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.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:92%; text-align:center;"
! Away team !! Score !! Home team !! Date !! Kickoff<br>(ET / UTC–5) !! TV
|-
! colspan="6"|Wild card playoffs
|-
| Houston Oilers || 24–23 || Cleveland Browns || December 24, 1988 || 1:30 p.m. || NBC
|-
| Los Angeles Rams || 17–28 || Minnesota Vikings || December 26, 1988 || 2:30 p.m. || CBS
|-
! colspan="6"|Divisional playoffs
|-
| Philadelphia Eagles || 12–20 || Chicago Bears || December 31, 1988 || 12:30 p.m. || CBS
|-
| Seattle Seahawks || 13–21 || Cincinnati Bengals || December 31, 1988 || 4:00 p.m. || NBC
|-
| Houston Oilers || 10–17 || Buffalo Bills || January 1, 1989 || 12:30 p.m. || NBC
|-
| Minnesota Vikings || 9–34 || San Francisco 49ers || January 1, 1989 || 4:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
! colspan="6"|Conference championships
|-
| Buffalo Bills || 10–21 || Cincinnati Bengals || January 8, 1989 || 12:30 p.m. || NBC
|-
| San Francisco 49ers || 28–3 || Chicago Bears || January 8, 1989 || 4:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
! colspan="6"|Super Bowl XXIII<br><small>Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida</small>
|-
| Cincinnati Bengals || 16–20 || San Francisco 49ers || January 22, 1989 || 5:00 p.m. || NBC
|}
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 (13 for Houston, nine for Cleveland), 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 (including a brawl between the teams) 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 (that would not be adopted by the league until 1994), 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
thumb|150px|A ticket for the NFC Wild Card Game between the Vikings and the Rams
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 (later matched by a 44-yard miss by Minnesota's Chuck Nelson). 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.
This ended up being the Seahawks’ last playoff game until 1999. This was also the last divisional playoff game contested in December.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Seahawks and Bengals.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Oilers and Bills.
The Vikings scored on their first possession of the second half with Wilson's 5-yard pass to Hassan Jones, but Nelson missed the extra point and the team would get no closer than 21–9. In the fourth quarter, Craig finished off an 80-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, and scored on an NFL postseason record 80-yard touchdown run on the 49ers' next drive.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Vikings and 49ers. Both teams split the first two meetings, with the road team winning each.
The Bengals forced three interceptions, and allowed only 45 rushing yards and 136 passing yards, while their offense held the ball for 39:29. Bills starting running back Thurman Thomas was held to just six yards on four carries, while quarterback Jim Kelly completed only 14 of 30 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown, with three interceptions. The Bills had only 10 first downs, one more than the AFC Championship record for the fewest ever, and failed to convert any of their 10 third down conversion attempts. Just like their previous game, the Bengals did not get much of a performance from NFL MVP Boomer Esiason, who completed only 11 of 20 passes for 94 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions. But once again, their running game was able to pick up the slack, gaining 175 yards on the ground, 102 yards and two touchdowns coming from fullback Ickey Woods.
Buffalo started their first drive on their 46-yard line, but it ended with an interception by Bengals cornerback Lewis Billups. On the next play, Esiason's 29-yard run moved the team into scoring range. However, they also came up empty when Esiason's pass was intercepted by Bills linebacker Ray Bentley. Later on, Cincinnati took a 7–0 lead in the first quarter after Eric Thomas' 26-yard interception return to the Bills 4-yard line set up Woods' 1-yard touchdown run. However, a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty against Bengals running back Stanley Wilson (one of six personal foul penalties in the game, two by the Bengals and four by the Bills) after the touchdown was assessed on the ensuing kickoff, and Buffalo ended up getting the ball with good field position with Ronnie Harmon's 22-yard return to the 43-yard line. Kelly subsequently led the Bills back with four consecutive completions, starting out with a pair of throws to receiver Andre Reed for gains of nine and 19 yards and then hooking up with Trumaine Johnson for a 22-yard gain to the Bengals 9-yard line. On the next play, Kelly found Reed in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown pass to tie the game.
Following a punt, Buffalo drove to the Bengals 26-yard line, only to have Scott Norwood miss a 43-yard field goal attempt. The Bengals then took over and stormed down the field on an 11-play, 74-yard drive, including a 16-yard run by Woods, to score on Esiason's 10-yard touchdown pass to running back James Brooks. Later on, Mark Kelso intercepted a pass from Esiason and returned it 25 yards to the Bengals 29-yard line, setting up a 39-yard field goal by Norwood to cut the Bills deficit to 14–10 by halftime.
The Bengals took over the game in the second half, forcing Buffalo to start all of their drives from inside their own 23-yard line as they held the ball for only 9:04, totaling 53 yards, two first downs, and no points. On their first three drives of the second half, the Bills totaled −12 yards. Midway through the third quarter, Cincinnati punter Lee Johnson pinned the Bills at their own 1-yard line with a 58-yard kick. Buffalo then went three-and-out, and Bengals receiver Ira Hillary returned John Kidd's 50-yard punt 15 yards to the Bills 40. Three plays into their ensuing drive, Cincinnati faced fourth down and 4. Wilson ran six yards for a first down on a fake punt, enabling the Bengals to keep driving for a clutch score. Later in the drive, Derrick Burroughs was ejected from the game for striking receiver Tim McGee in the head, turning what would have been a third and goal from the 8 into a first and goal from the 4-yard line, and Cincinnati ended up scoring with Woods' 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter, increasing their lead to 21–10. The Bills later managed a drive to the Bengals 18-yard line, but safety David Fulcher picked off a desperate fourth-down pass from Kelly in the end zone.
The Bills would not lose another game to the Bengals until Week 4 of the 2011 NFL season.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Bills and Bengals. Cincinnati won the only previous meeting.
San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns, including completing nine of 15 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. After the first five possessions of the game ended in punts, the 49ers faced a third and long from their own 39-yard line. Despite the high winds, Montana was able to throw a long pass to Rice, who, despite double coverage from Bears defenders Mike Richardson and Todd Krumm, was able to catch the pass and outrun both defenders to score a 61-yard touchdown.
Midway through the second quarter, Jeff Fuller intercepted a pass from McMahon on the San Francisco 36, and the team moved the ball 64 yards on a drive that included Rice's 20-yard catch and Tom Rathman's 12-yard run on third and 10. Montana finished the series with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Rice in which he caught a low slant pass in stride and scored untouched. Chicago responded with a 25-yard field goal by Kevin Butler. Then Vestee Jackson recovered a fumble from receiver John Taylor on the Bears 18-yard line with 2:45 left in the half. Chicago subsequently advanced to the 49ers 47, but on third down, cornerback Don Griffin tackled Neal Anderson for a 5-yard loss and forced a punt.
In the third quarter, the 49ers marched 78 yards, including a 17-yard reception by Rice, to score on Montana's 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end John Frank. San Francisco's final score was Rathman's 4-yard touchdown run.
Rice finished the game with five receptions for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Fuller had an interception and 10 tackles, while linebacker Michael Walter had 11. This was San Francisco's first playoff win on the road since the 1970 season. It was also the first time an NFC team won a conference title on the road since 1979. As it turned out, this was the third and final NFC Championship Game appearance for the Bears in the Ditka era (having previously appeared in January 1985 and January 1986). They would not reach the NFC Championship Game again for nearly two decades.
This was the second postseason meeting between the 49ers and Bears. San Francisco won the only prior meeting.