2002 New England Patriots season

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2002 New England Patriots season
OwnerRobert Kraft
Head coachBill Belichick
Home fieldGillette Stadium[1]
Results
Record9–7
Division place2nd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersST Larry Izzo
CB Ty Law
SS Lawyer Milloy
DT Richard Seymour
K Adam Vinatieri
C Damien Woody
AP All-ProsK Adam Vinatieri (1st team)
Uniform

The 2002 season was the New England Patriots' 33rd in the National Football League (NFL), their 43rd overall and their third under head coach Bill Belichick. They finished with a 9–7 record, good enough for second in the division but not a playoff berth. It was their first season at their new home field, Gillette Stadium, which replaced the adjacent Foxboro Stadium.

This was the first season since 1992 that Drew Bledsoe was not on the opening day roster, as he was traded to the Buffalo Bills during the offseason.

Following their victory in Super Bowl XXXVI seven months earlier, the Patriots played their first game in the new Gillette Stadium in the NFL's primetime Monday Night Football opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a win for the Patriots. After an additional two wins to begin the season, including a 44–7 road win against the division rival New York Jets, the team lost five of its next seven games, allowing an average of 137 rushing yards a game during that span. In the final week of the season, the Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins on an overtime Adam Vinatieri field goal to give both teams a 9–7 record. A few hours later, the Jets, who defeated the Patriots the week prior, also finished with a 9–7 record with a win over the Green Bay Packers. Due to their record against common opponents, after the Jets won the tiebreaker for the division title, both the Patriots and Dolphins were eliminated from the playoff contention.[2] The 2002 season was the only time the Patriots failed to win at least 10 games during the regular season in the Brady–Belichick era. It also marked the only season with Tom Brady as the primary starter that the team failed to make the playoffs, and until 2022 the only time that Brady lost three consecutive games. [3]

Offseason[edit]

Additions Subtractions
TE Cam Cleeland (Saints) QB Drew Bledsoe (Bills)
TE Christian Fauria (Seahawks) WR Terry Glenn (Packers)
WR Donald Hayes (Panthers) LB Bryan Cox (Saints)
DE Rick Lyle (Jets) WR Charles Johnson (Bills)
DT Brandon Mitchell (Seahawks)
TE Rod Rutledge (Texans)
CB Terrance Shaw (Raiders)

2002 NFL Draft[edit]

2002 New England Patriots draft
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Selection
1 21 Daniel Graham Tight end Colorado [4]
2 65 Deion Branch Wide receiver Louisville
4 117 Rohan Davey Quarterback LSU [5]
4 126 Jarvis Green Defensive end LSU [6]
7 237 Antwoine Womack Running back Virginia [7]
7 253 David Givens Wide receiver Notre Dame Compensatory pick

Staff[edit]

2002 New England Patriots staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Coaching assistants

Strength and conditioning

Final roster[edit]

2002 New England Patriots final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
53 active, 7 inactive, 5 practice squad

Regular season[edit]

Schedule[edit]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 9 Pittsburgh Steelers W 30–14 1–0 Gillette Stadium Recap
2 September 15 at New York Jets W 44–7 2–0 Giants Stadium Recap
3 September 22 Kansas City Chiefs W 41–38 (OT) 3–0 Gillette Stadium Recap
4 September 29 at San Diego Chargers L 14–21 3–1 Qualcomm Stadium Recap
5 October 6 at Miami Dolphins L 13–26 3–2 Pro Player Stadium Recap
6 October 13 Green Bay Packers L 10–28 3–3 Gillette Stadium Recap
7 Bye
8 October 27 Denver Broncos L 16–24 3–4 Gillette Stadium Recap
9 November 3 at Buffalo Bills W 38–7 4–4 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
10 November 10 at Chicago Bears W 33–30 5–4 Memorial Stadium Recap
11 November 17 at Oakland Raiders L 20–27 5–5 Network Associates Coliseum Recap
12 November 24 Minnesota Vikings W 24–17 6–5 Gillette Stadium Recap
13 November 28 at Detroit Lions W 20–12 7–5 Ford Field Recap
14 December 8 Buffalo Bills W 27–17 8–5 Gillette Stadium Recap
15 December 16 at Tennessee Titans L 7–24 8–6 The Coliseum Recap
16 December 22 New York Jets L 17–30 8–7 Gillette Stadium Recap
17 December 29 Miami Dolphins W 27–24 (OT) 9–7 Gillette Stadium Recap

Game summaries[edit]

Week 1: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers[edit]

Week 1: Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots
Period 1 2 34Total
Steelers 7 0 0714
Patriots 7 3 17330

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Game information

Week 2: at New York Jets[edit]

Week 2: New England Patriots at New York Jets
Period 1 2 34Total
Patriots 0 10 171744
Jets 0 0 707

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs[edit]

Week 3: Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Period 1 2 34OTTotal
Chiefs 3 7 721038
Patriots 0 9 821341

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Game information

Week 4: at San Diego Chargers[edit]

Week 4: New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers
Period 1 2 34Total
Patriots 7 7 0014
Chargers 7 7 7021

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

Game information

Week 5: at Miami Dolphins[edit]

Week 5: New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins
Period 1 2 34Total
Patriots 0 0 6713
Dolphins 6 10 7326

at Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

Game information

Week 6: vs. Green Bay Packers[edit]

Week 6: Green Bay Packers at New England Patriots
Period 1 2 34Total
Packers 0 14 7728
Patriots 0 3 0710

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Game information

Week 8: vs. Denver Broncos[edit]

Week 8: Denver Broncos at New England Patriots
Period 1 2 34Total
Broncos 7 14 0324
Patriots 0 7 3616

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Game information

Week 9: at Buffalo Bills[edit]

Week 9: New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills
Period 1 2 34Total
Patriots 7 10 14738
Bills 0 7 007

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 10: at Chicago Bears[edit]

Week 10: New England Patriots at Chicago Bears
Period 1 2 34Total
Patriots 0 6 101733
Bears 0 6 21330

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

Game information

Week 11: at Oakland Raiders[edit]

Week 11: New England Patriots at Oakland Raiders
Period 1 2 34Total
Patriots 3 3 7720
Raiders 3 14 7327

at Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland, California

Game information

Week 12: vs. Minnesota Vikings[edit]

Week 12: Minnesota Vikings at New England Patriots
Period 1 2 34Total
Vikings 0 7 7317
Patriots 7 14 0324

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Game information

Week 13: at Detroit Lions[edit]

Week 13: New England Patriots at Detroit Lions
Period 1 2 34Total
Patriots' 10 7 0320
Lions 3 3 3312

at Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

Game information

Week 14: vs. Buffalo Bills[edit]

Week 14: Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
Period 1 2 34Total
Bills 0 0 10717
Patriots 17 3 0727

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

  • Date: December 8, 2002
  • Game time: 1:00 pm
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 44 °F (7 °C)
  • Game attendance: 68,436
  • Referee: Jeff Triplette (42)
  • TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms and Armen Keteyian
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 15: at Tennessee Titans[edit]

Week 15: New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans
Period 1 2 34Total
Patriots 0 0 707
Titans 0 14 7324

at The Coliseum, Nashville, Tennessee

  • Date: December 16, 2002
  • Game time: 9:00 pm
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 57 °F (14 °C)
  • Game attendance: 68,809
  • Referee: Ron Winter (14)
  • TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, John Madden, and Melissa Stark
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 16: vs. New York Jets[edit]

Week 16: New York Jets at New England Patriots
Period 1 2 34Total
Jets 14 3 31030
Patriots 7 3 7017

at Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts

  • Date: December 22, 2002
  • Game time: 8:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 40 °F (4 °C)
  • Game attendance: 68,436
  • Referee: Tony Corrente (99)
  • TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick, Paul Maguire, Joe Theismann, and Suzy Kolber
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 17: vs. Miami Dolphins[edit]

Week 17: Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots
Period 1 2 34OTTotal
Dolphins 7 14 03024
Patriots 0 10 311327

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Game information

Standings[edit]

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(4) New York Jets 9 7 0 .563 4–2 6–6 359 336 W2
New England Patriots 9 7 0 .563 4–2 6–6 381 346 W1
Miami Dolphins 9 7 0 .563 2–4 7–5 378 301 L2
Buffalo Bills 8 8 0 .500 2–4 5–7 379 397 W1

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ "New Stadium Has Face Value". Hartford Courant. August 6, 2002. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  2. ^ "New England 27, Miami 24, OT". Yahoo! Sports. December 29, 2002. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  3. ^ "Tom Brady loses third game in a row for first time since 2002 as Bucs fall to Ravens". CBS Sports. October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  4. ^ The Patriots traded their first-, third- and seventh-round draft picks to the Washington Redskins for the Redskins' first-round pick. Patriots.com summary. Archived May 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ The Patriots traded fourth- and fifth-round draft picks to the Denver Broncos for the Broncos' fourth-round pick. The Patriots received the fifth-round pick in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the Patriots' sixth-round pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. Patriots.com summary Archived May 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ The Patriots received a fourth-round pick from the Green Bay Packers in a trade for Terry Glenn and a conditional pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. Patriots.com summary Archived May 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ The Patriots traded a fifth-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for the Cowboys' fifth- and seventh-round draft picks. Patriots.com summary Archived May 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]