The National Football League playoffs for the 2001 season began on January 12, 2002. The postseason tournament concluded with the New England Patriots defeating the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, 20–17, on February 3, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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 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 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 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.
Round Away team Score Home team Date Kickoff(ET / UTC-5) TV Viewers (millions) TV Rating Wild-card round Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9–31 Philadelphia Eagles January 12, 2002 4:30 p.m. ABC N/A 13.1 New York Jets 24–38 Oakland Raiders 8:00 p.m. ABC 22.0 13.9 San Francisco 49ers 15–25 Green Bay Packers January 13, 2002 12:30 p.m. Fox N/A 16.8 Baltimore Ravens 20–3 Miami Dolphins 4:00 p.m. CBS N/A 16.8 Divisional round Philadelphia Eagles 33–19 Chicago Bears January 19, 2002 4:30 p.m. Fox 26.6 17.1 Oakland Raiders 13–16 New England Patriots January 19, 2002 8:00 p.m. CBS 28.7 17.4 Baltimore Ravens 10–27 Pittsburgh Steelers January 20, 2002 12:30 p.m. CBS 27.0 17.9 Green Bay Packers 17–45 St. Louis Rams 4:00 p.m. Fox 30.8 19.5 Conference championships New England Patriots 24–17 Pittsburgh Steelers January 27, 2002 12:30 p.m. CBS 33.3 21.2 Philadelphia Eagles 24–29 St. Louis Rams 4:00 p.m. Fox 37.4 22.7 Super Bowl XXXVI St. Louis Rams 17–20 New England Patriots February 3, 2002 6:30 p.m. Fox 86.8 40.4
Wild-card round
Saturday, January 12, 2002
NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9
Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb 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 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.
+Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff games
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 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 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.
+New York leads 2–0 in all-time playoff games
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 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.
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 Ryan Longwell. 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.