2002 Cincinnati Bengals season
- ← 2001
- Bengals seasons
- 2003 →
The 2002 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 33rd season in the National Football League (NFL), the 35th overall, and the second and final full season under head coach Dick LeBeau. With a record of 2–14, however, they were the worst team in football in 2002. The team's struggles continued as they lost their first seven contests losing by an average of 19 points in each game. The Bengals would finally garner their first victory Week 8 by soundly defeating the expansion Houston Texans on the road 38–3. The winning would not last long, however, as the Bengals lost their next six games to fall to 1–13, this lethargic result was later matched by the 2019 team, which also finished at 2–14.
In their final game at home, the Bengals would stun the New Orleans Saints 20–13 to earn their second win on the season, but there would be no saving the Bengals from setting a new franchise record for losses as they finished the season with a 27–9 loss to the Buffalo Bills on the road to finish with a league-worst 2–14 record. This resulted in the Bengals owner Mike Brown firing head coach Dick LeBeau and replacing him with Washington's defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis.
By being the worst team in 2002, they earned the first pick in the 2003 NFL draft, which they would use to draft Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Carson Palmer out of USC, and releasing embattled quarterback Akili Smith.[1]
Offseason
Additions | Subtractions |
---|---|
QB Gus Frerotte (Broncos) | TE Tony McGee (Cowboys) |
WR Michael Westbrook (Redskins) | WR Darnay Scott (Cowboys) |
CB Jeff Burris (Colts) | FS Chris Carter (Texans) |
NFL Draft
2002 Cincinnati Bengals draft | |||||
Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | Levi Jones | Offensive tackle | Arizona State | |
2 | 41 | Lamont Thompson | Safety | Washington State | |
3 | 67 | Matt Schobel | Tight end | TCU | |
4 | 109 | Travis Dorsch | Punter | Purdue | |
6 | 181 | Marquand Manuel | Safety | Florida | |
7 | 219 | Joey Evans | Defensive end | North Carolina | |
Made roster |
[2]
Undrafted free agents
Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|
Dwayne Levels | Linebacker | Oklahoma State |
Reggie Myles | Defensive back | Alabama |
Thatcher Szalay | Center | Montana |
Personnel
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
| Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
|
Roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
| Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
| Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
| Reserve lists
|
Regular season
Schedule
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | September 8, 2002 | San Diego Chargers | L 6–34 | 0–1 | 53,705 |
2 | September 15, 2002 | at Cleveland Browns | L 7–20 | 0–2 | 73,358 |
3 | September 22, 2002 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 3–30 | 0–3 | 68,129 |
4 | September 29, 2002 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 7–35 | 0–4 | 57,234 |
5 | October 6, 2002 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 21–28 | 0–5 | 56,570 |
6 | October 13, 2002 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 7–34 | 0–6 | 63,900 |
7 | Bye | ||||
8 | October 27, 2002 | Tennessee Titans | L 24–30 | 0–7 | 52,822 |
9 | November 3, 2002 | at Houston Texans | W 38–3 | 1–7 | 69,827 |
10 | November 10, 2002 | at Baltimore Ravens | L 27–38 | 1–8 | 69,024 |
11 | November 17, 2002 | Cleveland Browns | L 20–27 | 1–9 | 64,060 |
12 | November 24, 2002 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 21–29 | 1–10 | 60,473 |
13 | December 1, 2002 | Baltimore Ravens | L 23–27 | 1–11 | 44,878 |
14 | December 8, 2002 | at Carolina Panthers | L 31–52 | 1–12 | 66,799 |
15 | December 15, 2002 | Jacksonville Jaguars | L 15–29 | 1–13 | 42,092 |
16 | December 22, 2002 | New Orleans Saints | W 20–13 | 2–13 | 43,544 |
17 | December 29, 2002 | at Buffalo Bills | L 9–27 | 2–14 | 47,850 |
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text
Game summaries
Week 3: at Atlanta Falcons
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bengals | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Falcons | 13 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 30 |
at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
- Date: September 22, 2002
- Game time: 8:30 pm
- Game weather: None (indoor stadium)
- Game attendance: 68,129
- Referee: Terry McAulay (77)
- TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick, Paul Maguire, Joe Theismann, and Suzy Kolber
- Recap, Game Book
Game information | ||
---|---|---|
|
Week 17: at Buffalo Bills
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bengals | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
Bills | 6 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 27 |
at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
- Date: December 29, 2002
- Game time: 1:00 pm
- Game weather: Cloudy, 35 °F (2 °C)
- Game attendance: 47,850
- Referee: Mike Carey (94)
- TV: CBS
- Recap, Game Book
Game information | ||
---|---|---|
|
Standings
Division
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 |
Conference
AFC
| ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Team | Division | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | SOS | SOV | ||
Division leaders | ||||||||||||
1[a] | Oakland Raiders | West | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 4–2 | 9–3 | .529 | .531 | ||
2[a] | Tennessee Titans | South | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 6–0 | 9–3 | .479 | .474 | ||
3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | North | 10 | 5 | 1 | .656 | 6–0 | 8–4 | .486 | .451 | ||
4[b] | New York Jets | East | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–2 | 6–6 | .500 | .500 | ||
Wild Cards | ||||||||||||
5 | Indianapolis Colts | South | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 4–2 | 8–4 | .479 | .400 | ||
6[c] | Cleveland Browns | North | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 7–5 | .486 | .413 | ||
Did not qualify for the postseason | ||||||||||||
7[c][d] | Denver Broncos | West | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 5–7 | .527 | .486 | ||
8[b][c][d][e] | New England Patriots | East | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–2 | 6–6 | .525 | .455 | ||
9[b][e] | Miami Dolphins | East | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 2–4 | 7–5 | .508 | .486 | ||
10[f] | Buffalo Bills | East | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2–4 | 5–7 | .473 | .352 | ||
11[f][g] | San Diego Chargers | West | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 3–3 | 6–6 | .492 | .453 | ||
12[g] | Kansas City Chiefs | West | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2–4 | 6–6 | .527 | .516 | ||
13 | Baltimore Ravens | North | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–3 | 7–5 | .506 | .384 | ||
14 | Jacksonville Jaguars | South | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 1–5 | 4–8 | .506 | .438 | ||
15 | Houston Texans | South | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 1–5 | 2–10 | .518 | .492 | ||
16 | Cincinnati Bengals | North | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 0–6 | 1–11 | .537 | .406 | ||
Tiebreakers[h] | ||||||||||||
|
Team leaders
Passing
Player | Att | Comp | Yds | TD | INT | Rating |
Jon Kitna | 473 | 294 | 3178 | 16 | 16 | 79.1 |
Rushing
Player | Att | Yds | YPC | Long | TD |
Corey Dillon | 314 | 1311 | 4.2 | 67 | 7 |
Receiving
Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
Chad Johnson | 69 | 1166 | 16.9 | 72 | 5 |
Peter Warrick | 53 | 606 | 11.4 | 37 | 6 |
Defensive
Player | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FF | FR |
Takeo Spikes | 171 | 1.5 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Justin Smith | 67 | 6.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Artrell Hawkins | 92 | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Kevin Kaesviharn | 62 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Kicking and punting
Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | XPA | XPM | XP% | Points |
Neil Rackers | 18 | 15 | 83.3% | 32 | 30 | 93.8% | 75 |
Player | Punts | Yards | Long | Blkd | Avg. |
Nick Harris | 65 | 2608 | 57 | 1 | 40.1 |
Special teams
Player | KR | KRYards | KRAvg | KRLong | KRTD | PR | PRYards | PRAvg | PRLong | PRTD |
Brandon Bennett | 49 | 1231 | 25.1 | 94 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
T. J. Houshmandzadeh | 13 | 288 | 22.2 | 44 | 0 | 24 | 117 | 4.9 | 34 | 0 |
Awards and records
Pro Bowl Selections
- Lorenzo Neal FB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
Milestones
- Corey Dillon, 6th 1,000 yard rushing (1,311 yards) season[3]
References
External links
- Official website
- 2002 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com