The 1988 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 22nd as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They were unable to match their previous season's output of 12–3, winning only ten games and missing the playoffs (and losing the division) by a tiebreaker, going 6–6 vs. NFC opponents compared to 8–4 for the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. Road losses to the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings, as well as a sweep by San Francisco, ended up being the difference in New Orleans staying home and the California teams advancing.^[1]

With the Louisiana Superdome hosting the 1988 Republican National Convention; all but the last pre-season game (against the Pittsburgh Steelers) for the Saints were played on the road.^[2]

1988 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	24	Craig Heyward *	Running back	Pittsburgh
2	52	Brett Perriman	Wide receiver	Miami (FL)
3	81	Tony Stephens	Defensive tackle	Clemson
4	106	Lydell Carr	Running back	Oklahoma
5	112	Greg Scales	Tight end	Wake Forest
5	134	Keith Taylor	Defensive back	Illinois
6	162	Bob Sims	Guard	Florida
7	190	Brian Forde	Linebacker	Washington State
8	218	Glenn Derby	Offensive tackle	Wisconsin
9	246	Clarence Nunn	Defensive back	San Diego State
10	274	Todd Santos	Quarterback	San Diego State
10	276	Vincent Fizer	Linebacker	Southern
11	302	Gary Couch	Wide receiver	Minnesota
12	330	Paul Jurgensen	Defensive end	Georgia Tech
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Prior to the start of the 1988 season, the Saints held training camp for the first time at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The team would hold training camp in La Crosse through the 1999 season.^[4]

1988 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office Owner/general partner – Tom Benson President/general manager – Jim Finks Vice-president of administration – Jim Miller Director of player personnel – Bill Kuharich Head coaches Head coach – Jim Mora Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Carl Smith Running backs – Jim Skipper Wide receivers – Steve Walters Offensive line – Paul Boudreau

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Steve Sidwell Defensive line – John Pease Linebackers – Vic Fangio Defensive backs – Dom Capers Special teams coaches Special Teams/Tight Ends – Joe Marciano Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Russell Paternostro

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1988 New Orleans Saints roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 11 John Fourcade  3 Bobby Hebert 18 Dave Wilson Running backs (RB) 37 Mel Gray 34 Craig Heyward 21 Dalton Hilliard 23 Buford Jordan 36 Rueben Mayes Wide receivers (WR) 89 Robert Clark 87 Lonzell Hill PR 84 Eric Martin 88 Mark Pattison 80 Brett Perriman Tight ends (TE) 85 Hoby Brenner 83 Greg Scales 82 John Tice

Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Chuck Commiskey C/G 70 Bill Contz T 72 Jim Dombrowski T 63 Brad Edelman G 77 Daren Gilbert T 61 Joel Hilgenberg 60 Steve Korte C 65 Steve Trapilo G Defensive linemen (DL) 76 Dwaine Board DE 75 Bruce Clark DE 95 Jon Dumbauld DE 97 Jumpy Geathers DE 73 Frank Warren DE 94 Jim Wilks

Linebackers (LB) 52 Brian Forde OLB 92 James Haynes OLB 57 Rickey Jackson OLB 53 Vaughan Johnson ILB 55 Joe Kohlbrand OLB 51 Sam Mills ILB 56 Pat Swilling OLB Defensive backs (DB) 28 Gene Atkins 41 Toi Cook FS 27 Antonio Gibson FS 22 Van Jakes CB 24 Milton Mack CB 39 Brett Maxie FS 29 Reggie Sutton CB 44 Dave Waymer CB Special teams  7 Morten Andersen K 10 Brian Hansen P

Practice squad None 47 active, 9 inactive Reserve 40 Michael Adams CB (IR) 67 Stan Brock T (IR) 59 James Campen C (IR) 42 Lydell Carr RB (IR) 79 Glenn Derby T (IR) 99 Tony Elliott NT (IR) 74 Ted Gregory NT (IR) 54 Alvin Toles LB (IR) 68 Jeff Walker T/G (IR) Rookies in italics

Week	Date	Opponent	Time	TV	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
1	September 4	San Francisco 49ers	12 Noon CDT	CBS	L 33–34	0–1	Louisiana Superdome	66,357
2	September 11	at Atlanta Falcons	12 Noon CDT	CBS	W 29–21	1–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	48,901
3	September 18	at Detroit Lions	12 Noon CDT	CBS	W 22–14	2–1	Pontiac Silverdome	32,943
4	September 25	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	12 Noon CDT	CBS	W 13–9	3–1	Louisiana Superdome	66,671
5	October 3	Dallas Cowboys	8:00 p.m. CDT	ABC	W 20–17	4–1	Louisiana Superdome	68,474
6	October 9	at San Diego Chargers	3:00 p.m. CDT	CBS	W 23–17	5–1	Jack Murphy Stadium	42,693
7	October 16	at Seattle Seahawks	3:00 p.m. CDT	CBS	W 20–19	6–1	Kingdome	63,569
8	October 23	Los Angeles Raiders	12 Noon CDT	NBC	W 20–6	7–1	Louisiana Superdome	66,249
9	October 30	Los Angeles Rams	12 Noon CST	CBS	L 10–12	7–2	Louisiana Superdome	68,238
10	November 6	at Washington Redskins	3:00 p.m. CST	CBS	L 24–27	7–3	RFK Stadium	54,183
11	November 13	at Los Angeles Rams	3:00 p.m. CST	CBS	W 14–10	8–3	Anaheim Stadium	63,305
12	November 20	Denver Broncos	3:00 p.m. CST	NBC	W 42–0	9–3	Louisiana Superdome	68,075
13	November 27	New York Giants	7:00 p.m. CST	ESPN	L 12–13	9–4	Louisiana Superdome	66,526
14	December 4	at Minnesota Vikings	3:00 p.m. CST	CBS	L 3–45	9–5	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	61,215
15	December 11	at San Francisco 49ers	3:00 p.m. CST	CBS	L 17–30	9–6	Candlestick Park	62,977
16	December 18	Atlanta Falcons	12 Noon CST	CBS	W 10–9	10–6	Louisiana Superdome	60,566
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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Team	Category	Player	Statistics
SF	Passing	Joe Montana	13/23, 161 YDS, 3 TDs, 1 INT
	Rushing	Roger Craig	18 CAR, 67 YDS, 1 TD
	Receiving	Roger Craig	5 REC, 43 YDS
NO	Passing	Bobby Hebert	22/31, 245 YDS, 4 TDs, 2 INTs
	Rushing	Dalton Hilliard	19 CAR, 95 YDS
	Receiving	Lonzell Hill	7 REC, 74 YDS, 1 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP SF NO 1 8:41 13 70 49ers Craig 1-yard touchdown run, Cofer kick good 7 0 1 1:24 12 67 Saints Martin 2-yard touchdown reception from Hebert, Andersen kick good 7 7 2 14:55 3 28 Saints Clark 21-yard touchdown reception from Hebert, Andersen kick good 7 14 2 8:47 7 24 Saints 20-yard field goal by Andersen 7 17 2 6:55 6 51 49ers 25-yard field goal by Cofer 10 17 3 11:05 4 49 49ers Frank 9-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Cofer kick good 17 17 3 8:05 5 35 49ers Wilson 71-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Cofer kick good 24 17 3 3:07 6 42 49ers Frank 17-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Cofer kick good 31 17 4 13:26 10 79 Saints Hill 18-yard touchdown reception from Hebert, Andersen kick good 31 24 4 6:33 – – – Saints Swilling tackled Young in end zone for a safety 31 26 4 1:50 9 29 49ers 32-yard field goal by Cofer 34 26 4 0:21 8 70 Saints Perriman 15-yard touchdown reception from Hebert, Andersen kick good 34 33 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 34 33

• Point spread: Saints Pick'em
• Over/Under: 43.0 (over)
• Time of Game: 3 hours, 7 minutes

49ers	Game Statistics	Saints
21	First downs	23
32–124	Rushes–yards	31–147
165	Passing yards	245
14–26–1	Passes	22–31–2
0–0	Sacked–yards	5–48
165	Net passing yards	197
289	Total yards	344
128	Return yards	310
1–24.0	Punts	3–40.0
1–1	Fumbles–lost	2–1
2–12	Penalties–yards	10–77
23:50	Time of possession	36:10

Starting Lineups

Position	Starting Lineups – Week 1: vs. San Francisco
Offense
QB	#3 Bobby Hebert
RB	#21 Dalton Hilliard
FB	#34 Craig Heyward
WR	#87 Lonzell Hill
WR	#84 Eric Martin
TE	#85 Hoby Brenner
LT	#72 Jim Dombrowski
LG	#63 Brad Edelman
C	#60 Steve Korte
RG	#65 Steve Trapilo
RT	#67 Stan Brock
Defense
LDE	#97 Jumpy Geathers
NT	#99 Tony Elliott
RDE	#94 Jim Wilks
LOLB	#57 Rickey Jackson
LILB	#51 Sam Mills
RILB	#53 Vaughn Johnson
ROLB	#56 Pat Swilling
LCB	#44 Dave Waymer
RCB	#22 Van Jakes
SS	#27 Antonio Gibson
FS	#39 Brett Maxie

Individual stats

Saints Passing
	C/ATT1	Yds	TD	INT	Sk	Yds	LG3	Rate
Hebert	22/31	245	4	2	5	48	33	106.9

Saints Rushing
	Car2	Yds	TD	LG3
Hilliard	19	95	0	22
Heyward	8	27	0	11
Hebert	1	16	0	16
Hill	1	5	0	5
Mayes	2	4	0	3

Saints Receiving
	Rec4	Yds	TD	LG3
Hill	7	74	1	18
Martin	7	68	1	19
Clark	3	45	1	21
Perriman	2	48	1	33
Tice	2	5	0	8
Hilliard	1	5	0	5

Saints Kick Returns
	Ret	Yds	Y/Rt	TD	Lng
Gray	6	144	24.0	0	0
Mayes	2	45	22.5	0	0

Saints Punting
	Pnt	Yds	Y/P	Lng	Blck
Hansen	3	120	40.0	0	0

Saints Kicking
	XPM–XPA	FGM–FGA
Anderson	4–4	1–1

Saints Interceptions
	Int	Yds	TD	LG	PD
Waymer	1	44	0	44

1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 3 9 10 7 29 Falcons 7 7 7 0 21 Date: September 11 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 48,901 Game weather: 75 °F (24 °C); wind 10 mph (16 km/h)

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The Saints won for the first time in Detroit going 0-4-1 in their previous five trips to Michigan (three to Tiger Stadium and two to the Pontiac Silverdome).

1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 0 7 12 3 22 Lions 7 7 0 0 14 Date: September 18 Location: Pontiac Silverdome Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 32,943 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Johnny Grier TV announcers (CBS): James Brown and Gary Fencik

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1 2 3 4 Total Buccaneers 0 6 0 3 9 • Saints 10 3 0 0 13 Date: September 25 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 66,671 Game weather: Indoors (dome)

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1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 0 7 7 3 17 • Saints 7 7 3 3 20 Date: October 3 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 68,474 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Gene Barth TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf

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1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 0 13 7 3 23 Chargers 14 0 3 0 17 Date: October 9 Location: Jack Murphy Stadium Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 42,693 Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C); wind 8 mph (13 km/h) Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Dan Jiggetts

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1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 0 10 7 3 20 Seahawks 3 3 6 7 19 Date: October 16 Location: Kingdome Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 63,569 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Dan Fouts

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The Saints defeated the Raiders for the first time in six meetings (the 1971 matchup, the first between the teams, ended in a 21-21 tie).

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 6 0 0 6 • Saints 3 0 14 3 20 Date: October 23 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 66,249 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Jerry Seeman Television network: NBC

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1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 0 7 7 0 14 Rams 0 3 0 7 10 Date: November 13 Location: Anaheim Stadium Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 63,305 Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C); wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h) Referee: Tom Dooley TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Dan Fouts

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In the Broncos' first appearance in the Louisiana Superdome since Super Bowl XII 11 years earlier, the Saints defeated Denver for the first time in five tries, and posted their largest margin of victory at the time.

1 2 3 4 Total Broncos 0 0 0 0 0 • Saints 14 7 14 7 42 Date: November 20 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 68,075 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Dick Jorgensen TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

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Team	Category	Player	Statistics
NO	Passing	Bobby Hebert	19/30, 170 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Dalton Hilliard	9 CAR, 35 YDS
	Receiving	Eric Martin	7 REC, 61 YDS
SF	Passing	Joe Montana	18/29, 233 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Roger Craig	22 CAR, 115 YDS, 1 TD
	Receiving	Jerry Rice	6 REC, 78 YDS

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NO SF 1 10:36 3 3 Saints 38-yard field goal by Andersen 3 0 2 12:17 8 56 49ers Craig 1-yard touchdown run, Cofer kick good 3 7 2 11:05 1 27 Saints Hill 27-yard touchdown reception from Hilliard, Andersen kick good 10 7 2 6:05 9 80 49ers Montana 2-yard touchdown run, Cofer kick good 10 14 2 3:37 1 66 49ers Taylor 66-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Cofer kick good 10 21 3 6:50 4 31 49ers 40-yard field goal by Cofer 10 24 3 1:25 8 80 Saints Scales 6-yard touchdown reception from Hebert, Andersen kick good 17 24 4 11:53 9 43 49ers 43-yard field goal by Cofer 17 27 4 9:18 4 3 49ers 19-yard field goal by Cofer 17 30 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 17 30

• Point spread: Saints +6
• Over/Under: 41.0 (over)
• Time of Game: 3 hours, 1 minute

Saints	Game Statistics	49ers
15	First downs	20
24–70	Rushes–yards	35–152
197	Passing yards	233
20–35–1	Passes	18–29–1
2–15	Sacked–yards	2–12
182	Net passing yards	221
252	Total yards	373
127	Return yards	79
5–38.2	Punts	3–36.7
2–1	Fumbles–lost	1–1
2–11	Penalties–yards	1–0
26:35	Time of possession	33:25

Starting Lineups

Position	Starting Lineups – Week 15: at San Francisco
Offense
QB	#3 Bobby Hebert
RB	#36 Rueben Mayes
RB	#23 Buford Jordan
WR	#84 Eric Martin
TE	#82 John Tice
TE	#85 Hoby Brenner
LT	#72 Jim Dombrowski
LG	#63 Brad Edelman
C	#60 Steve Korte
RG	#65 Steve Trapilo
RT	#67 Stan Brock
Defense
LDE	#73 Frank Warren
NT	#97 Jumpy Geathers
RDE	#94 Jim Wilks
LOLB	#57 Rickey Jackson
LILB	#51 Sam Mills
RILB	#53 Vaughn Johnson
ROLB	#56 Pat Swilling
LCB	#44 Dave Waymer
RCB	#22 Van Jakes
SS	#27 Antonio Gibson
FS	#39 Brett Maxie

Individual stats

Saints Passing
	C/ATT1	Yds	TD	INT	Sk	Yds	LG3	Rate
Hebert	19/34	170	1	1	2	12	28	67.0
Hilliard	1/1	27	1	0	0	0	27	158.3

Saints Rushing
	Car2	Yds	TD	LG3
Hilliard	9	35	0	10
Hebert	3	14	0	3
Mayes	8	10	0	4
Heyward	3	8	0	3
Martin	1	3	0	3

Saints Receiving
	Rec4	Yds	TD	LG3
Martin	7	61	0	20
Hill	6	61	1	27
Tice	3	44	0	28
Hilliard	1	9	0	9
Pattison	1	8	0	8
Perriman	1	8	0	8
Scales	1	6	1	6

Saints Kick Returns
	Ret	Yds	Y/Rt	TD	Lng
Atkins	4	58	14.5	0	0
Gray	2	44	22.0	0	0

Saints Punt Returns
	Ret	Yds	Y/Rt	TD	Lng
Gray	1	4	4.0	0	4
Hill	1	4	4.0	0	4

Saints Punting
	Pnt	Yds	Y/P	Lng	Blck
Hansen	5	191	38.2	0	0

Saints Kicking
	XPM–XPA	FGM–FGA	MFG
Anderson	2–2	1–3	40, 32

Saints Sacks
	Sacks
Swilling	1.0
Wilks	1.0

Saints Interceptions
	Int	Yds	TD	LG	PD
Waymer	1	17	0	17

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 0 3 3 3 9 • Saints 7 0 0 3 10 Date: December 18 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 60,566 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Dan Fouts

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NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers(2)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	369	294	L1
Los Angeles Rams(5)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	407	293	W3
New Orleans Saints	10	6	0	.625	3–3	6–6	312	283	W1
Atlanta Falcons	5	11	0	.313	1–5	4–8	244	315	L3