2002 Oakland Raiders season

2002 Oakland Raiders season
Head coach	Bill Callahan
General manager	Al Davis
Owner	Al Davis
Home field	Network Associates Coliseum
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (Jets) 30–10 Won AFC Championship (Titans) 41–24 Lost Super Bowl XXXVII (Buccaneers) 21–48
Pro Bowlers	Rich Gannon, QB Jerry Rice, WR Lincoln Kennedy, OT Barret Robbins, C Rod Woodson, FS

Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum during the Raiders' week 17 win over Kansas City

The 2002 Oakland Raiders season was the club's 43rd, and 33rd in the National Football League. The Raiders, under the leadership of first-year head coach Bill Callahan, clinched a third consecutive AFC West title with an 11–5 finish. The team is best remembered for reaching the Super Bowl; in doing so, they became the first Raiders squad in nineteen years to reach professional football's biggest stage, as well as the first since their return to Oakland in 1995.

The 2002 season, due mainly to the aforementioned Super Bowl run, ranks among the most important in franchise history. The aging Raiders' controversial elimination from the prior year's playoffs set the stage for a concerted championship push. Owner Al Davis traded then-head coach Jon Gruden to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shortly after the Raiders' 2001 playoff loss; in doing so, he received two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and cash considerations from Tampa Bay. Davis, despite team salary cap troubles, also managed to acquire veteran stars Sam Adams, Rod Woodson, and Bill Romanowski during the 2002 offseason.

The Raiders entered the season with a hugely talented, albeit aging roster of players. The offense was led by quarterback Rich Gannon, would be named MVP for the season. The team's receiving corps of Tim Brown, Jerry Rice, and Jerry Porter ranked among the league's best; additionally, running back Charlie Garner posted 1,903 all-purpose yards. The offensive line, moreover, was anchored by pro-bowlers Lincoln Kennedy and Barret Robbins. The Raiders' offense, all told, led the league in total yardage; Gannon additionally led all NFL quarterbacks in passing with 4,689 yards. The defense, while less vaunted, nonetheless ranked among the NFL's finest; the contributions of Rod Woodson, Bill Romanowski, Charles Woodson, and Trace Armstrong aided the Raiders' cause greatly.

In the third quarter of Oakland's 26–20 win on Monday Night Football over the Jets Tim Brown became the third player in NFL history with 1,000 career catches; the game was stopped so Brown could be honored for the achievement; a vehicle carrying his mother and family drove onto the field for the celebration.

Despite their talent, the Raiders struggled in the first half of the 2002 season. A 4–0 start was followed by four consecutive losses; the team's 4–4 record stunned many onlookers. The team, however, redeemed itself by winning seven of its final eight contests. Finishing 11-5 in a conference where twelve teams obtained .500 or better records and nine were above .500, the Raiders clinched the AFC's top seed and full home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They routed the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans in the playoffs, by a combined score of 71-34 and a plus-four in turnover differential; in doing so, they advanced to Super Bowl. Ironically, their opponent would be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by their former coach Jon Gruden.

The Raiders entered Super Bowl XXXVII as slight favorites; many predicted a hard-fought showdown between Oakland's top-ranked offense and Tampa Bay's top-ranked defense. The resulting game, however, ended in disaster for the Raiders. An early three-point lead (courtesy of a Sebastian Janikowski field goal) evaporated as the Buccaneers scored thirty-four unanswered points. The Buccaneers defense, aided by Gruden's knowledge of the Raider offense, intercepted Rich Gannon three times during this scoring surge. A furious Raider rally cut the score to an almost-competitive 34–21 in the fourth quarter; two more Gannon interceptions, however, sealed the Raiders' fate in a 48–21 bludgeoning.

The years following the Super Bowl loss marked a period of decline for the Raiders, who would go 14 seasons without obtaining a winning record until 2016. To date, this is the last season the Raiders qualified for the playoffs.

Personnel

Staff

2002 Oakland Raiders staff
Head Coaches Head Coach – Bill Callahan Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Marc Trestman Running Backs – Skip Peete Wide Receivers – Fred Biletnikoff Tight Ends – Jay Norvell Offensive Line – Aaron Kromer Senior Assistant – John Morton Offensive Assistant – Jim Harbaugh Offensive Assistant – Chris Turner			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Chuck Bresnahan Defensive Line – Mike Waufle Linebackers – Fred Pagac Defensive Backs – Ron Lynn Quality Control/Defense – Chris Griswold Quality Control/Defense – Don Martin Squad Development – Willie Brown Special Teams Coaches Special Teams Coordinator – Bob Casullo Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Garrett Giemont

Roster

2002 Oakland Raiders roster
Quarterbacks 12 Rich Gannon 8 Marques Tuiasosopo 3 Rick Mirer Running Backs 23 Madre Hill 25 Charlie Garner 40 Jon Ritchie 47 Tyrone Wheatley 32 Zack Crockett 28 Randy Jordan Wide Receivers 80 Jerry Rice 81 FL/PR Tim Brown 84 Jerry Porter 82 WR/KR James Jett 83 Marcus Knight 87 Alvis Whitted Tight Ends 88 Doug Jolley 86 Roland Williams 49 Jeremy Brigham 48 Brandon Christenson		Offensive Linemen 65 LT Barry Sims 73 LG Frank Middleton 63 C Barret Robbins 79 RG Mo Collins 72 RT Lincoln Kennedy 74 T Matt Stinchcomb 70 T-G Brad Badger 62 C/LS Adam Treu 66 G Langston Walker Defensive Linemen 99 DeLawrence Grant 97 John Parrella 95 Sam Adams 93 Trace Armstrong 91 Regan Upshaw 92 Junior Ioane 57 Rod Coleman 75 Chris Cooper 94 Tony Bryant		Linebackers 53 Bill Romanowski 55 Travian Smith 50 Eric Barton 41 Eric Johnson 51 Tim Johnson 58 Napoleon Harris Defensive Backs 24 CB/PR Charles Woodson 26 Rod Woodson 20 Tory James 31 CB/PR Phillip Buchanon 22 Terrance Shaw 33 Anthony Dorsett 38 Clarence Love Special Teams 11 PK Sebastian Janikowski 9 P Shane Lechler 42 KR/RB Terry Kirby 87 Alvis Whitted		Reserve Lists Currently vacant Practice Squad: CB Tony Lukins TE-long snapper Ben Steele TE David Newman T Joe Wong

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	Record	Attendance
1	September 8, 2002	Seattle Seahawks	W 31–17	FOX 4:15et	1–0	53,260
2	September 15, 2002	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 30–17	ESPN 8:30et	2–0	62,260
3	Bye
4	September 29, 2002	Tennessee Titans	W 52–25	CBS 4:15et	3–0	58,719
5	October 6, 2002	at Buffalo Bills	W 49–31	CBS 1:00et	4–0	73,038
6	October 13, 2002	at St. Louis Rams	L 28–13	CBS 4:15et	4–1	66,070
7	October 20, 2002	San Diego Chargers	L 27–21 (OT)	CBS 4:05et	4–2	60,974
8	October 27, 2002	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 20–10	CBS 1:00et	4–3	78,685
9	November 3, 2002	San Francisco 49ers	L 23–20 (OT)	FOX 4:05et	4–4	62,660
10	November 11, 2002	at Denver Broncos	W 34–10	ABC 9:00et	5–4	76,643
11	November 17, 2002	New England Patriots	W 27–20	ESPN 8:30et	6–4	62,552
12	November 24, 2002	at Arizona Cardinals	W 41–20	CBS 1:05et	7–4	58,814
13	December 2, 2002	New York Jets	W 26–20	ABC 9:00et	8–4	62,257
14	December 8, 2002	at San Diego Chargers	W 27–7	CBS 4:15et	9–4	67,968
15	December 15, 2002	at Miami Dolphins	L 23–17	CBS 1:00et	9–5	73,572
16	December 22, 2002	Denver Broncos	W 28–16	CBS 4:15et	10–5	62,592
17	December 28, 2002	Kansas City Chiefs	W 24–0	CBS 5:00et	11–5	62,078

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week One: Seattle Seahawks at Oakland Raiders – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seahawks	7	0	0	10	17
Raiders	7	21	3	0	31

at Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland, California

• Date: September 8
• Game time: 1:17 p.m. PDT
• Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C), wind 7mph
• Game attendance: 53,260
• Referee: Larry Nemmers
• TV: Fox

Game information

First quarter OAK – Tim Brown 8 yard pass from Rich Gannon, Sebastian Janikowski kick. OAK 7 – SEA 0 SEA – Itula Mili 1 yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck, Rian Lindell kick. OAK 7 – SEA 7 Second quarter OAK – Charlie Garner 20 yard rush, Janikowski kick. OAK 14 – SEA 7 OAK – Garner 26 yard reception from Gannon, Janikowski kick. OAK 21 – SEA 7 OAK – Randy Jordan 12 yard rush, Janikowski kick. OAK 28 – SEA 7 Third quarter OAK – Janikowski 27 yard Field Goal. OAK 31 – SEA 7 Fourth quarter SEA – Lindell 32 yard Field goal. OAK 31 – SEA 10 SEA – Shaun Alexander 11 yard pass from Hasselbeck, Lindell kick. OAK 31 – SEA 17 Top passers SEA – Matt Hasselbeck OAK – Rich Gannon Top rushers OAK– Shaun Alexander SEA – Charlie Garner Top receivers OAK – Charlie Garner SEA – Koren Robinson

The Seahawks were beaten for the fifth straight time at Oakland, but for the first time as an NFC team as league realignment took them out of the AFC West and into the revamped NFC West. Rich Gannon tossed for 214 yards and two touchdowns while four Raiders backs led by Charlie Garner rushed for 214 yards and two scores. Matt Hasselbeck threw for two touchdowns for the Seahawks.

Week 2

Gannon flirted with Drew Bledsoe's 1994 single-game record for passes with 64, connecting on 43 of them for 403 yards and a 21-yard score to Jerry Porter, but was intercepted twice. The Steelers behind a Kordell Stewart touchdown to Hines Ward at the end of the third quarter clawed to within 20–17, but on the opening play of the fourth Terry Kirby ran back the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for the score. A Sebastian Janikowski field goal ended all hope for the Steelers in a 30–17 Raiders win.

Week 3

Bye Week

Week 4

The Raiders crushed the Tennessee Titans 52–25 as they intercepted Steve McNair four times while Rich Gannon threw four touchdowns. Jerry Rice had 144 yards receiving and a touchdown. The game was a penalty-laden affair with 21 combined fouls eating up 194 yards.

Week 5

The Raiders traveled to Buffalo and once again scored seven touchdowns. The game lead tied or changed ten times before 21 unanswered Raiders points put the game away 49–31. Rich Gannon had three touchdowns while Drew Bledsoe had two scores but was picked off three times; Phillip Buchanon picked off Bledsoe at the Raiders 19-yard line and scored.

Week 6

The Raiders four-game winning streak ended 28–13 against the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome. With the Rams 0–5 and Kurt Warner benched after poor play, Marc Bulger put the game away early with three touchdowns offsetting two Sebastian Janikowski field goals. Rich Gannon was intercepted twice and the two teams combined for 25 penalties for 189 yards.

Week 7

The Raiders returned to Oakland and faced the 5–1 Chargers, who charged out to a 14–0 lead; the game lead tied or changed three times after that as Oakland forced overtime, but in the extra period the Chargers drove down and LaDanian Tomlinson's 19-yard score finished off the 27–21 San Diego win.

Week 9

Jerry Rice faced his former team for the first time as the Raiders hosted their next-door neighbors the 49ers. Rice caught six passes for 74 yards while his successor at the Niners, Terrell Owens, accounted for all but 99 yards of Jeff Garcia's 282 passing yards. The game was tied 13–13 into the fourth quarter; following an exchange of touchdowns (a Tai Streets reception and a Charlie Garner run) the 49ers got the ball back with 6:30 to go, but Jose Cortez missed a 27-yard field goal attempt on the final play of regulation. The Niners got the ball for overtime and Garcia completed five passes while rushing three times for 21 yards; it set up Cortez's winning 23-yard field goal, a 23–20 Niners win. The game put the Niners at 6–2 while the Raiders were searching for answers after falling to 4–4.

Week 10

The Raiders got back on track by crushing the Broncos 34–10. In the first quarter Brian Griese was intercepted by Rod Woodson for a 98-yard pick-six score and the Raiders never looked back. Rich Gannon had three touchdowns and only four incompletions of 38 throws for 352 yards.

Week 11

On Sunday Night Football the Raiders hosted the Patriots a year after the controversial Tuck Rule Game and won 27-20. The two teams managed 584 yards of offense as Rich Gannon threw for 297 yards with one interception; five Raiders players including Gannon rushed for 97 yards and three touchdowns, enough to overcome Kevin Faulk's 86-yard kick return score in the final minute.

Week 12

The Raiders traveled to Arizona and put up 520 yards of offense in a 41-20 win. Gannon had 340 passing yards and three scores while Jake Plummer was intercepted twice to go with two touchdowns. The Cardinals were limited to 263 yards of offense, 135 of them from Marcel Shipp.

Week 13

One of the league's most famous rivalries was renewed as the Raiders hosted the NY Jets 34 years after the famous Heidi Game meeting. After the Jets took a 10–6 halftime lead the Raiders drove down field in the third quarter; with 11:30 to go in the third on 2nd and 16 Rich Gannon completed a six-yard pass to Tim Brown; the catch was the 1,000th in his career for Brown as he became only the third player in league history to reach 1,000 catches; the game was stopped and a vehicle transported Brown's family onto the field to celebrate the accomplishment; among those congratulating Brown were his mom ("She's never been to a game since I've been playing", Brown said) and one of the other two players with 1,000 career catches – teammate Jerry Rice. Following the celebration Rice caught a 26-yard touchdown. The Raiders clawed to a 26–20 lead before intercepting Chad Pennington at their nine-yard line with four seconds to go.

Week 14

The Raiders travelled to Qualcomm Stadium and slammed the door on the 8-4 Chargers' run to the playoffs 27-7. They intercepted Drew Brees three times while the Raiders managed just 67 rushing yards but three of them ended in touchdowns.

Week 15

The Raiders hit a roadblock as the Dolphins stormed to a 23-17 win at Pro Player Stadium. Rich Gannon was intercepted once and the Raiders fumbled. Ricky Williams accounted for 101 rushing yards for Miami.

Week 16

The Broncos despite 16 second-half points fell 28-16 to the Raiders as three Raiders backs rushed for 136 yards and three scores, culminated by Zack Crockett's one-yard score in the fourth. The loss all but eliminated the Broncos from the playoffs despite twelve other teams still being mathematically eligible in the AFC.

Week 17

In a Saturday NFL double-header (the Eagles–Giants were the opening game) the Raiders shut out the Chiefs 24-0 and won the top seed in the AFC. The Chiefs were held to 176 yards of offense and a Trent Green interception.

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
^(1) Oakland Raiders	11	5	0	.688	4–2	9–3	450	304	W2
Denver Broncos	9	7	0	.563	3–3	5–7	392	344	W1
San Diego Chargers	8	8	0	.500	3–3	6–6	333	367	L4
Kansas City Chiefs	8	8	0	.500	2–4	6–6	467	399	L1

Playoffs

AFC Divisional Playoff

Oakland Raiders 30, New York Jets 10

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets	3	7	0	0	10
Raiders	3	7	7	13	30

at Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland, California

• Game time: 4:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m. PST
• Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), mostly cloudy
• Game attendance: 62,207
• Referee: Dick Hantak
• TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel (play-by-play) and Phil Simms (color commentator), and Armen Keteyian (sideline reporter)

AFC Championship Game

Oakland Raiders 41, Tennessee Titans 24

	1	2	3	4	Total
Titans	7	10	7	0	24
Raiders	14	10	3	14	41

at Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland, California

• Game time: 6:30 p.m. EST/3:30 p.m. PST
• Game weather: 52 °F (11 °C), clear
• Game attendance: 62,544
• Referee: Ed Hochuli
• TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel (play-by-play), Phil Simms (color commentator), Armen Keteyian, and Bonnie Bernstein (sideline reporters)

Super Bowl XXXVII

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Oakland Raiders 21

	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders (AFC)	3	0	6	12	21
Buccaneers (NFC)	3	17	14	14	48

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

• Date: January 26, 2003
• Game time: 3:26 p.m. PST
• Game weather: 81 °F (27 °C), sunny
• Super Bowl XXXVII Box Score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP OAK TB 1 10:40 7 14 2:55 OAK 40-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski 3 0 1 7:51 9 58 2:49 TB 31-yard field goal by Martín Gramática 3 3 2 11:16 9 26 3:53 TB 43-yard field goal by Martín Gramática 3 6 2 6:24 4 27 2:02 TB Mike Alstott 2-yard touchdown run, Martín Gramática kick good 3 13 2 0:30 10 77 3:15 TB Keenan McCardell 5-yard touchdown reception from Brad Johnson, Martín Gramática kick good 3 20 3 5:30 14 89 7:52 TB Keenan McCardell 8-yard touchdown reception from B. Johnson, Martín Gramática kick good 3 27 3 4:47 — — — TB Interception returned 44 yards for touchdown by Dwight Smith, Martín Gramática kick good 3 34 3 2:14 8 82 2:33 OAK Jerry Porter 39-yard touchdown reception from Rich Gannon, 2-point pass no good 9 34 4 14:16 — — — OAK Eric Johnson 13-yard punt block return for a touchdown, 2-point pass no good 15 34 4 6:06 8 78 2:56 OAK Jerry Rice 48-yard touchdown reception from Rich Gannon, 2-point pass no good 21 34 4 1:18 — — — TB Interception returned 44 yards for touchdown by Derrick Brooks, Martín Gramática kick good 21 41 4 0:02 — — — TB Interception returned 50 yards for touchdown by Dwight Smith, Martín Gramática kick good 21 48 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 21 48

Awards and honors

• Rich Gannon, Bert Bell Award^[1]
• Rich Gannon, NFL MVP

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved 2012-08-03.

Raiders on Pro Football Reference