losing their leading rusher Mike Rozier to injury after his first play of the game.On the second play of the game, Felix Wright intercepted a pass from Warren Moon and returned it 13 yards to the Oilers 33-yard line to set up a 33-yard field goal by Matt Bahr. Houston responded with a 91-yard drive that consumed 9:44 and ended on Moon's 14-yard touchdown pass to running back Allen Pinkett. Then on the first play of Cleveland's next drive, Browns quarterback Don Strock, who was filling in for the injured Bernie Kosar and starting in a playoff game for the first time in his 16-season career, fumbled a snap and Oilers nose tackle Richard Byrd recovered the ball. Strock sprained his wrist while going after the ball on the play, and was replaced by third-string quarterback Mike Pagel. Meanwhile, Houston scored on their first play after the turnover with Pinkett's 16-yard touchdown run, making the score 14–3. They had a chance to score again near the end of the half, but Wright picked off Moon's pass in the end zone.
Pagel, now leading the Browns offense in what turned out to be the only playoff game he would play in his 11-season career, led the Browns back 71 yards on a drive that had four consecutive plays end with penalties to score on Bahr's second field goal of the day. Bahr added one more field goal before the end of the half to cut the score to 14–9 at halftime.
In the third quarter, a controversial blown call occurred when Houston QB Warren Moon attempted a backward pass at his own 7 yard line. The pass ricocheted off the intended receiver and fell incomplete. Cleveland linebacker Clay Matthews recovered the assumed lateral at the Oilers' 5 yard line and went into the end zone for an apparent touchdown. Instant replay clearly showed that Moon's pass had traveled backwards and the Browns should have been either awarded a touchdown with Matthews' recovery and advance into the end zone, or given possession of the ball at the Oilers' 5 yard line. However, Houston was inexplicably granted possession of the ball at the 5 yard line, due to an inadvertent whistle stopping play, the very spot where referees agreed that Matthews had recovered the lateral for Cleveland. Later, Moon threw his third interception of the day, this one to Mark Harper, who returned it 17 yards with a facemask penalty against Alonzo Highsmith adding another 11. Cleveland took over on the Houston 11, and eventually scored on Pagel's 14-yard touchdown pass to Webster Slaughter that gave the Browns the lead, 16–14. However, the Oilers marched on a 76-yard drive in which Moon completed passes to Jamie Williams and Drew Hill for gains of 14 and 18 yards, while Pinkett had a 27-yard carry. Rookie running back Lorenzo White capped it off with a 1-yard touchdown run. After that, the Oilers stopped Cleveland on their next two drives, including Johnson's interception that set up Zendejas' 49-yard field goal, giving them a 24–16 lead with less than two minutes left in the game.
With no two-point conversion option, Cleveland needed two scores to come back. Pagel led the Browns 71 yards to score on his 2-yard touchdown pass to Slaughter, cutting the score to 24–23 with 31 seconds left. Cleveland attempted an onside kick, which they failed to recover, but got another chance due to an Oilers penalty. Then the Browns recovered, but had to do it over again due to a penalty against them. Finally on the third try, Cleveland was penalized for touching the ball before it went 10 yards, resulting in a penalty that gave Houston the ball and the win.
Pagel completed 17 of 25 passes for 179 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Wright had two interceptions.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Oilers and Browns.
Monday, December 26, 1988
NFC: Minnesota Vikings 28, Los Angeles Rams 17
Vikings safety Joey Browner recorded two interceptions in the first quarter to set up a two-touchdown lead that the Rams could never recover from. Browner also finished the game with seven tackles, had the Vikings' only sack of the day, and recovered a Rams onside kick attempt to seal the win.Browner's first interception, on third and 17 from the Vikings 32, led to a 73-yard drive by Minnesota that featured Wade Wilson's 34-yard completion to reserve receiver Jim Gustafson and was capped by running back Alfred Anderson's 7-yard touchdown run. Then on the first play of the Rams next drive, Browner intercepted another pass from Jim Everett and returned it 14 yards to the Los Angeles 17-yard line, where Allen Rice took it in for a touchdown on the next play.
In the second quarter, the Rams had three chances to score, but only managed to get points once. First, Mike Lansford missed a 41-yard field goal attempt. Then they drove to a third and 1 on the Vikings 30 and were stopped for no gain on consecutive running plays. But just before halftime, Everett led the team 70 yards to cut the lead in half with his 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Damone Johnson.
Minnesota took the second half kickoff and moved the ball all the way to the end zone with a 1-yard touchdown run by Anderson, increasing their lead to 21–7. The Rams countered with a 33-yard field goal from Lansford, but in the fourth quarter, Wilson completed a 44-yard pass to Anthony Carter on the LA 5-yard line. On the next play, he threw a touchdown pass to tight end Carl Hilton, giving the team a 28–10 lead and essentially putting the game out of reach. The Rams managed one more touchdown with 1:11 left in the game on Everett's 11-yard pass to tight end Pete Holohan, but Browner recovered their onside kick attempt and the Vikings ran out the rest of the clock.
Wilson finished the game with 253 passing yards and a touchdown, while Carter caught four passes for 102 yards. Rams linebacker Kevin Greene had three sacks.
To date, this was the final NFL playoff game to take place on a Monday until 2022.
This was the sixth postseason meeting between the Rams and Vikings. Minnesota won four of the previous five meetings.
| Minnesota leads 4–1 in all-time playoff games |
Divisional playoffs
Saturday, December 31, 1988
NFC: Chicago Bears 20, Philadelphia Eagles 12
In a game known as the Fog Bowl, the Bears defeated the Eagles 20–12, in a contest in which a heavy, dense fog rolled over Chicago's Soldier Field during the second quarter and cut visibility to about 15–20 yards for the rest of the game.Chicago scored first with quarterback Mike Tomczak's 64-yard touchdown pass to Dennis McKinnon. The Eagles responded by driving to the Chicago 26-yard line, but kicker Luis Zendejas missed a 43-yard field goal attempt. Philadelphia quickly got the ball back after linebacker Seth Joyner intercepted a pass from Tomczak on the next play and returned it 8 yards to the Bears 31-yard line. This time they managed to score with Zendejas' 42-yard field goal, but only after committing two costly mistakes: twice on the drive Philadelphia had touchdowns nullified by penalties, both on running back Anthony Toney. The Bears then drove to the Eagles 33-yard line on their ensuing drive, but it stalled there and kicker Kevin Butler missed a 51-yard field goal attempt, giving the ball back to Philadelphia with great field position. Quarterback Randall Cunningham then led the Eagles down the field with two completions to fullback Keith Byars for gains of 13 and 24 yards. A few plays later, faced with 3rd and 32, Cunningham completed a 31-yard pass to Ron Johnson, bringing up 4th and 1 on the Bears 4-yard line. Cunningham tried to convert the 4th down with a QB sneak, but after a chain measurement which took several minutes, officials ruled the ball short of a first down. The Eagles soon got another chance to score when Andre Waters forced a fumble from Cap Boso that was recovered by defensive back Wes Hopkins on the Chicago 15. Following another missed chance at a touchdown when rookie tight end Keith Jackson dropped a wide open pass in the end zone, Zendejas' 29-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7–6.
Philadelphia tackled Chicago returner Dennis Gentry on the 22 on the ensuing kickoff, but the kick had to be redone due to an offsides penalty on the Eagles. This proved to be hugely beneficial for Chicago, as on the second kick, Glen Kozlowski returned the ball 23 yards to the Philadelphia 44-yard line. A few plays later, Tomczak's 30-yard completion to Ron Morris gave Chicago a first down on the Eagles 4-yard line, and Neal Anderson ran for a touchdown on the next play to give them a 14–6 lead. Then after forcing a punt, Thomas Sanders' 58-yard run set up a 46-yard field goal by Butler, increasing Chicago's lead to 17–6 with less than 2:03 left before halftime. At this point, a thick fog rolled on to field, obscuring vision so much that a CBS helicopter providing aerial coverage for the game was forced to land. Meanwhile, Philadelphia struck back with a 65-yard completion from Cunningham to Jackson that set up Zendejas' 30-yard field goal, making the score 17–9. Philadelphia got another chance to score when linebacker Todd Bell intercepted a pass from Tomczak, giving the Eagles the ball on the Bears 42-yard line with just over 30 seconds left in the half. But this was taken away as Bears linebacker Mickey Pruitt intercepted Cunningham to bring an end to the following drive.
Philadelphia took the second half kickoff and drove to the Bears 12-yard line, only to lose the ball again when Cunningham threw a pass that went off the hands of Toney and was intercepted by Vestee Jackson, who returned the ball 51 yards to the Eagles 41-yard line. Chicago then drove to the 15, but also came up empty when Butler's field goal attempt went off the goal post. Following a punt, Tomczak was knocked out of the game by a massive hit from Eagles defensive end Reggie White, while Terry Hoage intercepted his pass and returned it 12 yards to the Chicago 18-yard line. Three plays later, Zendejas kicked a 35-yard field goal, making the score 17–12 with less than two minutes left in the third quarter.
Chicago, now led by Jim McMahon, responded with their next drive, converting a 23-yard run by Anderson into a 27-yard Butler field goal to go back up by 8 points, 20–12 with 12:34 left in the game. Philadelphia responded with a drive to the Bears 22, but on third down, a long sack by Sean Smith pushed them out of field goal range. The next time they got the ball, Maurice Douglass intercepted a pass from Cunningham, enabling Chicago to run out the rest of the clock.
Cunningham finished the game with 407 passing yards, but was unable to lead his team to a single touchdown and was intercepted three times. Other than a 64-yard touchdown pass, Tomczak was dominated the rest of the game by the Eagles defense, completing only 10 of 20 passes for 174 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. Sanders rushed 8 times for 94 yards and caught a pass for 8. McKinnon finished the game with four receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown. Byars rushed for 34 yards and caught nine passes for 103 yards. Jackson caught seven passes for 142 yards.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Eagles and Bears. Philadelphia won the only prior meeting.
| Philadelphia leads 1–0 in all-time playoff games |