The 2002 season was the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

' 33rd 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), their 43rd season overall and their second under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Herman Edwards. The team tried to improve upon their 10–6 record from

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

but failed to do so after a 2–5 start. However, the Jets recovered and finished 9–7, winning their second

AFC East The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). There are currently four teams that reside in the d ...

division title. After a 24–21 week 8 loss to the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

at the Meadowlands dropped the Jets' season record to 2–5, head coach Herman Edwards gave his famous "You play to win the game" response to a question in his press conference the following Tuesday. Edwards' vigorous defense of his team's refusal to quit, along with the midseason debut of quarterback Chad Pennington, helped spark the Jets' turnaround. After posting a stunning rout of the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

by a score of 41–0 at the Meadowlands in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, they lost for the second year in a row to the eventual AFC champion

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, 30–10 in the Divisional round. As of the 2021 season, this is the Jets' most recent AFC East division title.

Offseason

2002 Expansion Draft

2002 NFL Draft

Undrafted free agents

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Under the NFL's newly established schedule rotation, during the 2002 regular season the Jets played against all of the teams from the

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...

, as well as the

from the

AFC North The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was adopted after the restructuring of the 2002 NFL s ...

and the Jacksonville Jaguars from the

AFC South The American Football Conference – Southern Division or AFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season, 2002 s ...

, who finished in the same positions as the Jets in their respective divisions in 2001. Their non-conference opponents were from the NFC North.

Game summaries

Week 1: at Buffalo Bills

Week 2: vs. New England Patriots

Week 3: at Miami Dolphins

Week 4: at Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 5: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 7: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Week 8: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 9: at San Diego Chargers

Week 10: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week 11: at Detroit Lions

Week 12: vs. Buffalo Bills

Week 13: at Oakland Raiders

Week 14: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 15: at Chicago Bears

Week 16: at New England Patriots

Week 17: vs. Green Bay Packers

Standings

Playoffs

AFC Wild Card Playoff Game: vs. Indianapolis Colts

This game turned out to be the Jets' last home playoff game at Giants Stadium, and as of 2021, it is also their last home playoff game to date.

AFC Divisional Playoff Game: at Oakland Raiders

External links

2002 team stats
{{2002 NFL season by team AFC East championship seasons New York Jets seasons

New York Jets season 21st century in East Rutherford, New Jersey Meadowlands Sports Complex