2002 Tennessee Titans season

The 2002 Tennessee Titans season was the 43rd season overall and 33rd with the league. The team improved upon their previous season's output of 7–9, managing eleven victories.^[1] The Titans qualified for the playoffs, but were unable to reach the Super Bowl, instead losing to the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Conference Championship.

Offseason

Personnel

Schedule

Notable Games

• September 8 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

|Weather= 90 °F (Mostly cloudy) For the third time in their history the Titans opened a football season in a different football division, this time in the debut Sunday of the AFC South after their AFL era in the league's Eastern division and then spending 32 seasons in the AFC Central. The Eagles, defending NFC East champs, gave up a 14-yard Steve McNair touchdown to Eddie George, but then behind three Donovan McNabb touchdown throws they raced to a 24–10 halftime lead. The Titans then shut down the Eagles offense as McNair and George helped score 17 unanswered Titans points, finishing up a 27–24 Titans win. The game was notable when Titans star lineman Jevon Kearse left the game with a broken foot and missed the next 12 games. Kearse stated, "I am really devastated that I cannot be out there [on the field] with my teammmates. But, it is an opportunity for someone else to step up." He later stated that he can recover from the injury fast so that he could "return in the open weeks."

• September 15 @ Dallas Cowboys

For only the second time since leaving Houston, the former Houston Oilers flew to Texas for football. The Cowboys were hosting the ex-Oilers a week after losing to Houston's present-day NFL squad, but fell behind 10–7 at the half. The game turned against the Titans in the third quarter as Dexter Coakley picked off McNair and ran back 52 yards for a touchdown; McNair later knocked himself out of the game when he ran to the sidelines and crashed into an equipment storage wagon, suffering a concussion. Quincy Carter connected with Joey Galloway from 38 yards out and wrapped up a 21–13 Cowboys win.

• September 22 vs. Cleveland Browns

|Weather= 79 °F (Mostly cloudy) This game marked the first time the Titans played against a former division foe from the old AFC Central, the Cleveland Browns. Tim Couch opened up the scoring on a 14-yard throw to André Davis in the first quarter. Eddie George and McNair answered with a pair of touchdowns, then Andre Dyson picked off Couch and ran the ball back 16 yards for a 21–7 halftime lead. Dennis Northcutt ran back a punt 74 yards for a Cleveland score in the third quarter, and in the fourth a McNair score to Kevin Dyson was answered by two Couch touchdowns, forcing overtime, and Phil Dawson finished it off from 33 yards out and a 31–28 Browns win.

• October 27 @ Cincinnati Bengals

The 0–6 Bengals blew a chance to win late amid a 30–24 Titans lead when, at the Titans goal line, Corey Dillon tripped over Matt O'Dwyer and fell a yard short of a touchdown. The gaffe wiped out a 138-yard day by Dillon and the now-3-4 Titans had gathered momentum to finish out the season.

• November 3, 2002 @ Indianapolis Colts

The Titans made their first trip to Indianapolis since winning in the 1999 playoffs and raced to a 23–0 lead. The Colts fumbled in the second quarter and Keith Bulluck ran back a 61-yard touchdown. Steve McNair threw only 19 times with 14 completions for 92 yards and one touchdown, while Peyton Manning had to throw for 327 yards for two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Still, he was unable to lead a comeback, and the Titans won by a final score of 23–15.

• December 1 @ New York Giants

Present Titans quarterback Steve McNair played despite missing practice due to injuries incurred throughout the season, and matched up against the man who would eventually captain the Titans under center, Kerry Collins. The 6–5 Giants took a 10–7 lead after a Collins score to Dan Campbell, while McNair grabbed the Titans a 14–10 halftime lead on two touchdown throws. A second Collins touchdown (to Ron Dixon) was followed by an exchange of field goals, a missed Joe Nedney FG try, a Tiki Barber rushing score marred by a missed two-point try, and McNair touchdown throw to Frank Wycheck and McNair two-point run with seven seconds left in regulation. In overtime the Titans clawed downfield and Nedney finished it off after five minutes on a 38-yard field goal and a 32–29 Titans win.

• December 29 @ Houston Texans

The former Oilers returned to Houston for the first time since 1996, and a game of field goals ended in a four-yard Eddie George touchdown run, his first in Houston since a six-yard touchdown against Jacksonville in December 1996 at the Astrodome. The win wrapped up Tennessee's first division title in two years and first in the AFC South.

Playoffs

References