2002 Nfl Season Article Index for
2002 		Website Links For
2002 		 

Information About

2002 Nfl Season
  CATEGORIES ABOUT 2002 NFL SEASON
   
national football league seasons
   
2002
   
2002 national football league season
   
2002 in american football
   
national football league
   
APPAREL
BABY
BEAUTY
BOOKS
CAR TOYS
CELL PHONES
DVD'S
ELECTRONICS
GOURMET FOOD
GROCERIES
HEALTH & PERSONAL
HOME & GARDEN
JEWELRY
MUSIC
MUSIC INSTRUMENTS
OFFICE PRODUCTS
SOFTWARE
SPORTING GOODS
TOOLS & HARDWARE
TOYS
VIDEO GAMES
SHOPPING HOME
MORE SHOPPING...



  NFLchampion Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  Regular Season September 5 2002 - December 30 2002
  Playoffs Start January 4 2003
  Sb Name XXXVII
  Sb Date January 26 2003
  Sb Site Qualcomm Stadium , San Diego, California
  Pb Date February 2 2003


The 2002 Season of the National Football League (NFL) was the 83rd one played by the major professional American Football league in the United States . The league expand to 32 teams with the addition of the Houston Texans . Also, the Chicago Bears played the 2002 season in Champaign, Illinois at Memorial Stadium because of the reconstruction of their home stadium Soldier Field .

With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 5 2002 to December 30 . The Patriots failed to qualify for the Playoffs , which began on January 4 2003 . The NFL title was eventually won by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they defeated the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII , the Super Bowl championship game, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California on January 26 .


EXPANSION AND REALIGNMENT

With the Houston Texans joining the NFL, the league's teams were realigned into eight divisions, four in each conference. In creating the new divisions, the league tried to maintain the historical rivalries from the old alignment, while at the same time attempting to organize the teams geographically. The significant changes were:

Additionally, the arrival of the Texans meant that the league could return to its pre-1999 scheduling format in which no team got a bye during the first two weeks or last seven weeks of the season. From 1999 to 2001, at least one team had to sit out each week (including the preseason) because of an odd number of teams in the league.

The playoff format was also modified: four division winners and two wild cards from each conference now advance to the playoffs (changed from three division winners and three wild cards). In each conference, the division winners are now seeded 1 through 4, and the wild cards are seeded 5 and 6.


MAJOR RULE CHANGES

  • A player who touches a pylon remains in-bounds until any part of his body touches the ground out-of-bounds.

  • Continuing-action fouls now become dead-ball fouls and will result in the loss of down and distance.

  • Any dead-ball penalties by the offense after they have made the line to gain will result in a loss of 15 yards and a new first down. Previously, the 15 yard penalty was enforced but the down was replayed.

  • The act of batting and stripping the ball from a player is officially legal.

  • Chop-blocks are illegal on kicking plays.

  • Hitting a quarterback helmet-to-helmet anytime after a change of possession is illegal.

  • After a kickoff, the game clock will start when the ball is touched legally in the field of play. Previously, the clock started immediately when the ball was kicked.

  • Inside the final two minutes of a half, the game clock will not stop when the player who originally takes the snap is tackled behind the line of scrimmage (i.e. sacked).



FINAL STANDINGS

''W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against''







Tiebreakers

  • N.Y. Jets finished ahead of New England in the AFC East based on better record in common games (8-4 to 7-5) and Miami based on better division record (4-2 to 2-4).

  • New England finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on better division record (4-2 to 2-4).

  • Cleveland clinched the AFC 6 seed instead of Denver or New England based on better conference record (7-5 to Denver's 5-7 and New England's 6-6).

  • Oakland clinched the AFC 1 seed instead of Tennessee based on better head-to-head record (1-0).

  • San Diego finished ahead of Kansas City in the AFC West based on better division record (3-3 to 2-4).

  • Philadelphia clinched the NFC 1 seed instead of Green Bay or Tampa Bay based on better conference record (11-1 to Green Bay's 9-3 and Tampa Bay's 9-3).

  • Tampa Bay clinched the NFC 2 seed instead of Green Bay based on better head-to-head record (1-0).

  • St. Louis finished ahead of Seattle in the NFC West based on better division record (4-2 to 2-4).



PLAYOFFS

See Also: NFL playoffs, 2002-03


  AFC 1 Oakland Raiders
  AFC 1 Div West
  AFC 2 Tennessee Titans
  AFC 2 Div South
  AFC 3 Pittsburgh Steelers
  AFC 3 Div North
  AFC 4 New York Jets
  AFC 4 Div East
  AFC 5 Indianapolis Colts
  AFC 6 Cleveland Browns
  NFC 1 Philadelphia Eagles
  NFC 1 Div East
  NFC 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  NFC 2 Div South
  NFC 3 Green Bay Packers
  NFC 3 Div North
  NFC 4 San Francisco 49ers
  NFC 4 Div West
  NFC 5 New York Giants
  NFC 6 Atlanta Falcons


Home team in capitals


AFC


  • Wild-Card playoffs: Atlanta 27, GREEN BAY 7; SAN FRANCISCO 39, N.Y. Giants 38

  • Divisional playoffs: PHILADELPHIA 20, Atlanta 6; TAMPA BAY 31, San Francisco 6

  • NFC Championship: Tampa Bay 27, PHILADELPHIA 10 at Veterans Stadium , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , January 19, 2003

    • Super Bowl



MILESTONES

The following players set all-time NFL records during the season:


STATISTICAL LEADERS


Team



Individual



AWARDS



REFERENCES