2002 Kansas City Chiefs season
The 2002 season was the Kansas City Chiefs' 33rd in the National Football League (NFL), their 43rd overall and the franchise's 40th in Kansas City, Missouri.
2002 Kansas City Chiefs season | |
---|---|
Owner | Lamar Hunt |
Head coach | Dick Vermeil |
General manager | Carl Peterson |
Home field | Arrowhead Stadium |
Results | |
Record | 8–8 |
Division place | 4th AFC West |
Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Pro Bowlers | TE Tony Gonzalez KR Dante Hall RB Priest Holmes OT Willie Roaf G Will Shields |
AP All-Pros | TE Tony Gonzalez (2nd team) KR Dante Hall (2nd team) RB Priest Holmes (1st team) T Willie Roaf (2nd team) G Will Shields (1st team) |

In their second season under head coach Dick Vermeil, the Chiefs's high-powered offense was led by quarterback Trent Green and 2002 NFL Offensive Player of the Year Priest Holmes, who was named to the NFL All-Pro team for the second of three years in a row. Green had a 2-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio (26 to 13) and Holmes led the league in touchdowns (24) and overall scoring (144 points).
Kansas City scored 467 points (29.2 per game), but gave up 399 points (24.9 per game), the second most in the AFC and fifth-most in the NFL. Football Outsiders stated that the 2002 Chiefs have the second-largest Offense-Defense imbalance from 1992–2010 [1] (the largest discrepancy coming from the 1992 Seattle Seahawks). Football Outsiders also calculated that the Chiefs had the second most efficient running game in the same period (second only to the 2000 St. Louis Rams).[2]
The Chiefs' offense also set two new NFL records with the fewest fumbles in a season (7, broken in 2010) and fewest fumbles lost in a season (2), the latter of which still stands.
Offseason
Additions | Subtractions |
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QB Jonathan Quinn (Jaguars) | LB Donnie Edwards (Chargers) |
K Morten Andersen (Giants) | K Todd Peterson (Steelers) |
WR Johnnie Morton (Lions) | TE Mikhael Ricks (Lions) |
T Willie Roaf (Saints) | CB Bracy Walker (Lions) |
T Victor Riley (Saints) | |
WR Derrick Alexander (Vikings) |
NFL draft
2002 Kansas City Chiefs draft | |||||
Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Ryan Sims | Defensive tackle | North Carolina | |
2 | 43 | Eddie Freeman | Defensive tackle | UAB | |
4 | 107 | Omar Easy | Fullback | Penn State | |
5 | 143 | Scott Fujita | Linebacker | California | |
7 | 221 | Maurice Rodriguez | Linebacker | Fresno State | |
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career |
Undrafted free agents
Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|
Marc Boerigter | Wide Receiver | Hastings |
Clint Finley | Defensive back | Nebraska |
Jarmar Julien | Running back | San Jose State |
Personnel
Staff
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
|
Roster
Schedule
Preseason
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | August 10 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 17–14 (OT) | 1–0 | 3Com Park | Recap |
2 | August 17 | Houston Texans | W 19–9 | 2–0 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
3 | August 24 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 14–17 | 2–1 | Seahawks Stadium | Recap |
4 | August 30 | St. Louis Rams | W 23–16 | 3–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
Regular season
In the 2002 season, the Chiefs' non-divisional, conference opponents were primarily from the AFC East. The Cleveland Browns were from the AFC North and the Jacksonville Jaguars were from the AFC South. Their non-conference opponents were from the NFC West.
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | September 8 | at Cleveland Browns | W 40–39 | 1–0 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
2 | September 15 | Jacksonville Jaguars | L 16–23 | 1–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
3 | September 22 | at New England Patriots | L 38–41 (OT) | 1–2 | Gillette Stadium | Recap |
4 | September 29 | Miami Dolphins | W 48–30 | 2–2 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
5 | October 6 | at New York Jets | W 29–25 | 3–2 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
6 | October 13 | at San Diego Chargers | L 34–35 | 3–3 | Qualcomm Stadium | Recap |
7 | October 20 | Denver Broncos | L 34–37 (OT) | 3–4 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
8 | October 27 | Oakland Raiders | W 20–10 | 4–4 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
9 | Bye | |||||
10 | November 10 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 13–17 | 4–5 | 3Com Park | Recap |
11 | November 17 | Buffalo Bills | W 17–16 | 5–5 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
12 | November 24 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 32–39 | 5–6 | Seahawks Stadium | Recap |
13 | December 1 | Arizona Cardinals | W 49–0 | 6–6 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
14 | December 8 | St. Louis Rams | W 49–10 | 7–6 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
15 | December 15 | at Denver Broncos | L 24–31 | 7–7 | Invesco Field at Mile High | Recap |
16 | December 22 | San Diego Chargers | W 24–22 | 8–7 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
17 | December 28 | at Oakland Raiders | L 0–24 | 8–8 | Network Associates Coliseum | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Week 3: at New England Patriots
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chiefs | 3 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 38 |
Patriots | 0 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 3 | 41 |
at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
- Date: September 22, 2002
- Game time: 1:00 p.m.
- Game weather: Warm and humid, 80 °F (27 °C)
- Game attendance: 68,436
- Referee: Bill Carollo (63)
- TV: CBS
- Recap, Game Book
Game information | ||
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Week 4: vs. Miami Dolphins
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dolphins | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 30 |
Chiefs | 10 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 48 |
at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
- Date: September 29, 2002
- Game time: 1:00 p.m.
- Game weather: Partly cloudy, 76 °F (24 °C)
- Game attendance: 78,178
- Referee: Ed Hochuli (85)
- TV: CBS
- Recap, Game Book
Game information | ||
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Week 5: at New York Jets
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chiefs | 3 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 29 |
Jets | 7 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 25 |
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
- Date: October 6, 2002
- Game time: 4:05 pm
- Game weather: Partly cloudy, 66 °F (19 °C)
- Game attendance: 78,149
- Referee: Johnny Grier (23)
- TV announcers (CBS): Dick Enberg, Dan Dierdorf, and Bonnie Bernstein
- Recap, Game Book
Game information | ||
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Week 11: vs. Buffalo Bills
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bills | 0 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
Chiefs | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
- Date: November 17, 2002
- Game time: 1:00 pm
- Game weather: Sunny, 48 °F (9 °C)
- Game attendance: 77,951
- Referee: Terry McAulay (77)
- TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms and Armen Keteyian
- Recap, Game Book
Game information | ||
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Standings
AFC West | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
(1) Oakland Raiders | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 4–2 | 9–3 | 450 | 304 | W2 |
Denver Broncos | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 5–7 | 392 | 344 | W1 |
San Diego Chargers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 3–3 | 6–6 | 333 | 367 | L4 |
Kansas City Chiefs | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2–4 | 6–6 | 467 | 399 | L1 |