1988 Dallas Cowboys season
| 1988 Dallas Cowboys season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Tom Landry |
| Owner | Bum Bright |
| Home field | Texas Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 3–13 |
| Division place | 5th NFC East |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
The 1988 Dallas Cowboys season was the final year for Cowboys head coach Tom Landry. After the season, the team underwent drastic changes including a new head coach, and change of ownership from Bum Bright to current owner Jerry Jones. Notable additions to the team in 1988 included wide receiver Michael Irvin, linebacker Ken Norton Jr. and defensive tackle Chad Hennings. It was the first time since 1976 that future hall-of-fame running back Tony Dorsett was not on the Dallas roster. Dorsett had been relegated to a backup role to Herschel Walker for most of 1987 and was traded to the Denver Broncos during the offseason.
The 1988 season faced hardship from the release of the schedule. In 1987, Dallas had finished at 7–8, in a 3-way tie for second place in the NFC East and tiebreaking rules gave Dallas the "second place position", even though Dallas finished fifth (last) in the NFC East in 1987 in "union games" (i.e. a strong replacement team had inflated the Boys' '87 record). As a result, their 1988 schedule was primarily against teams that were strong in 1987 (and also in 1988).
Steve Pelluer had won the starting quarterback job from veteran Danny White late in the 1987 season and won the job in training camp for 1988. Early in the season, White appeared briefly in relief roles before suffering a season-ending injury in week 7, which elevated Kevin Sweeney to the backup position. Sweeney briefly took over the starting job for Pelluer in weeks 11 and 12, but the results were poor and Pelluer regained the job.
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