The 1988 season was the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

' 28th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. They finished with an 11–5 record, and finished second to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in the

NFC Central The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and tough ri ...

division. The Vikings had one of the best defenses in the NFL in 1988. The team allowed 4,091 total yards, 4.3 yards per play, and 243 first downs, all best in the league. The Vikings also had a league-best 53 takeaways. Opposing quarterbacks had a league-worst 41.2 passer rating against the Vikings' defense, the lowest total of the 1980s and fifth all-time for the Super Bowl era. The Vikings made the postseason for the second consecutive time under coach

Jerry Burns Jerome Monahan Burns (January 24, 1927 – May 12, 2021) was an American college and professional football coach. He played in college for the Michigan Wolverines before becoming a coach. He was the head coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1961 to ...

. They defeated the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

in the wildcard round, but lost 34–9 in the divisional round to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, who went on to win their third Super Bowl. This was the last time the Vikings won a playoff game until

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Offseason

1988 Draft

: The Vikings traded their second-round selection (45th overall) to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in exchange for Denver's second-, fourth- and sixth-round selections (54th, 108th and 164th overall). : The Vikings traded their fourth- and 11th-round selections (97th and 294th overall) to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

for QB

Rich Gannon Richard Joseph Gannon (born December 20, 1965) is an American former football quarterback who played 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Subsequently, he was a sports commentator with CBS Sports for 16 years. Gannon was born in ...

. : The Vikings traded their sixth-round selection (156th overall) and 1989 10th-round selection (275th overall) to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

for OL

Greg Koch Greg Koch (born June 14, 1955) is a former American football tackle and guard who played eleven seasons in the National Football League, mainly with the Green Bay Packers. In 2010, Koch was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. Koc ...

. : The Vikings traded their 1989 ninth-round selection to the

in exchange for the 11th-round selection that the Patriots received in the Gannon trade (296th overall). : The Vikings traded their 12th-round selection (323rd overall) to the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in exchange for C Chris Foote.

Supplemental Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 5

Week 11

Standings

Playoffs

1988 NFC Wild Card Game - Los Angeles Rams at Minnesota Vikings 1988-12-26 (ticket)

Schedule

Game summaries

NFC Wild Card: vs. (#5) Los Angeles Rams

NFC Divisional Playoffs: at (#2) San Francisco 49ers

Statistics

Team leaders

* Vikings single season record

League rankings

References

Vikings on Pro Football Reference

Vikings on jt-sw.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1988 Minnesota Vikings Season Minnesota Vikings seasons

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...