The 1988 Edmonton Eskimos season was the 31st season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and their 40th overall. The Eskimos finished the season in first place with an 11–7 record. They appeared in the West Final where they lost to the BC Lions.

The Eskimos offense had 496 points for, while the defense had 445 points allowed. During the season, Tracy Ham emerged as the team's starting quarterback for the next five seasons.

Off-season

CFL draft

Round Pick Player Position School 1 8 Brian Forde LB Washington State 2 16 Branko Vincic DL Eastern Michigan 3 24 Greg Nyte DB Simon Fraser 4 32 Todd Middleton LB Dickinson State 5 40 Greg Kratzer WR Dickinson State 6 48 Terry Ainge DB British Columbia 7 56 Stephen Kasowski P/K-WR Alberta 8 64 Neil Ferguson DB Alberta

Regular season

Standings

Edmonton finished ahead of Saskatchewan in the standings by winning their 2-game head-to-head series by a point total of 58–53.

Edmonton set the CFL record for most consecutive seasons, .500 or better (17), breaking the record of 16 Saskatchewan set from 1962-1977.

Season schedule Week Game Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance Score Record 1 1 July 14 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 33–0 1–0 Commonwealth Stadium 27,889 2 2 July 23 at Saskatchewan Roughriders L 15–26 1–1 Taylor Field 22,682 3 3 July 27 at Ottawa Rough Riders W 35–28 2–1 Lansdowne Park 19,947 4 4 Aug 4 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders W 43–27 3–1 Commonwealth Stadium 35,383 5 5 Aug 12 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 14–22 3–2 Ivor Wynne Stadium 13,127 6 6 Aug 19 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 46–21 4–2 Commonwealth Stadium 30,172 7 7 Aug 25 at BC Lions L 10–28 4–3 BC Place 33,825 8 8 Sept 1 vs. BC Lions W 17–9 5–3 Commonwealth Stadium 34,157 8 9 Sept 5 at Calgary Stampeders W 27–11 6–3 McMahon Stadium 27,768 9 10 Sept 11 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 37–13 7–3 Commonwealth Stadium 29,984 10 11 Sept 18 vs. Toronto Argonauts W 38–21 8–3 Commonwealth Stadium 33,549 11 12 Sept 25 at Toronto Argonauts L 22–35 8–4 Varsity Stadium 24,104 12 13 Oct 2 vs. Ottawa Rough Riders W 40–12 9–4 Commonwealth Stadium 28,052 13 14 Oct 10 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 17–21 9–5 Winnipeg Stadium 26,298 14 15 Oct 16 at Calgary Stampeders W 32–29 10–5 McMahon Stadium 29,430 15 16 Oct 23 vs. BC Lions L 15–35 10–6 Commonwealth Stadium 30,030 16 17 Oct 29 at BC Lions L 16–51 10–7 BC Place 32,334 17 18 Nov 6 vs. Calgary Stamepders W 20–19 11–7 Commonwealth Stadium 27,499

Total attendance: 276,715 Average attendance: 30,746 (51.2%)

Statistics

Punt Returns Player Games Played Number Yards Long TouchdownsHenry Gizmo Williams1796 9641002

Kickoff Returns Player Games Played Number Yards Long TouchdownsHenry Gizmo Williams17 15 379340

Missed Field Goal Returns Player Games Played Number Yards Long TouchdownsHenry Gizmo Williams175 90 220

Awards CFLPA's Most Outstanding Community Service Award - Hector Pothier (OT) Norm Fieldgate Trophy - Danny Bass (LB)

Playoffs

Schedule Week Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance Score Record Division Final Nov 20 vs. BC Lions L 19–37 0–1 Commonwealth Stadium 27,055 The West Final was the first time the Eskimos lost a playoff game at Commonwealth Stadium. The loss also ended the CFL's longest ever home playoff winning streak (12). Roster 1988 Edmonton Eskimos final roster Quarterbacks

Running backs

Receivers

Offensive linemen T C G C/T T G T G G

Defensive linemen DE DE DT DT DT DE/DT Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams K/P

Italics indicate International player

References