The
National Football League playoffs
The National Football League (NFL) playoffs is the annual single-elimination tournament held to determine the league champion. The four-round tournament is held after the league's regular season. Since the 2020 season, seven teams from each of ...
for the
2001 season began on January 12, 2002. The postseason tournament concluded with the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
defeating the
St. Louis Rams in
Super Bowl XXXVI, 20–17, on February 3, at the
Louisiana Superdome
Caesars Superdome (originally Louisiana Superdome and formerly Mercedes-Benz Superdome), commonly known as the Superdome, is a domed multi-purpose stadium in the Southern United States, southern United States, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...
in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
.
Until the
2020 season, this was the last season that three
wild card teams qualified for the playoffs in each conference, and the last time a wild card team from each conference hosted a postseason game. The addition of the
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...
to the league in 2002 led to a realignment to eight divisions. The number of playoff berths remained six per conference, meaning one wild card berth per conference was eliminated and there would be no more meetings between wild card teams in the first round. As was the case prior to 2002, division champions retain priority for higher seeding and home field advantage regardless of records. Under the 2002 system, the only way two wild card teams in the same conference could meet in the playoffs would be for both teams to each win two road games to advance to the conference championship game hosted by the fifth seed, which never occurred. Under the current playoff format, wild card qualifiers can meet in any playoff round except the wild card round.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
The
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
led the league to postpone its September 16–17 games and play them a week after the scheduled conclusion of the regular season. This caused the playoffs and Super Bowl to be delayed by one week. This thus marked the first time in NFL history that the Super Bowl was played in February. No bye week was originally scheduled between the conference championships and the Super Bowl this season, so the NFL had to work diligently to get the final game in New Orleans rescheduled, including having alternative plans to host the Super Bowl in another city.
For the first time, the NFL scheduled
prime time
Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
playoff games for the first two rounds in an attempt to attract more television viewers. Saturday wild card and divisional playoff games were moved from 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
EST to 4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively. Concurrently, the league abandoned its general practice of scheduling colder, northern playoff games for daylight hours only; any stadium, regardless of evening January temperatures, could host prime time playoff games.
In the United States,
ABC broadcast the first two Wild Card playoff games, then
CBS broadcast the rest of the
AFC playoff games.
Fox televised the rest of the
NFC games and
Super Bowl XXXVI.
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 12, 2002
NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9
Eagles quarterback
Donovan McNabb
Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college ...
threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 54 yards, as Philadelphia dominated Tampa Bay from start to finish. Bucs quarterback
Brad Johnson was intercepted four times, twice by
Damon Moore. It was the second consecutive season in which Philadelphia eliminated Tampa Bay from the playoffs during the wild card round, and two days later, Buccaneers coach
Tony Dungy was fired.
On the Eagles first drive of the game, Buccaneers safety
Dexter Jackson intercepted a pass from McNabb and returned it nine yards to the Eagles 36-yard line, setting up a 36-yard field goal from
Martín Gramática. But McNabb made up for his mistake with a 39-yard run on third down and 5 on Philadelphia's ensuing possession, setting up a field goal for
David Akers
David Roy Akers (; born December 9, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a kicker in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He began his career in 1998 with the Wa ...
that tied the game, 3–3. In the second quarter, McNabb completed all four of his passes for 70 yards on a 73-yard drive, including a 41-yard completion to
Todd Pinkston, that ended with a 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end
Chad Lewis. Tampa responded with a 10-play, 65-yard drive, but once again could not dent the end zone and had to settle for another Gramatica field goal, cutting their deficit to 10–6. Later in the quarter, Eagles punter
Sean Landeta pinned the Buccaneers back at their own 5-yard line and Tampa Bay could not get a first down with their next drive. After receiving
Mark Royals' short 28-yard punt at the Buccaneers 31-yard line, McNabb threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to
Duce Staley with 35 seconds left in the half. But Tampa Bay managed to respond with Gramatica's third field goal before halftime, set up by a 46-yard reception from
Keyshawn Johnson, cutting their deficit to 17–9.
But Tampa Bay was completely dominated in the second half. Moore recorded his first interception from Brad Johnson at the Eagles 38-yard line on the Buccaneers opening drive of the third quarter. Later on, the Eagles drove 60 yards in six plays and scored on a 25-yard touchdown run from rookie
Correll Buckhalter. Johnson tried to rally his team back with a pair of drives deep into Eagles territory, but both of them were ended with interceptions. First, cornerback
Troy Vincent picked off a pass from Johnson in the end zone with 4:09 left in the third quarter. Then late in the fourth quarter, safety
Brian Dawkins intercepted Johnson on Philadelphia's 3-yard line. Following a punt, Moore put the game away by recording his second interception and returning it 59 yards for a touchdown.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Buccaneers and Eagles. Both teams previously split the two prior meetings.
AFC: Oakland Raiders 38, New York Jets 24
The Raiders defeated the Jets in a high scoring shootout, outgaining them in total yards 502 to 410, and holding them off in a wild, 36-point fourth quarter. Quarterback
Rich Gannon completed 23 of 29 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns. 39-year-old wide receiver
Jerry Rice had a superb performance, catching nine passes for 183 yards and a touchdown. His nine receptions tied a franchise playoff record held by
Cliff Branch and
Fred Biletnikoff. Running back
Charlie Garner ran 80 yards for a touchdown to clinch the game with 1:27 remaining. He finished the game with 156 rushing yards on just 15 carries, along with three receptions for 26 yards. Jets quarterback
Vinny Testaverde
Vincent Frank Testaverde Sr. (; born November 13, 1963) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning con ...
threw for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Running back
Curtis Martin added 106 rushing yards, while receiver
Laveranues Coles caught eight passes for 123 yards.
Following a missed field goal by Jets kicker
John Hall on the opening drive, Oakland kicker
Sebastian Janikowski
Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former professional player of American football who was a placekicker for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college fo ...
made two field goals to give his team a 6–0 first quarter lead. In the second quarter, Hall and Janikowski both made field goals before Oakland scored the first touchdown of the game on a 66-yard drive that ended with
Tim Brown's 2-yard touchdown reception to make the score 16–3 with 22 seconds left in the half.
Early in the third quarter, Testaverde narrowed the score to 16–10 with a 17-yard touchdown pass to
Wayne Chrebet. Later in the quarter, Raiders safety
Johnnie Harris stripped the ball from fullback
Richie Anderson and defensive tackle
Grady Jackson recovered the ball for Oakland on their own 45-yard line. After a short run by Garner, Gannon's 47-yard completion to Rice moved the ball to the Jets 4-yard line. A few plays later, fullback
Zack Crockett scored a 2-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving the Raiders a 24–10 lead. But instead of putting the game away, Crockett's score set off a wild scoring explosion from both teams, who ended up combining for 36 points in the final quarter as Testaverde desperately tried to rally his team back.
The Jets responded by driving 64 yards in 10 plays and scoring with Testaverde's 4-yard touchdown pass to Anderson. But Oakland stormed back with a 68-yard, seven play scoring drive. After a 21-yard completion to Rice and a 20-yard strike to
Jerry Porter on third down and 8, Gannon threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Rice with 5:53 left in regulation. Testaverde once again responded, completing a four-yard touchdown pass to Chrebet on fourth down and goal to make it 31–24 with 1:57 left. Because the Jets had two timeouts left, coach
Herm Edwards decided not to attempt an
onside kick. New York's defense managed to stuff running back
Tyrone Wheatley on two straight plays, but on third down, Garner took off down the right sideline for an 80-yard touchdown run, the longest in Raiders postseason history.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Jets and Raiders. New York won both prior meetings.
Sunday, January 13, 2002
NFC: Green Bay Packers 25, San Francisco 49ers 15
The 2001 NFC wild card game between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers shares the title of the best wild card round matchup by record (along with the
1999 AFC Wild Card, between the 11-5 Buffalo Bills and 13-3 Tennessee Titans, and 2020 AFC Wild Card between the 11-5 Indianapolis Colts and 13-3 Buffalo Bills), with a combined mark of 24-8. The game was also the only wild card game in the sixteen game era to feature two teams with twelve or more regular season wins, as both teams finished with a 12-4 mark. In frigid temperatures, the 49ers came into
Lambeau Field
Lambeau Field () is an outdoor athletic stadium in the East North Central states, north central United States, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The home field of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), it opened in 1957 Green ...
and stood toe-to-toe with the Packers for most of the afternoon until being put away by a superb second half performance from Packers quarterback
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 cons ...
.
Favre completed six of eight passes for 43 yards in the first half, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to
Antonio Freeman that gave the Packers a 6–0 lead after San Francisco defensive tackle
Dana Stubblefield blocked the extra point. The Packers defense limited San Francisco to just 53 yards and a blocked field goal on their first four drives, but the 49ers closed out the half with a 15-play, 86-yard drive that took seven minutes off the clock. Quarterback
Jeff Garcia completed six of nine passes for 61 yards on the drive, and running back
Garrison Hearst capped it off with a 2-yard touchdown run to give his team a 7–6 halftime lead. It marked the first time Green Bay had ever trailed at the end of the first half in a home playoff game since the famous
Ice Bowl in 1967.
However, Favre dominated the 49ers defense in the second half, completing 16 of 21 passes for 226 yards and leading his team to four scoring drives. First, he led the Packers 72 yards in 12 plays, completing two passes for 21 yards to
Bill Schroeder and a 22-yarder to Freeman en route to a 26-yard field goal by
. After a San Francisco punt, Favre led his team to the end zone in just three plays, tossing a 12-yard completion to fullback
William Henderson, following it up with a 51-yard strike to
Corey Bradford, and then finishing the drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to
Bubba Franks with 3:26 left in the third quarter, giving the Packers a 15–7 lead after the 49ers defense tackled
Donald Driver short of the end zone on a two-point conversion attempt.
In the fourth quarter, Hearst's 22-yard reception and 10-yard run set up a 14-yard touchdown pass from Garcia to
Tai Streets, who also caught a subsequent 2-point conversion pass to tie the game at 15. But Green Bay responded with a 49-yard drive and retook the lead with a 45-yard field goal from Longwell. Then on San Francisco's ensuing possession, cornerback
Mike McKenzie deflected a pass from Garcia into the arms of
Tyrone Williams for an interception on the Packers 7-yard line. Favre took over from there, leading the Packers on an 8-play 93-yard drive for the game clinching touchdown, featuring two key third down completions by Favre. The first was a 37-yard completion to Freeman on third down and 7. Later, Driver caught a 12-yard pass on the 49ers 9-yard line on third down and 6. On the next play, running back
Ahman Green scored on a 9-yard touchdown run with 1:55 left in regulation.
Favre completed 22 of 29 passes for 269 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Garcia completed 22 of 32 passes for 233 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
This was the fifth postseason meeting between the 49ers and Packers. Green Bay previously won three of the four prior meetings.
AFC: Baltimore Ravens 20, Miami Dolphins 3
The Ravens recorded 222 rushing yards, while limiting the Dolphins to 151 total yards and nine first downs, while forcing three turnovers and three sacks. Baltimore running back
Terry Allen ran for 109 yards and a touchdown, while quarterback
Elvis Grbac completed 12 of 18 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. Throughout the day, the Dolphins were unable to move the ball on the ground. Running backs
Travis Minor and
Lamar Smith were held to a combined total of 20 yards on 11 carries, while quarterback
Jay Fiedler ended up as the leading rusher with 16 yards. In contrast, the Ravens called 50 running plays, gained 222 rushing yards, and held the ball for 38 minutes.
The Dolphins' only score was
Olindo Mare's 33-yard field goal just two minutes into the game, after linebacker
Tommy Hendricks recovered a fumble from Baltimore's
Jermaine Lewis on the opening kickoff. In the second quarter, the Ravens finished a 17-play, 90-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run from Allen to take a 7–3 lead. Baltimore later had a chance to increase their lead before halftime when linebacker
Peter Boulware recovered Minor's fumble on the Dolphins 41-yard line, but their ensuing drive ended without points when
Matt Stover missed a 40-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the half.
Later in the game, Grbac led the Ravens on a 99-yard scoring drive, featuring a 45-yard completion to
Travis Taylor on third down and 1. Taylor finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown catch to give the Ravens a 14–3 lead with 1:20 left in the third quarter.
Early in the final quarter, Boulware forced a fumble while sacking Fiedler that Ravens defensive tackle
Sam Adams recovered on the Dolphins 37-yard line, leading to Stover's 35-yard field goal with 11:26 left in the game. The Dolphins responded with a drive to the Ravens 41. On first and 10, Fiedler's 40-yard pass to
James McKnight at the Ravens 5-yard line bounced off the receiver's shoulder and was intercepted by cornerback
Duane Starks, who returned the ball 26 yards to the 28-yard line. Baltimore's offense subsequently drove 50 yards and took 6:30 off the clock, including five carries by
Jason Brookins for 36 yards, setting up Stover's second field goal to put the game away.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Ravens and Dolphins.
Divisional playoffs
Saturday, January 19, 2002
NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 33, Chicago Bears 19
The Bears surprised everyone by finishing atop the NFC Central with a 13–3 record behind quarterback
Jim Miller. But after the Eagles jumped to a 6–0 lead, Miller was taken out of the game in the second quarter with a separated shoulder. Although Miller's replacement,
Shane Matthews, led the Bears to a touchdown (a 47-yard reverse by
Ahmad Merritt), and
Jerry Azumah's 39-yard interception return briefly put the Bears back in the lead early in the second half, the Eagles controlled most of the rest of the game. Matthews threw for only 66 yards and was intercepted twice. Meanwhile, Eagles quarterback
Donovan McNabb
Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college ...
threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another touchdown.
The Eagles controlled the first quarter, scoring with two field goals by
David Akers
David Roy Akers (; born December 9, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a kicker in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He began his career in 1998 with the Wa ...
while holding the Bears to 25 offensive yards and one first down. In the second quarter, Miller led the Bears to Philadelphia's 25-yard line before throwing an interception to safety
Damon Moore. On the ensuing interception return, defensive end
Hugh Douglas drove Miller to the ground, separating his shoulder and knocking him out of the game. Douglas was later fined $35,000 for the hit. Merritt's 47-yard touchdown run gave the Bears a 7–6 lead with 5:27 left in the quarter. But McNabb led the Eagles back, driving 69 yards in 11 plays, including a 9-yard completion to tight end
Jeff Thomason on fourth down and 1 from the Bears 27-yard line. Four plays later, McNabb finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to fullback
Cecil Martin, giving his team a 13–7 lead with just 14 seconds left in the half. The Eagles finished the half with 230 yards and held the ball over 20 minutes, while holding the Bears to 88 yards.
On the first drive of the second half, cornerback
R. W. McQuarters deflected a pass from McNabb into the arms of Azumah, who returned it 39 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 14–13 lead. Later on, Chicago punter
Brad Maynard's 15-yard punt gave the Eagles a first down on the Bears 36-yard line. Following a key 30-yard reception by Thomason on third down and 14, McNabb threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to
Duce Staley, giving the Eagles a 20–14 lead with 5:55 left in the third quarter. Chicago responded with an 11-play, 44-yard drive that ended with a field goal from
Paul Edinger, but the Eagles struck back with an 11-play drive of their own, driving 45 yards and scoring with Akers' third field goal. Then
Autry Denson fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Philadelphia rookie
Quinton Caver recovered it, setting up Akers' fourth field goal. McNabb added another touchdown on a 5-yard run with 3:21 left to put the game away, while the Bears only other score was an intentional safety from Eagles punter
Sean Landeta on the last play of the game. This game was the last one ever played at the old
Soldier Field
Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...
as the stadium was closed for major renovations, thus marking the Philadelphia Eagles the last team to win at the legendary stadium.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Eagles and Bears. Both teams split the prior two meetings.
AFC: New England Patriots 16, Oakland Raiders 13 ()
This game has become a part of NFL lore. It was the final contest in the history of
Foxboro Stadium
Foxboro Stadium, originally Schaefer Stadium and later Sullivan Stadium, was an outdoor stadium in the New England region of the United States, located in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It opened in 1971 and served as the home of the New England ...
, played under heavy snowfall. It is best remembered for a call near the end of the game with Oakland protecting a three-point lead. The referees initially ruled that New England quarterback
Tom Brady
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...
had fumbled on a pass attempt. Invoking the "
tuck rule", where a ball is ruled an incomplete pass after the quarterback starts any forward motion, the referee overturned the decision after reviewing the
instant replay
Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred, both shot and broadcast live TV, live.
After being shown live, the video is replayed so viewers can see it again and analyze what just happened.
Spo ...
, calling the drop an incomplete pass rather than a fumble.
Both teams struggled in the heavy snow storm during the first half, combining for the same number of punts as first downs (11) and converting only one of 13 third downs. However, Raiders quarterback
Rich Gannon was efficient, completing 10 of 14 passes for 87 yards. The closest either team would come to scoring in the first quarter would be New England's drive to the Oakland 31-yard line, which ended when Brady threw an incomplete pass on fourth and 2. With 1:12 left in the quarter, a 15-yard fair catch interference penalty against Patriots safety
Je'Rod Cherry
Je'Rod LePatrick Cherry (born May 30, 1973) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a safety (American football position), safety in the National Football League (NFL) from 1996 NFL season, 1996 to 2004 NFL ...
at the end of
Ken Walter's 39-yard punt gave Oakland a first down at midfield, where they drove to a 7-0 lead on Gannon's 13-yard touchdown pass to
James Jett. A few plays later, Raiders safety
Johnnie Harris intercepted a pass from Brady on the Patriots 41-yard line, but New England's defense managed to force a punt, which would be the final result of every following drive until the end of the half.
In the second half, things began to open up, especially for New England, who almost completely abandoned their running game and relied on Brady. He ended up completing 26 of 39 passes for 238 yards in the second half. On the opening drive of the third quarter, he completed passes to
David Patten for gains of 25 and 19 yards as he led the Patriots 62 yards in 12 plays to the Raiders' 5-yard line, where
Adam Vinatieri made a 23-yard field goal to make it 7–3.
Terry Kirby returned the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to the Oakland 37-yard line, where the Raiders responded with a 10-play, 43-yard drive to score on a 38-yard field goal from
Sebastian Janikowski
Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former professional player of American football who was a placekicker for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college fo ...
. Then after Walter's 33-yard punt gave the Raiders a first down on their own 49, a 22-yard reception by receiver
Jerry Rice set up Janikowski's second field goal, giving the Raiders a 13–3 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Brady led the Patriots on a 10-play, 67-yard drive, completing nine consecutive passes for 61 yards and finishing it with a 6-yard touchdown run that made the score 13-10. Later in the quarter, Patriots receiver
Troy Brown returned
Shane Lechler's 37-yard punt 27 yards to the Patriots 46-yard line. Brown fumbled the ball at the end of the return, but Pats linebacker
Larry Izzo recovered it with 2:06 left on the clock. A few plays later, the "tuck" incident occurred. As Brady dropped back to pass, he lost the ball while being tackled by former college teammate
Charles Woodson, and Oakland linebacker
Greg Biekert recovered it with 1:47 left. However, an official
instant replay
Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred, both shot and broadcast live TV, live.
After being shown live, the video is replayed so viewers can see it again and analyze what just happened.
Spo ...
review caused referee
Walt Coleman to overturn the fumble, ruling Brady's arm had been moving forward while being tackled and making the play an incomplete pass. Taking advantage of his second chance, Brady completed a 13-yard pass to Patten and rushed for a 1-yard gain that moved the team to the Raiders 28-yard line, where Vinatieri made a 45-yard field goal with 27 seconds left, a dramatic kick through heavy snowfall that barely cleared the crossbar, sending the game into overtime.
New England won the coin toss and drove 63 yards in 14 plays for the winning field goal, with Brady completing eight consecutive passes for 45 yards, including a 20-yard completion to
J. R. Redmond and a 6-yard pass to Patten at the Raiders' 22-yard line on fourth down and 4 to keep the drive alive. While Vinatieri's game-tying kick had the wind at his back, this drive was into the wind and the Patriots wanted to move closer. Following five runs from
Antowain Smith for 15 yards and one from Brady for 2, and after a drive of more than eight minutes, Vinatieri and Walter cleared snow away from where the ball would be spotted. Vinatieri then gave New England its first lead of the game, making a 23-yard field goal to win.
Patten was the sole offensive star of the day, catching eight passes for 107 yards.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Raiders and Patriots. Both teams previously split the prior two meetings.
Sunday, January 20, 2002
AFC: Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Baltimore Ravens 10
Steelers running back
Jerome Bettis, sidelined for much of the regular season, was scheduled to make his return in the first playoff game at their new home,
Heinz Field, but was sidelined at the last minute due to a painkiller mishap. It did not matter as the Pittsburgh offense rushed for 150 yards and held the ball for over 40 minutes. Their defense limited the defending champion Ravens to 150 yards and seven first downs, forced four turnovers, and recorded three sacks. Bettis' replacement,
Amos Zereoué, rushed for two touchdowns. The first half was a disaster for Baltimore. Their first six drives resulted in two interceptions, three punts without gaining a first down, and a fumble. Steelers cornerback
Chad Scott started out the dominance by intercepting Baltimore quarterback
Elvis Grbac's first pass of the game and returning it 19 yards to the Ravens 43-yard line. Pittsburgh's offense subsequently gained 37 yards on their first three plays. Linebacker
Jamie Sharper managed to halt the drive by tackling
Chris Fuamatu-Maʻafala for a 1-yard loss on third down and goal, but
Kris Brown kicked a field goal to give Pittsburgh a 3–0 lead. The next time Baltimore had the ball, they were forced to punt after linebacker
Mike Jones sacked Grbac for a 10-yard loss on third down and 10. Pittsburgh's offense then drove 51 yards in seven plays, featuring two completions from
Kordell Stewart to receivers
Plaxico Burress and
Hines Ward
Hines Edward Ward Jr. (born March 8, 1976) is an American American football, football coach and former player who is the wide receivers coach for Arizona State Sun Devils football, Arizona State. He played as a wide receiver in the National Foo ...
for gains of 17 and 20 yards. Zereoue finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 10–0.
In the second quarter, Baltimore cornerback
Chris McAlister gave the offense a great chance to score when he intercepted a pass from Stewart and returned it 18 yards to the Steelers 7-yard line. But on the next play, safety
Brent Alexander intercepted Grbac's pass in the end zone for a touchback. The Steelers took over and drove to the Ravens 9-yard line, but on third down, Stewart was sacked for an 8-yard loss by
Larry Webster and Brown's ensuing field goal attempt was wide left. Following another three and out for Baltimore, receiver
Troy Edwards returned their punt 27-yards to the Ravens 43-yard line, setting up Zereoue's second touchdown run. Then linebacker
Jason Gildon recovered a fumble from
Terry Allen on Baltimore's next drive and the Steelers capitalized with a 46-yard field goal from Brown, increasing their lead to 20–0 with 4:23 left in the half. After going all this time without a single first down, Baltimore finally managed to respond on their next drive. Tight end
Shannon Sharpe caught four passes for 48 yards on an 11-play, 57-yard drive.
Matt Stover capped it off with a 26-yard field goal, cutting their deficit to 20–3 at halftime.
Late in the third quarter, Baltimore receiver
Jermaine Lewis returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown. But the Steelers responded by driving 83 yards in 12 plays and scoring with Stewart's 32-yard touchdown pass to Burress.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Ravens and Steelers.
NFC: St. Louis Rams 45, Green Bay Packers 17
The matchup between two of the league's highly rated quarterbacks — the Packers'
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 cons ...
and Rams'
Kurt Warner, who shared a combined total of five
NFL MVP awards, became lopsided thanks to St. Louis' improved defense, which forced eight turnovers. Although Favre threw for 281 yards, he tied a playoff record by tossing six interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns. The Packers generated most of their offense early in the contest, but the turnovers gave the Rams a 24–10 halftime lead. The Rams then returned two interceptions in the second half to put the game away.
Rams cornerback
Aeneas Williams opened up the scoring by returning an interception from Favre 29 yards for a touchdown. The next time Green Bay had the ball, they turned it over again when safety
Kim Herring stripped the ball from
Ahman Green and rookie
Adam Archuleta recovered it. However, the Rams were unable to take advantage of this turnover. A few plays later, Warner's pass was intercepted by
Darren Sharper on the Packers 35-yard line. Favre then completed a pair of passes to
Corey Bradford and
Donald Driver for gains of 27 and 16 yards, before tying the game with a 22-yard touchdown pass to
Antonio Freeman. But the Rams stormed right back with a 15-yard completion to
Az-Zahir Hakim and a 38-yard burst from running back
Marshall Faulk
Marshall William Faulk (born February 26, 1973) is an American former professional American football, football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons and is the current running backs coach at the Colorado ...
advancing the ball to the Packers 11-yard line. Two plays later, Warner completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to
Torry Holt to put the Rams back in the lead. Then on Green Bay's next drive, Herring intercepted a pass from Favre and returned it 45 yards to the Packers 4-yard line, setting up a 4-yard touchdown catch by fullback
James Hodgins early in the second quarter.
Allen Rossum returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, but a holding penalty on
Torrance Marshall eliminated the score. Green Bay still managed to score with a
field goal, but Rams kicker
Jeff Wilkins responded with a field goal of his own to give the Rams a 24–10 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Rams scored two touchdowns in a span of 92 seconds. On Green Bay's opening drive, Green's 49-yard run moved the ball into Rams territory. But three plays later, Williams stripped the ball from Freeman, dove on it, then got up and returned it for a touchdown. A replay challenge overruled the score, showing Williams was down by contact when he recovered the fumble, but three plays later, Holt's 50-yard reception set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Faulk. Then on Green Bay's next possession, Rams defensive end
Grant Wistrom deflected a pass from Favre into the arms of linebacker
Tommy Polley, who returned the interception 34 yards for a touchdown.
In fourth quarter, the Rams defense scored again with another interception return from Williams, making him the first player ever to return two interceptions for touchdowns in a playoff game. Meanwhile, they managed to pin down the Packers, only allowing a meaningless score on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Freeman with 5:46 left in the game.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Packers and Rams, with Green Bay having won the only prior meeting when the Rams were previously in Los Angeles.
Conference championships
Sunday, January 27, 2002
AFC Championship: New England Patriots 24, Pittsburgh Steelers 17
The Patriots' storybook season continued as
Drew Bledsoe came into the game in the second quarter in place of an injured
Tom Brady
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...
– who replaced Bledsoe himself early in the season when he suffered a sheared blood vessel.
Both defenses controlled the game early on, and with just over four minutes left in the first quarter, the Steelers had to punt the ball from their own 13-yard line.
Josh Miller appeared to bail his team out with a 64-yard punt, but Steelers receiver
Troy Edwards was penalized for going out of bounds before tackling
Troy Brown on the return. This turned out to make a big difference, as the punt was redone and on the second attempt, Brown returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. Pittsburgh responded by driving 65 yards in 10 plays, one of them a 34-yard run by quarterback
Kordell Stewart, and scoring with a 30-yard field goal from
Kris Brown, cutting the score to 7–3.
Later on, with under two minutes left in the half, Brady completed a 28-yard pass to Brown at the Steelers 40-yard line, but was knocked out of the game by a hit from safety
Lethon Flowers. Bledsoe took over without missing a beat, rushing for four yards and completing three passes to
David Patten for 36 yards, the last one an 11-yard touchdown to give the Patriots a 14–3 lead.
On the first drive of the second half, New England linebacker
Tedy Bruschi recovered a fumbled snap on the Steelers 35-yard line. But the Patriots gained only two yards on their next four plays and ended up turning the ball over on downs. Pittsburgh subsequently drove 52 yards to the 16-yard line to set up Brown's second field goal attempt, but this time his kick was blocked by defensive tackle
Brandon Mitchell and Troy Brown recovered the ball. After returning it 11 yards, Brown threw a
lateral pass
In gridiron football, a lateral pass or lateral (officially backward pass in American football and onside pass in Canadian football), also called a pitch or a flip, occurs when the ball carrier throws or hands the football to a teammate in a dire ...
to
Antwan Harris, who took the ball the remaining 45 yards for a touchdown to increase New England's lead to 21–3.
The Steelers struck back with Stewart completing a 24-yard pass to
Hines Ward
Hines Edward Ward Jr. (born March 8, 1976) is an American American football, football coach and former player who is the wide receivers coach for Arizona State Sun Devils football, Arizona State. He played as a wide receiver in the National Foo ...
and a 19-yard
screen pass
A screen pass is a play in gridiron football consisting of a short pass to a receiver who is protected by a screen of blockers. During a screen pass, a number of things happen concurrently in order to fool the defense into thinking a long pass is ...
to
Amos Zereoué on an 8-play, 79-yard drive.
Jerome Bettis finished it off with a 1-yard touchdown run, cutting the score to 21–10 with 5:11 left in the third quarter. New England was forced to punt after linebacker
Jason Gildon sacked Bledsoe on third down, and Edwards returned the punt 28 yards to the Patriots 32-yard line. Five plays later, Zereoue scored with an 11-yard touchdown run, making the score 21–17.
Early in the fourth quarter,
Adam Vinatieri's 44-yard field goal at the end of a 45-yard drive increased New England's lead to 24–17. Later in the quarter, the Patriots made two key stops to clinch the victory. First, safety
Tebucky Jones intercepted a pass from Stewart and returned it 19 yards to the Steelers 34-yard line. Pittsburgh's defense managed to prevent a first down and Vinatieri missed a 50-yard field goal attempt that would have sealed the game, giving the Steelers the ball back on their own 40-yard line, but a few plays later,
Lawyer Milloy intercepted a pass from Stewart with 2:02 left to seal the game, and the Patriots were able to run out the clock.
Brown was the top offensive performer of the day with eight receptions for 121 yards, along with three punt returns for 80 yards. Brady completed 12 of 18 passes for 115 yards, while Bledsoe completed 10 of 21 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Patriots and Steelers. Both teams split their two prior meetings.
NFC Championship: St. Louis Rams 29, Philadelphia Eagles 24
The Eagles, a 12-point underdog, had a surprising 17–13 lead at halftime, and had not allowed more than 21 points per game during the season and playoffs. But the Rams roared back thanks to
Kurt Warner completing two-thirds of his passes for 212 yards and
Marshall Faulk
Marshall William Faulk (born February 26, 1973) is an American former professional American football, football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons and is the current running backs coach at the Colorado ...
's 159 yards rushing and two touchdowns to earn their second trip to the Super Bowl in three years.
Early in the first quarter,
Donovan McNabb
Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college ...
fumbled while being sacked by defensive end
Leonard Little, and
Brian Young recovered for the Rams at the Philadelphia 20-yard line. Five plays later, Warner threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to
Isaac Bruce. Philadelphia responded with an 11-play, 50-yard drive, featuring a 20-yard run by
Duce Staley, that ended with a 46-yard field goal by
David Akers
David Roy Akers (; born December 9, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a kicker in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He began his career in 1998 with the Wa ...
. Rams receiver
Yo Murphy returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards to his team's own 42-yard line before Warner completed a 20-yard pass to
Az-Zahir Hakim and Faulk rushed for 15 yards to set up a 27-yard field goal from
Jeff Wilkins, giving the Rams a 10–3 lead.
Early in the second quarter, Wilkins hit the crossbar on a 53-yard field goal attempt, and the Eagles took over on their 43-yard line. On the next play, rookie running back
Correll Buckhalter broke off a 31-yard run to the St. Louis 26. A few plays later, Staley finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game. But on the Rams next drive, a 31-yard run by Faulk set up 39-yard field goal by Wilkins, and the Rams retook the lead. But McNabb responded with two completions to
James Thrash for 27 yards and a 12-yard throw to
Chad Lewis before throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to
Todd Pinkston with 46 seconds left in the half.
St. Louis dominated the Eagles in the third quarter, holding the ball for 12:30 and limiting Philadelphia to just five offensive plays. Murphy fumbled the opening kickoff, but Rams rookie
Nick Sorensen recovered it. Following seven runs by Faulk for 27 yards, Warner completed a 21-yard pass to
Torry Holt at the Eagles 19-yard line, setting up Wilkins' third field goal to cut it to 17–16. Then after forcing a three-and-out, the Rams drove 71 yards in 10 plays, with Warner completing three passes to Bruce for 44 yards and a 16-yard pass to Holt at the Eagles 9-yard line. Faulk subsequently took the ball into the end zone with three consecutive running plays, giving the Rams a 22–17 lead after tight end
Ernie Conwell dropped Warner's pass on a two-point conversion attempt.
Philadelphia went three-and-out again on its next two possessions, and Faulk took advantage of an Eagles' defense that was on the field for most of the second half. On the Rams drive after the second punt, he broke a 25-yard run on third down and 1, caught a 10-yard pass, and then ran for eight yards before finally scoring a 1-yard touchdown run to increase the Rams lead to 29–17 with 6:55 left in the game. A 41-yard kickoff return to the Rams 48-yard line from
Brian Mitchell sparked an Eagles rally. McNabb led the Eagles 52 yards, completing an 11-yard pass to Lewis on fourth down and 8 and a 17-yard pass to Thrash before taking the ball across the goal line himself on a 3-yard run. After forcing a punt, the Eagles got the ball back on their own 45-yard line with 2:20 left. But on a fourth down and 7 conversion attempt, St. Louis cornerback
Aeneas Williams intercepted a pass intended for
Freddie Mitchell and the Rams held the ball for the rest of the game.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Eagles and Rams. Both teams split the two prior meetings when the Rams were previously in Los Angeles.
Super Bowl XXXVI: New England Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17
This was the first postseason meeting between the Rams and Patriots.
References
2001–02 NFL playoffs archivefrom CNNSI.com (Last accessed January 26, 2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:2001-02 NFL Playoffs
NFL playoffs
Playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
St. Louis Rams postseason