2002 New Orleans Saints season

2002 New Orleans Saints season
Head Coach	Jim Haslett
Home Field	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	9–7
Place	3rd NFC South
Playoff Finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	Deuce McAllister (RB) Joe Horn (WR) Michael Lewis (KR) Fred McAfee (ST)
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
2001	2003

The 2002 New Orleans Saints season was the franchise's 36th season in the National Football League and the 27th to host games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. They improved upon their previous season's performance of 7–9, winning nine games. Despite the winning season, and ranking third in total offense in 2002, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs. A bright moment during the season for the Saints was sweeping eventual champion Tampa Bay. Those two wins were almost guaranteed to make New Orleans a playoff team; however, three consecutive losses, including one to 1–13 Cincinnati, knocked New Orleans out of a postseason berth.

Offseason

Additions	Subtractions
WR Jerome Pathon (Colts)	RB Ricky Williams (Dolphins)
TE David Sloan (Lions)	T Willie Roaf (Chiefs)
CB Ken Irvin (Bills)	DT La'Roi Glover (Cowboys)
WR Jake Reed (Vikings)	CB Fred Weary (Falcons)
T Victor Riley (Chiefs)	DE Joe Johnson (Packers)

NFL Draft

Main article: 2002 NFL Draft

2002 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	13	Donté Stallworth	Wide receiver	Tennessee
1	25	Charles Grant	Defensive end	Georgia
2	44	LeCharles Bentley *	Guard	Ohio State
3	82	James Allen	Linebacker	Oregon State
4	125	Keyuo Craver	Defensive back	Nebraska
5	150	Mel Mitchell	Defensive back	Western Kentucky
6	186	J. T. O'Sullivan	Quarterback	UC Davis
6	196	John Gilmore	Tight end	Penn State
7	224	Derrius Monroe	Defensive end	Virginia Tech
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

2002 Undrafted Free Agents of note

Player	Position	College
Jeff Reed	Placekicker	North Carolina

Personnel

Staff

2002 New Orleans Saints staff
	Front office Owner – Tom Benson Executive Vice President/General Manager – Mickey Loomis Senior Football Administrator – Russ Ball Director of Player Personnel – Rick Mueller College Scouting Coordinator – Rick Thompson Head coaches Head Coach – Jim Haslett Assistant Head Coach/Secondary – Mike Riley Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Mike McCarthy Quarterbacks – Mike Sheppard Running Backs – Dave Atkins Wide Receivers – Hubbard Alexander Assistant Wide Receivers – Jim Hostler Tight Ends – Bob Palcic Offensive Line – Jack Henry Offensive Assistant/Quality Control – Danny Langsdorf			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Rick Venturi Defensive Line – Sam Clancy Linebackers – Winston Moss Assistant Secondary – Joe Baker Defensive Assistant/Quality Control – Greg Brown Special teams coaches Special Teams – Al Everest Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Rock Gullickson Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Evan Marcus

Roster

2002 New Orleans Saints roster
	Quarterbacks  2 Aaron Brooks 12 Jake Delhomme Running backs 48 James Fenderson 28 Curtis Keaton 25 Fred McAfee 26 Deuce McAllister 44 Terrelle Smith FB Wide receivers 87 Joe Horn 89 Derrick Lewis 84 Michael Lewis 80 Jerome Pathon 86 Jake Reed 83 Donté Stallworth Tight ends 81 Lamont Hall 88 David Sloan 82 Boo Williams		Offensive linemen 65 LeCharles Bentley G 71 Spencer Folau G 62 Jerry Fontenot C 64 Kendyl Jacox G 66 Victor Riley T 74 Scott Sanderson T 68 Kyle Turley T Defensive linemen 92 Martin Chase DT 94 Charles Grant DE 99 Norman Hand DT 93 Darren Howard DE 91 Grady Jackson DT 90 Kenny Smith DT 98 Willie Whitehead DE		Linebackers 50 James Allen 51 Bryan Cox 52 Sedrick Hodge 53 Roger Knight 54 Darrin Smith OLB Defensive backs 20 Jay Bellamy FS 43 Keyuo Craver 37 Steve Gleason SS 27 Ken Irvin CB 29 Sammy Knight S 22 Fred Thomas CB 21 Dale Carter CB Special teams  3 John Carney K  6 Dirk Johnson P 47 Kevin Houser LS		Reserve lists  4 Toby Gowin P (IR) File:Injury icon.svg 36 Michael Hawthorne CB (IR) File:Injury icon.svg Practice squad Rookies in italics Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Under the NFL’s new scheduling formula, during the 2002 regular season the Saints’ non-divisional conference opponents would be primarily from the NFC North, although they also played former divisional rival the San Francisco 49ers from the NFC West, and the Washington Redskins from the NFC East. Their non-conference opponents were from the AFC North.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV	Record	Attendance
1	September 8, 2002	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 26–20 (OT)	FOX	1–0	65,554
2	September 15, 2002	Green Bay Packers	W 35–20	FOX	2–0	67,958
3	September 22, 2002	at Chicago Bears	W 29–23	FOX	3–0	63,216
4	September 29, 2002	at Detroit Lions	L 21–26	FOX	3–1	60,023
5	October 6, 2002	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 32–29	CBS	4–1	67,734
6	October 13, 2002	at Washington Redskins	W 43–27	FOX	5–1	80,768
7	October 20, 2002	San Francisco 49ers	W 35–27	FOX	6–1	67,903
8	October 27, 2002	Atlanta Falcons	L 35–37	FOX	6–2	67,883
9	Bye
10	November 10, 2002	at Carolina Panthers	W 34–24	FOX	7–2	72,566
11	November 17, 2002	at Atlanta Falcons	L 17–24	FOX	7–3	70,382
12	November 24, 2002	Cleveland Browns	L 15–24	CBS	7–4	68,295
13	December 1, 2002	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 23–20	ESPN	8–4	68,226
14	December 8, 2002	at Baltimore Ravens	W 37–25	FOX	9–4	69,334
15	December 15, 2002	Minnesota Vikings	L 31–32	FOX	9–5	67,851
16	December 22, 2002	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 13–20	FOX	9–6	43,544
17	December 29, 2002	Carolina Panthers	L 6–10	FOX	9–7	66,946

Standings

NFC South
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
z (2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers	12	4	0	.750	4–2	9–3	346	196	W1
y (6) Atlanta Falcons	9	6	1	.594	4–2	7–5	402	314	L1
New Orleans Saints	9	7	0	.563	3–3	7–5	432	388	L3
Carolina Panthers	7	9	0	.438	1–5	4–8	258	302	W2

External links

• 2002 New Orleans Saints on Pro-Football-Reference.com