The 2002 season was the Detroit Lions' 73rd in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). It was the Lions’ inaugural season at the new Ford Field in Downtown Detroit and their first in the city since the team left Tiger Stadium after the 1974 season. Following the season, Marty Mornhinweg was fired and

Steve Mariucci Stephen Ray Mariucci (born November 4, 1955), nicknamed "Mooch", is an American sportscaster and former football coach who was the head coach of two National Football League teams, the San Francisco 49ers (1997–2002) and the Detroit Lions (200 ...

was hired as the Lions' head coach. The Lions entered the 2002 season looking to improve on their 2–14 record from 2001 and make the playoffs for the first time since

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

. They improved on their record, winning 3 games. However, the new stadium didn't help the team overall, and they continued to disappoint, beginning the season with three consecutive losses. By week 9, the Lions had a 3–5 record after a win over the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

. However, after that win, the Lions lost their remaining 8 games to finish the season 3–13 and failed to reach the playoffs. The Lions also went 0–8 on the road for the second straight season. As a result, Marty Mornhinweg was fired after the season. In his 2 seasons as head coach, the Lions went 5–27 for a winning percentage of .156.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Undrafted free agents

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

In addition to their regular games against

NFC North The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and tough r ...

rivals, the Lions under the NFL's new scheduling formula played games against teams from the NFC South and from the AFC East. They also played the

and Arizona Cardinals, who had the fourth best records from 2001 of the teams placed in their respective divisions.

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1: at Miami Dolphins

Week 2: at Carolina Panthers

Week 3: vs. Green Bay Packers

Week 4: vs. New Orleans Saints

Week 6: at Minnesota Vikings

Week 7: vs. Chicago Bears

Week 8: at Buffalo Bills

Week 9: vs. Dallas Cowboys

Week 10: at Green Bay Packers

Week 11: vs. New York Jets

Week 12: at Chicago Bears

Week 13: vs. New England Patriots

Week 14: at Arizona Cardinals

Week 15: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 16: at Atlanta Falcons

Week 17: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Standings

References

External links

2002 Detroit Lions
at Pro-Football-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2002 Detroit Lions Season Detroit Lions Detroit Lions seasons Detroit Lions