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 |
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.
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. 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. 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 the 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.
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