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The 2002 NFL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The league went back to an even number of teams with the addition of the Houston Texans ; the league has remained static with 32 teams since.
Beginning with the 1933 season, the NFL featured a championship game, played between the winners of its two divisions. In this era, if there was a tie for first place in the division at the end of the regular season, a one-game playoff was used to determine the team that would represent their division in the NFL Championship Game. This happened ...
Early championships between 1920 and 1932 were awarded to the team with the best won-lost record, initially rather haphazardly, as some teams played more or fewer games than others, or scheduled games against non-league, amateur or collegiate teams; this led to the 1920 title being determined during a league meeting after the season, [3] the 1921 title being decided on a controversial ...
Prior to the 2002–03 season, the league realigned its teams into eight divisions (four in each conference). [1] Thus, the 12-team playoff format was modified. The league abided by this updated system until 2020: The four division champions are seeded 1–4 based on their regular season won-lost-tied record.
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.
The Eagles had easily defeated the Buccaneers in the playoffs in each of the previous two seasons, and many experts thought that this season's Conference Championship game would be no different. The game was the final football game played at Veterans Stadium, as the Eagles would move in to their new home field in the 2003 season.
The 2002 season was the New England Patriots' 33rd in the National Football League (NFL), their 43rd overall and their third under head coach Bill Belichick. They finished with a 9–7 record, good enough for second in the division but not a playoff berth.