NFL team season
The 2002 season was the Carolina Panthers ' eighth in the National Football League and their first under head coach John Fox . They tried to improve upon their 1–15 record in 2001 , and make it to the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.
After moving from the NFC West to the more geographically accurate NFC South, they improved by six games to finish 7–9, but were still five games behind the division champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and failed to make the playoffs. Their Week 12, 41–0 loss against the Atlanta Falcons was the Panthers' last shutout for 21 years .
Offseason [ edit ] NFL Draft [ edit ] The 2002 NFL Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 15 and April 16, 2002. The Panthers selected nine players in seven rounds. Despite having the worst record in the league the previous season, the Panthers picked 2nd overall due to the Houston Texans picking first overall in their inaugural draft, as is tradition (under NFL rules) with expansion teams.
NFL Draft [ edit ] Personnel [ edit ] 2002 Carolina Panthers staff Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
Defensive coaches Special teams coaches
Assistant head coach/special teams – Scott O'Brien Assistant special teams coordinator/assistant strength and conditioning – Darrin Simmons Strength and conditioning
[1]
2002 Carolina Panthers final roster Quarterbacks Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Offensive linemen Defensive linemen
Linebackers Defensive backs
Special teams
Reserve lists Practice squad
Rookies in italics 53 active, 14 inactive, 5 practice squad
Regular season [ edit ] Schedule [ edit ] Under the NFL’s new scheduling formula put in place for this season, the Panthers would play two games each season against their NFC South division rivals. A schedule rotation would see them play the NFC North in full in 2002 and every three seasons subsequently, and the AFC North in 2002 and every four seasons subsequently. As the Panthers had the worst record in the NFL in 2001, they would also play the Arizona Cardinals , who had the worst 2001 record amongst teams in the reconstituted NFC West , and the Dallas Cowboys , who had the worst 2001 record amongst teams in the NFC East .
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 8 Baltimore Ravens W 10–7 1–0 Ericsson Stadium 70,386 2 September 15 Detroit Lions W 31–7 2–0 Ericsson Stadium 71,951 3 September 22 at Minnesota Vikings W 21–14 3–0 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 63,945 4 September 29 at Green Bay Packers L 14–17 3–1 Lambeau Field 63,329 5 October 6 Arizona Cardinals L 13–16 3–2 Ericsson Stadium 72,286 6 October 13 at Dallas Cowboys L 13–14 3–3 Texas Stadium 61,773 7 October 20 at Atlanta Falcons L 0–30 3–4 Georgia Dome 68,056 8 October 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 9–12 3–5 Ericsson Stadium 72,892 9 Bye 10 November 10 New Orleans Saints L 24–34 3–6 Ericsson Stadium 72,566 11 November 17 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–23 3–7 Raymond James Stadium 65,527 12 November 24 Atlanta Falcons L 0–41 3–8 Ericsson Stadium 72,533 13 December 1 at Cleveland Browns W 13–6 4–8 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,718 14 December 8 Cincinnati Bengals W 52–31 5–8 Ericsson Stadium 66,799 15 December 15 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 14–30 5–9 Heinz Field 58,586 16 December 22 Chicago Bears W 24–14 6–9 Ericsson Stadium 72,602 17 December 29 at New Orleans Saints W 10–6 7–9 Louisiana Superdome 66,946 Note : Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries [ edit ] Week 2: vs. Detroit Lions [ edit ] Week 2: Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers
Period 1 2 3 4 Total Lions 0 0 7 0 7 Panthers 0 10 14 7 31
at Ericsson Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
Game information First quarter
Second quarter
CAR – John Kasay 23-yard field goal, 3:27. Panthers 3–0. Drive: 5 plays, 19 yards, 2:09. CAR – Muhsin Muhammad 22-yard pass from Rodney Peete (John Kasay kick), 0:16. Panthers 10–0. Drive: 5 plays, 69 yards, 0:46. Third quarter
DET – Mike McMahon 11-yard run (Jason Hanson kick), 8:21. Panthers 10–7. Drive: 5 plays, 76 yards, 3:10. CAR – Lamar Smith 3-yard run (John Kasay kick), 6:44. Panthers 17–7. Drive: 4 plays, 77 yards, 1:37. CAR – Mike Minter 40-yard interception return (John Kasay kick), 5:49. Panthers 24–7. Fourth quarter
CAR – Lamar Smith 1-yard run (John Kasay kick), 9:43. Panthers 31–7. Drive: 10 plays, 71 yards, 5:44. Top passers
DET – Mike McMahon – 9/23, 95 yards, INT CAR – Rodney Peete – 21/32, 310 yards, TD Top rushers
DET – James Stewart – 12 rushes, 53 yards CAR – Lamar Smith – 20 rushes, 60 yards, 2 TD Top receivers
DET – Scotty Anderson – 2 receptions, 31 yards CAR – Muhsin Muhammad – 8 receptions, 107 yards, TD
Week 3: at Minnesota Vikings [ edit ] Game information First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
CAR – Steve Smith Sr. 14-yard pass from Rodney Peete (Jon Hilbert kick), 5:14. Tied 7–7. Drive: 2 plays, 28 yards, 0:47. Fourth quarter
CAR – Lamar Smith 12-yard run (Jon Hilbert kick), 13:28. Panthers 14–7. Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards, 3:38. CAR – Lamar Smith 24-yard run (Jon Hilbert kick), 7:54. Panthers 21–7. Drive: 8 plays, 48 yards, 4:42. MIN – Chris Walsh 4-yard pass from Daunte Culpepper (Gary Anderson kick), 3:29. Panthers 21–14. Drive: 9 plays, 89 yards, 4:25. Top passers
CAR – Rodney Peete – 20/30, 221 yards, TD, 2 INT MIN – Daunte Culpepper – 19/30, 191 yards, TD, 4 INT Top rushers
CAR – Lamar Smith – 30 rushes, 154 yards, 2 TD MIN – Daunte Culpepper – 4 rushes, 32 yards Top receivers
CAR – Steve Smith Sr. – 5 receptions, 81 yards, TD MIN – Moe Williams – 4 receptions, 66 yards
Week 4: at Green Bay Packers [ edit ] Game information First quarter
GB – Ryan Longwell 30-yard field goal, 8:52. Packers 3–0. Drive: 11 plays, 73 yards, 5:07. CAR – Lamar Smith 3-yard run (Shayne Graham kick), 0:23. Panthers 7–3. Drive: 8 plays, 83 yards, 4:50. Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
CAR – Lamar Smith 2-yard run (Shayne Graham kick), 12:55. Panthers 14–10. Drive: 5 plays, 53 yards, 2:51. GB – Donald Driver 22-yard pass from Brett Favre (Ryan Longwell kick), 4:10. Packers 17–14. Drive: 4 plays, 65 yards, 2:19. Top passers
CAR – Rodney Peete – 10/24, 202 yards GB – Brett Favre – 18/32, 200 yards, TD, INT Top rushers
CAR – Lamar Smith – 22 rushes, 66 yards, 2 TD GB – Ahman Green – 17 rushes, 73 yards Top receivers
CAR – Steve Smith Sr. – 5 receptions, 116 yards GB – Donald Driver – 5 receptions, 97 yards, 2 TD
Week 16: vs. Chicago Bears [ edit ] Week 16: Chicago Bears at Carolina Panthers
Period 1 2 3 4 Total Bears 7 0 0 7 14 Panthers 0 21 0 3 24
at Ericsson Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
Game information First quarter
Second quarter
CAR – Dee Brown 2-yard run (Shayne Graham kick), 12:12. Tied 7–7. Drive: 6 plays, 85 yards, 2:33. CAR – Dee Brown 1-yard run (Shayne Graham kick), 8:38. Panthers 14–7. Drive: 3 plays, 11 yards, 0:51. CAR – Muhsin Muhammad 3-yard pass from Rodney Peete (Shayne Graham kick), 3:52. Panthers 21–7. Drive: 4 plays, 41 yards, 1:54. Third quarter
Fourth quarter
CHI – Dez White 5-yard pass from Henry Burris (Paul Edinger kick), 11:48. Panthers 21–14. Drive: 3 plays, 8 yards, 1:32. CAR – Shayne Graham 25-yard field goal, 5:16. Panthers 24–14. Drive: 4 plays, -1 yard, 2:08. Top passers
CHI – Chris Chandler – 7/8, 113 yards, TD CAR – Rodney Peete – 18/35, 179 yards, TD Top rushers
CHI – Leon Johnson – 16 rushes, 29 yards CAR – Dee Brown – 23 rushes, 55 yards, 2 TD Top receivers
CHI – Dez White – 2 receptions, 81 yards, 2 TD CAR – Steve Smith Sr. – 4 receptions, 97 yards
Standings [ edit ] Division [ edit ] Conference [ edit ] # Team Division W L T PCT DIV CONF SOS SOV Division leaders 1[a] Philadelphia Eagles East 12 4 0 .750 5–1 11–1 .469 .432 2[a] [b] Tampa Bay Buccaneers South 12 4 0 .750 4–2 9–3 .482 .432 3[a] [b] Green Bay Packers North 12 4 0 .750 5–1 9–3 .451 .414 4 San Francisco 49ers West 10 6 0 .625 5–1 8–4 .504 .450 Wild Cards 5 New York Giants East 10 6 0 .625 5–1 8–4 .482 .450 6 Atlanta Falcons South 9 6 1 .594 4–2 7–5 .494 .429 Did not qualify for the postseason 7 New Orleans Saints South 9 7 0 .563 3–3 7–5 .498 .566 8[c] St. Louis Rams West 7 9 0 .438 4–2 5–7 .508 .446 9[c] Seattle Seahawks West 7 9 0 .438 2–4 5–7 .506 .433 10[d] Washington Redskins East 7 9 0 .438 1–5 4–8 .527 .438 11[d] Carolina Panthers South 7 9 0 .438 1–5 4–8 .486 .357 12 Minnesota Vikings North 6 10 0 .375 4–2 5–7 .498 .417 13[e] Arizona Cardinals West 5 11 0 .313 1–5 5–7 .500 .400 14[e] Dallas Cowboys East 5 11 0 .313 1–5 3–9 .500 .475 15 Chicago Bears North 4 12 0 .250 2–4 3–9 .521 .430 16 Detroit Lions North 3 13 0 .188 1–5 3–9 .494 .375 Tiebreakers [f] ^ a b c Philadelphia finished ahead of Tampa Bay and Green Bay based on conference record (11–1 vs 9–3/9–3). ^ a b Tampa Bay finished ahead of Green Bay based on head-to-head victory. ^ a b St. Louis finished ahead of Seattle based on division record (4–2 to 2–4). ^ a b Washington finished ahead of Carolina based on common games (2–3 to 1–4) ^ a b Arizona finished ahead of Dallas based on head-to-head victory. ^ 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.
References [ edit ]
Franchise Stadiums Culture and lore Rivalries Hall of Honor Wild card berths (2) Division championships (6) Conference championships (2) Retired numbers Media Current league affiliations