2002 NFL season

The 2002 NFL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Houston Texans.

With the 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:

• The Seattle Seahawks were the only team that switched conferences; they moved from the AFC West to the NFC West.
• The Arizona Cardinals moved from the NFC East to the NFC West.
• The Texans, the Indianapolis Colts, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Tennessee Titans were placed into the newly formed AFC South.
• The Atlanta Falcons, the Carolina Panthers, the New Orleans Saints, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were placed into the newly formed NFC South.
• Both the AFC Central and the NFC Central were renamed AFC North and NFC North, respectively.

The playoff format was also modified: four division winners and two wild cards from each conference now advance to the playoffs.

The season ended with Super Bowl XXXVII when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Oakland Raiders.

[edit] 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. a sack).

[edit] Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

[edit] 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).

[edit] Playoffs

Main article: NFL playoffs, 2002-03

Template:NFL seeds 2002-

Home team in capitals

[edit] AFC

• Wild-Card playoffs: N.Y. JETS 41, Indianapolis 0; PITTSBURGH 36, Cleveland 33
• Divisional playoffs: TENNESSEE 34, Pittsburgh 31 (OT); OAKLAND 30, N.Y. Jets 10
• AFC Championship: OAKLAND 41, Tennessee 24

[edit] NFC

• 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

[edit] Super Bowl XXXVII

• Tampa Bay (NFC) 48, Oakland (AFC) 21 at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

[edit] Milestones

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

[edit] Statistical leaders

[edit] Team

[edit] Individual

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 193299436X)
• NFL History 2001- (Last accessed October 17, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0062701746)
• NFL adopts changes to rules (Last accessed October 17, 2005)
• New alignment takes effect in 2002 from ESPN.com, May 22, 2001 (Last accessed December 9, 2005)
• Seattle moved to NFC in approved realignment plan from CNNSI.com, May 22, 2001 (Last accessed December 9, 2005)