The 2002 season was the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

' 33rd in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

and 43rd overall. The team improved upon their previous season's output of 7–9, managing eleven victories.2002 Tennessee Titans
/ref> After starting 1–4, the Titans won 10 of their next 11 games. They qualified for the playoffs with a first-round bye, but were unable to reach the Super Bowl, losing to the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

in the AFC Championship. The

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...

would not return to the

AFC Championship The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the wo ...

again until

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. The season also marked the first time that the Titans would return to Houston, in a week 17 match against the Texans since relocating 5 years earlier. As of 2024, this was the last time the Titans won a home playoff game, having gone 0–3 since.

Offseason

NFL draft

Undrafted free agents

Personnel

Coaching staff

Roster

Preseason

Schedule

Regular season

Under the NFL's divisional realignment, the Titans were moved from the

AFC Central 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 created after the NFL realigned its divisions u ...

, where they had played since the NFL–AFL merger in 1970, into the new

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, 200 ...

. In addition to their home and away games with AFC South opponents, the Titans in 2002 played games against the

AFC North The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was created after the NFL realign ...

and

NFC East The National Football Conference – Eastern Division or NFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It has four members: the Dallas Cowboys, New Yo ...

according to the league's new schedule rotation. They also played one game each against the Patriots and the Raiders based upon standings from 2001.

Schedule

Note: Division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 2: at Dallas Cowboys

Week 3: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 15: vs. New England Patriots

Standings

Division

Conference

Playoffs

AFC Divisional Playoff vs Pittsburgh Steelers

This was the Titans franchise's first playoff win over the Steelers in four tries, following three losses as the Oilers in 1978, 1979 and 1989, the last of which was also in overtime. The Titans went to the AFC Championship to the Oakland Raiders and lost 41-24.

AFC Championship Game

This was the Titans' last appearance at the AFC championship game until

. The Titans were crashed and in 2003 finished 12-4, the same récord as the Colts they win to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Wild Card Round 20-17. But lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round 17-14.

References

{{2002 NFL season by team

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

AFC South championship seasons