Every 2002 NFL playoff game, three ways: the season race carried on into the postseason, who beat their seeding, and the bracket.
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The same race these clubs ran all season, carried on through the postseason on one scale and on real dates.
Where each club finished the season against how far it went, ranked on record rather than seed.
Who played whom, round by round, which no line chart can say.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the 2002 title from a regular season record of 12-4. 12 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 4 rounds. Every game below is taken from the nflverse open data project; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card Round | Atlanta Falcons | 27-7 | Green Bay Packers | January 4, 2003 |
| Wild Card Round | Pittsburgh Steelers | 36-33 | Cleveland Browns | January 5, 2003 |
| Wild Card Round | New York Jets | 41-0 | Indianapolis Colts | January 4, 2003 |
| Wild Card Round | San Francisco 49ers | 39-38 | New York Giants | January 5, 2003 |
| Divisional Round | Philadelphia Eagles | 20-6 | Atlanta Falcons | January 11, 2003 |
| Divisional Round | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 31-6 | San Francisco 49ers | January 12, 2003 |
| Divisional Round | Oakland Raiders | 30-10 | New York Jets | January 12, 2003 |
| Divisional Round | Tennessee Titans | 34-31 | Pittsburgh Steelers | January 11, 2003 |
| Conference Championship | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 27-10 | Philadelphia Eagles | January 19, 2003 |
| Conference Championship | Oakland Raiders | 41-24 | Tennessee Titans | January 19, 2003 |
| Super Bowl | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 48-21 | Oakland Raiders | January 26, 2003 |
The left column ranks this field by regular season record, not by seed number: seeding rules differ by era, so this site uses records everywhere instead. The right column groups clubs by the round they went out in, which is not the same as the number of rounds they won, because a bye carries a club further without it winning anything. The figure beside a name is places moved between the two columns, and part of it is only where a club sat inside its band. Nothing here is a prediction. The data notes carry the whole method.
The races that filled this bracket: AFC Wild Card NFC Wild Card