2002 Cleveland Browns season

54th season in franchise history

The 2002 season was the Cleveland Browns' 54th as a professional sports franchise, their 50th as a member of the National Football League, and the second season under head coach Butch Davis.

In their opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, linebacker Dwayne Rudd cost the Browns a victory when he threw his helmet in celebration unaware the play was still going on, incurring an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Because the clock expired during the play the Browns' unsportsmanlike conduct occurred on, per NFL rules, the Chiefs were given one untimed down. Chiefs' kicker Morten Andersen made the 30-yard field goal to win the game.

The Browns made their first playoff appearance since their re-activation. It was only the Browns' fourth year since returning to the league effectively as an expansion team, and their first winning season. The Browns faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild card round at Heinz Field. Despite a strong start with a 24–7 lead late in the third quarter, the Steelers would ultimately bounce back erasing a 17 point deficit, causing the Browns to lose 36–33. The Browns would not make the NFL playoffs again until 2020. The Browns owner Al Lerner stepped down on October 2 and died on October 23, 2002, from brain cancer. His son, Randy Lerner took over the team until 2012. The Browns wore a patch with the initials "AL" for the remainder of the season and became a fixture on their uniforms to commemorate Lerner.

Offseason

Additions Subtractions
T Ryan Tucker (Rams) LB Wali Rainer (Jaguars)
FS Robert Griffith (Vikings) T Roman Oben (Buccaneers)
LB Earl Holmes (Steelers) DE Greg Spires (Buccaneers)
DE Kenard Lang (Redskins) DE Keith McKenzie (Bears)

2002 NFL Draft

2002 Cleveland Browns Draft
Round Selection Player Position College
1 16 William Green Running back Boston College
2 47 André Davis Wide receiver Virginia Tech
3 76 Melvin Fowler Center Maryland
4 101 Kevin Bentley Linebacker Northwestern
4 111 Ben Taylor Linebacker Virginia Tech
4 122 Darnell Sanders Tight end Ohio State
5 141 Andra Davis Linebacker Florida
7 227 Joaquin Gonzalez Offensive tackle Miami

Undrafted free agents

2002 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Frisman Jackson Wide receiver Western Illinois
Kalvin Pearson Safety Grambling State

Personnel

2002 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office

  • Owner and chairman – Randy Lerner
  • President and chief executive officer – Carmen Policy
  • Director of Football Development – Pete Garcia
  • Pro Personnel Coordinator - Jeremy Green
  • Pro Personnel Coordinator - Steve Sabo
  • Director of college personnel – Phil Neri

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Head strength and conditioning – Tim Jorgensen
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Rob Phillips

Roster

2002 Cleveland Browns final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • 18 Dimitrius Breedlove WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 92 Courtney Brown DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 74 Felipe Claybrooks DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 49 Chris Eitzmann TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 28 J. J. Johnson RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 71 MIchael Josiah DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 40 Ben Miller RB/Military Reserve
  • 95 Jamir Miller LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 61 Qasim Mitchell G/T (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 48 Rod Monroe TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 38 Earthwind Moreland CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 98 Thomas Pittman DT (NF-Inj.Tooltip Non-football injury and illness)
  • 80 Aaron Shea TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 58 Ben Taylor LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 52 active, 14 inactive, 5 practice squad

[1]

Regular season

Schedule

Apart from their AFC North division games, the Browns played against the AFC South and NFC South according to the NFL's new conference rotation, and played the Chiefs and Jets based on 2001 standings with respect to the newly aligned divisions.

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 8 Kansas City Chiefs L 39–40 0–1 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,938
2 September 15 Cincinnati Bengals W 20–7 1–1 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,358
3 September 22 at Tennessee Titans W 31–28 (OT) 2–1 Adelphia Coliseum 68,804
4 September 29 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 13–16 (OT) 2–2 Heinz Field 62,864
5 October 6 Baltimore Ravens L 21–26 2–3 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,688
6 October 13 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 3–17 2–4 Raymond James Stadium 65,625
7 October 20 Houston Texans W 34–17 3–4 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,248
8 October 27 at New York Jets W 24–21 4–4 Giants Stadium 78,502
9 November 3 Pittsburgh Steelers L 20–23 4–5 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,718
10 Bye
11 November 17 at Cincinnati Bengals W 27–20 5–5 Paul Brown Stadium 64,060
12 November 24 at New Orleans Saints W 24–15 6–5 Louisiana Superdome 68,295
13 December 1 Carolina Panthers L 6–13 6–6 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,718
14 December 8 at Jacksonville Jaguars W 21–20 7–6 Alltel Stadium 46,267
15 December 15 Indianapolis Colts L 23–28 7–7 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,098
16 December 22 at Baltimore Ravens W 14–13 8–7 M&T Bank Stadium 68,348
17 December 29 Atlanta Falcons W 24–16 9–7 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,528

Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 1: Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Chiefs 7 7 32340
Browns 6 14 71239

at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Game information

First quarter

  • CLE – Phil Dawson 20-yard field goal, 12:36. Browns 3–0. Drive: 4 plays, 3 yards, 0:54.
  • KC – Tony Gonzalez 17-yard pass from Trent Green (Morten Andersen kick), 8:21. Chiefs 7–3. Drive: 8 plays, 73 yards, 4:15.
  • CLE – Phil Dawson 32-yard field goal, 3:16. Chiefs 7–6. Drive: 10 plays, 55 yards, 5:05.

Second quarter

  • CLE – Dennis Northcutt 43-yard pass from Kelly Holcomb (Phil Dawson kick), 12:19. Browns 13–7. Drive: 2 plays, 65 yards, 0:48.
  • KC – Priest Holmes 5-yard run (Morten Andersen kick), 8:41. Chiefs 14–13. Drive: 6 plays, 83 yards, 3:38.
  • CLE – Quincy Morgan 33-yard pass from Kevin Johnson (Phil Dawson kick), 5:38. Browns 20–14. Drive: 5 plays, 71 yards, 3:03.

Third quarter

  • CLE – André Davis 4-yard pass from Kelly Holcomb (Phil Dawson kick), 7:09. Browns 27–14. Drive: 14 plays, 80 yards, 7:51.
  • KC – Morten Andersen 33-yard field goal, 2:04. Browns 27–17. Drive: 9 plays, 42 yards, 5:05.

Fourth quarter

  • CLE – Phil Dawson 34-yard field goal, 11:19. Browns 30–17. Drive: 8 plays, 50 yards, 3:27.
  • KC – Priest Holmes 26-yard run (Morten Andersen kick), 9:06. Browns 30–24. Drive: 4 plays, 56 yards, 2:13.
  • KC – Priest Holmes 15-yard run (Morten Anderson kick), 8:05. Chiefs 31–30. Drive: 1 play, 15 yards, 0:07.
  • CLE – Quincy Morgan 44-yard pass from Kelly Holcomb (run failed), 5:52. Browns 36–31. Drive: 5 plays, 66 yards, 2:13.
  • KC – Priest Holmes 7-yard run (run failed), 3:05. Chiefs 37–36. Drive: 6 plays, 74 yards, 2:47.
  • CLE – Phil Dawson 41-yard field goal, 0:29. Browns 39–37. Drive: 7 plays, 45 yards, 2:36.
  • KC – Morten Andersen 30-yard field goal, 0:00. Chiefs 40–39. Drive: 4 plays, 53 yards, 0:29.

Top passers

  • KC – Trent Green – 20/29, 276 yards, TD, INT
  • CLE – Kelly Holcomb – 27/39, 326 yards, 3 TD

Top rushers

  • KC – Priest Holmes – 22 rushes, 122 yards, 4 TD
  • CLE – Jamel White – 12 rushes, 42 yards

Top receivers

  • KC – Eddie Kennison – 4 receptions, 120 yards
  • CLE – Quincy Morgan – 9 receptions, 151 yards, 2 TD

Week 8: at New York Jets

Week 8: Cleveland Browns at New York Jets – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Browns 3 3 15324
Jets 14 7 0021

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

First quarter

  • NYJ – Santana Moss 63-yard punt return (John Hall kick), 14:21. Jets 7–0.
  • CLE – Phil Dawson 23-yard field goal, 8:12. Jets 7–3. Drive: 10 plays, 74 yards, 6:09.
  • NYJ – Laveranues Coles 37-yard pass from Chad Pennington (John Hall kick), 5:57. Jets 14–3. Drive: 5 plays, 70 yards, 2:15.

Second quarter

  • NYJ – Wayne Chrebet 8-yard pass from Chad Pennington (John Hall kick), 14:23. Jets 21–3. Drive: 8 plays, 62 yards, 4:22.
  • CLE – Phil Dawson 26-yard field goal, 7:29. Jets 21–6. Drive: 7 plays, 41 yards, 3:39.

Third quarter

  • CLE – Mark Campbell 5-yard pass from Tim Couch (Phil Dawson kick), 4:40. Jets 21–13. Drive: 11 plays, 60 yards, 4:41.
  • CLE – André Davis 4-yard pass from Tim Couch (Tim Couch–Dennis Northcutt pass), 0:09. Tied 21–21. Drive: 3 plays, 11 yards, 1:26.

Fourth quarter

  • CLE – Phil Dawson 35-yard field goal, 3:30. Browns 24–21. Drive: 14 plays, 61 yards, 8:33.

Top passers

  • CLE – Tim Couch – 32/48, 294 yards, 2 TD
  • NYJ – Chad Pennington – 19/26, 183 yards, 2 TD, INT

Top rushers

  • CLE – Jamel White – 14 rushes, 25 yards
  • NYJ – Curtis Martin – 18 rushes, 65 yards

Top receivers

  • CLE – Kevin Johnson – 5 receptions, 73 yards
  • NYJ – Laveranues Coles – 5 receptions, 61 yards, TD

Standings

Division

AFC North
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 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(3) Pittsburgh Steelers 10 5 1 .656 6–0 8–4 390 345 W3
(6) Cleveland Browns 9 7 0 .563 3–3 7–5 344 320 W2
Baltimore Ravens 7 9 0 .438 3–3 7–5 316 354 L2
Cincinnati Bengals 2 14 0 .125 0–6 1–11 279 456 L1

Conference

AFC
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# Team Division W L T PCT DIV CONF SOS SOV
Division leaders
1[a] Oakland Raiders West 11 5 0 .688 4–2 9–3 .529 .531
2[a] Tennessee Titans South 11 5 0 .688 6–0 9–3 .479 .474
3 Pittsburgh Steelers North 10 5 1 .656 6–0 8–4 .486 .451
4[b] New York Jets East 9 7 0 .563 4–2 6–6 .500 .500
Wild Cards
5 Indianapolis Colts South 10 6 0 .625 4–2 8–4 .479 .400
6[c] Cleveland Browns North 9 7 0 .563 3–3 7–5 .486 .413
Did not qualify for the postseason
7[c][d] Denver Broncos West 9 7 0 .563 3–3 5–7 .527 .486
8[b][c][d][e] New England Patriots East 9 7 0 .563 4–2 6–6 .525 .455
9[b][e] Miami Dolphins East 9 7 0 .563 2–4 7–5 .508 .486
10[f] Buffalo Bills East 8 8 0 .500 2–4 5–7 .473 .352
11[f][g] San Diego Chargers West 8 8 0 .500 3–3 6–6 .492 .453
12[g] Kansas City Chiefs West 8 8 0 .500 2–4 6–6 .527 .516
13 Baltimore Ravens North 7 9 0 .438 3–3 7–5 .506 .384
14 Jacksonville Jaguars South 6 10 0 .375 1–5 4–8 .506 .438
15 Houston Texans South 4 12 0 .250 1–5 2–10 .518 .492
16 Cincinnati Bengals North 2 14 0 .125 0–6 1–11 .537 .406
Tiebreakers[h]
  1. ^ a b Oakland finished ahead of Tennessee based on head-to-head victory.
  2. ^ a b c N.Y. Jets finished ahead of New England based on win percentage in common games (8–4 to 7–5) and Miami based on division record (4–2 to 2–4).
  3. ^ a b c Cleveland finished ahead of Denver and New England based on conference record (7–5 vs 5–7/6–6)
  4. ^ a b Denver finished ahead of New England based on head-to-head victory.
  5. ^ a b New England finished ahead of Miami based on division record (4–2 to 2–4).
  6. ^ a b Buffalo finished ahead of San Diego based on head-to-head victory.
  7. ^ a b San Diego finished ahead of Kansas City based on division record (3–3 to 2–4).
  8. ^ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

Postseason

Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
AFC Wild Card January 5, 2003 at Pittsburgh Steelers (3) L 33–36 0–1 Heinz Field 62,595 Recap

Game summaries

AFC Wild Card: (#6) Cleveland Browns at (#3) Pittsburgh Steelers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Browns 7 10 7933
Steelers 0 7 72236

at Heinz Field, Pittsburgh

Game information

First quarter

  • CLE – William Green 1-yard run (Phil Dawson kick), 13:44. Browns 7–0. Drive: 4 plays, 80 yards, 1:16.

Second quarter

  • CLE – Dennis Northcutt 32-yard pass from Kelly Holcomb (Phil Dawson kick), 14:28. Browns 14–0. Drive: 1 play, 32 yards, 0:06.
  • PIT – Antwaan Randle El 66-yard punt return (Jeff Reed kick), 9:35. Browns 14–7.
  • CLE – Phil Dawson 31-yard field goal, 0:49. Browns 17–7. Drive: 10 plays, 45 yards, 4:24.

Third quarter

  • CLE – Dennis Northcutt 15-yard pass from Kelly Holcomb (Phil Dawson kick), 12:11. Browns 24–7. Drive: 3 plays, 14 yards, 0:49.
  • PIT – Plaxico Burress 6-yard pass from Tommy Maddox (Jeff Reed kick), 3:50. Browns 24–14. Drive: 10 plays, 71 yards, 3:45.

Fourth quarter

  • CLE – Phil Dawson 24-yard field goal, 14:52. Browns 27–14. Drive: 8 plays, 64 yards, 3:58.
  • PIT – Jerame Tuman 3-yard pass from Tommy Maddox (Jeff Reed kick), 12:28. Browns 27–21. Drive: 6 plays, 65 yards, 2:24.
  • CLE – André Davis 22-yard pass from Kelly Holcomb (pass failed), 10:17. Browns 33–21. Drive: 5 plays, 61 yards, 2:11.
  • PIT – Hines Ward 5-yard pass from Tommy Maddox (Jeff Reed kick), 3:06. Browns 33–28. Drive: 10 plays, 77 yards, 2:24.
  • PIT – Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala 3-yard run (Tommy Maddox–Jerame Tuman pass), 0:54. Steelers 36–33. Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards, 1:41.

Top passers

Top rushers

  • CLE – William Green – 25 rushes, 30 yards, TD
  • PIT – Amos Zereoué – 13 rushes, 73 yards

Top receivers

  • CLE – Kevin Johnson – 4 receptions, 140 yards
  • PIT – Hines Ward – 11 receptions, 104 yards, TD

References

  1. ^ Cleveland Browns 2002 Roster accessed November 28, 2018.

External links

  • 2002 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference (Profootballreference.com)
  • 2002 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
  • 2002 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
  • 2002 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com
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Cleveland Browns
  • Founded in 1946
  • Based in Cleveland, Ohio
  • Headquartered in Berea, Ohio
Franchise
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Playoff appearances (30)
Division championships (12)
Conference championships (11)
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