2002 Cleveland Browns season

2002 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Butch Davis
Owner	Alfred Lerner (Until October 2, 2002) Randolph Lerner (Took position October 2, 2002)
Home field	Cleveland Browns Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	2nd AFC North
Playoff finish	Lost AFC Wild Card (Steelers) 36–33

The 2002 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 54th season and 50th with the National Football League.

The Browns made the playoffs for the first time since their inaugural season as an expansion franchise. It was only the Browns' fourth year since the expansion, and their first winning season. It would also prove to be the only time that the team made the NFL playoffs in the 2000s (decade). It marks the last time that the Browns have qualified for the postseason.^[1] The close loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wildcard round kept the Browns from advancing in the postseason.

2002 NFL Draft

Draft order		Player name	Position	College
Round	Pick
1	16	William Green	Running back	Boston College
2	47	André Davis	Wide Receiver	Virginia Tech
3	76	Melvin Fowler	Offensive Lineman	Maryland
4	101	Kevin Bentley	Linebacker	Northwestern
4	111	Ben Taylor	Linebacker	Virginia Tech
4	122	Darnell Sanders	Tight end	Ohio State
5	141	Andra Davis	Linebacker	Florida
7	227	Joaquin Gonzalez	Offensive Lineman	Miami

Schedule

Regular season

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Stadium	Record	Network	Kickoff	Attendance
1	September 8	Kansas City Chiefs	L 40–39	Cleveland Browns Stadium	0–1	CBS	1:00pm	72,938
2	September 15	Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–7	Cleveland Browns Stadium	1–1	CBS	1:00pm	73,358
3	September 22	at Tennessee Titans	W 31–28 (OT)	Adelphia Coliseum	2–1	CBS	1:00pm	68,804
4	September 29	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 16–13	Heinz Field	2–2	CBS	1:00pm	62,864
5	October 6	Baltimore Ravens	L 26–21	Cleveland Browns Stadium	2–3	ESPN	8:30pm	73,688
6	October 13	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 17–3	Raymond James Stadium	2–4	CBS	1:00pm	65,625
7	October 20	Houston Texans	W 34–17	Cleveland Browns Stadium	3–4	CBS	1:00pm	73,248
8	October 27	at New York Jets	W 24–21	The Meadowlands	4–4	CBS	1:00pm	78,502
9	November 3	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 23–20	Cleveland Browns Stadium	4–5	CBS	1:00pm	73,718
10	Bye
11	November 17	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 27–20	Paul Brown Stadium	5–5	CBS	1:00pm	64,060
12	November 24	at New Orleans Saints	W 24–15	Louisiana Superdome	6–5	CBS	1:00pm	68,295
13	December 1	Carolina Panthers	L 13–6	Cleveland Browns Stadium	6–6	FOX	1:00pm	72,718
14	December 8	at Jacksonville Jaguars	W 21–20	ALLTEL Stadium	7–6	CBS	1:00pm	46,267
15	December 15	Indianapolis Colts	L 28–23	Cleveland Browns Stadium	7–7	CBS	1:00pm	73,098
16	December 22	at Baltimore Ravens	W 14–13	M&T Bank Stadium	8–7	CBS	4:15pm	68,348
17	December 29	Atlanta Falcons	W 24–16	Cleveland Browns Stadium	9–7	FOX	1:00pm	73,528

Week 17: vs. Atlanta

Week 17: Atlanta Falcons at Cleveland Browns – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	0	7	9	0	16
Browns	3	7	0	14	24

at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, OH

• Date: December 29
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 34°F, relative humidity 85%, round (wind) 6 MPH
• Game attendance: 73,528
• Referee: Johnny Grier
• TV announcers (Fox): Kenny Albert (play–by–play), Tim Green (color commentator) and Tony Rizzo (sideline reporter)

Game information

First Quarter CLE (6:48) – Dawson 40 yard field goal Browns 3, Falcons 0 Second Quarter CLE (5:42) – Green 21 yard rush (Dawson kick) Browns 10, Falcons 0 ATL (11:18) – Finneran 15 yard pass from Vick (Feely kick) Browns 10, Falcons 7 Third Quarter ATL (5:19) – Feely 42 yard field goal Falcons 10, Browns 10 ATL (9:43) – Feely 49 yard field goal Falcons 13, Browns 10 ATL (13:32) – Feely 30 yard field goal Falcons 16, Browns 10 Fourth Quarter CLE (8:02) – Johnson 15 yard pass from Holcomb (Dawson kick) Browns 17, Falcons 16 CLE (11:07) – Green 64 yard rush (Dawson kick) Browns 24, Falcons 16 Top passers ATL – Michael Vick 17/40, 240 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT CLE – Kelly Holcomb 7/14, 86 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT Top rushers ATL – Warrick Dunn 20 carr, 67 yds CLE – William Green 27 carr, 178 yds, 2 TD Top receivers ATL – Brian Finneran 3 rec, 77 yds, 1 TD CLE – Kevin Johnson 3 rec, 32 yds, 1 TD Turnovers ATL – 3 CLE – 4

Playoffs

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Stadium	Record	Attendance
AFC Wild Card	January 5	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 36–33	Heinz Field	9–8	62,595

Game Summary

AFC Wild Card: Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	7	10	7	9	33
Steelers	0	7	7	22	36

at Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA

• Date: January 5, 2003
• Game time: 1:01 p.m. PDT
• Game weather: 27°F, relative humidity 90°F, round (wind) 5 MPH
• TV: CBS
• Boxscore

Game information

First Quarter CLE - William Green 1 yard rush (Phil Dawson kick) 13:44. Browns 7-0 Second Quarter CLE - Dennis Northcutt 32 yard pass from Kelly Holcomb (Phil Dawson kick) 14:28. Browns 14-0 PIT - Antwaan Randle El 66 yard punt return (Jeff Reed kick) 9:35. Browns 14-7 CLE - Phil Dawson 31 yard field goal. 0:49. Browns 17-7 Third Quarter CLE - Dennis Northcutt 15 yard pass from Kelly Holcomb (Phil Dawson kick) 12:11. Browns 24-7 PIT - Plaxico Burress 6 yard pass from Tommy Maddox (Jeff Reed kick) 3:50. Browns 24-14 Fourth Quarter CLE - Phil Dawson 24 yard field goal. 14:52. Browns 27-14 PIT - Jerame Tuman 3 yard pass from Tommy Maddox (Jeff Reed kick) 12:28. Browns 27-21 CLE - Andre' Davis 22 yard pass from Kelly Holcomb (pass failed) 10:17. Browns 33-21 PIT - Hines Ward 5 yard pass from Tommy Maddox (Jeff Reed kick) 3:06. Browns 33-28 PIT - Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala 3 yard rush (Jerame Tuman pass from Tommy Maddox). 0:54. Steelers 36-33 Browns Kelly Holcomb. 26-43, 429 yards, 3 TD, 1 Int Kevin Johnson. 4 rec, 140 yards Steelers Tommy Maddox. 30-48, 367 yards, 3 TD, 2 Int Hines Ward. 11 rec, 104 yards, 1 TD Turnovers Browns 1 Steelers 3

Standings

AFC North
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
^(3) Pittsburgh Steelers	10	5	1	.656	6–0	8–4	390	345	W3
^(6) Cleveland Browns	9	7	0	.563	3–3	7–5	344	320	W2
Baltimore Ravens	7	9	0	.438	3–3	7–5	316	354	L2
Cincinnati Bengals	2	14	0	.125	0–6	1–11	279	456	L1

References

1. As of the 2015 NFL season