2002 Atlanta Falcons season The 2002 Atlanta Falcons season was their 37th in the league . The team improved upon their previous season ' s output of 7 - 9 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time in four years . The team was also involved in a rare tie , matching the Pittsburgh Steelers 34 - 34 at the end of overtime . This was the most recent tie in the NFL until the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinnati Bengals tied 13 - 13 in the 2008 season . The Falcons debuted in the new NFC South with what proved to be the first of two meetings at Lambeau Field with the Packers . After a Ryan Longwell field goal for the Packers in the first quarter new Falcons starting quarterback Michael Vick began moving Atlanta ' s offense and ran in a one - yard touchdown early in the second ; not three minutes after Vick ' s touchdown the Falcons had the ball back and Warrick Dunn ran in a touchdown . A David Martin catch from Brett Favre followed , but the Falcons led 21 - 10 at the half . Green Bay surged back to the lead on touchdowns by Rondell Mealey and rookie Javon Walker for a 27 - 24 lead . Scores by Dunn and William Henderson left the Packers up 34 - 31 before Jay Feely tied it on the final play of regulation . It took nearly ten minutes of overtime before Longwell finished it off with a 34 - yard field goal and a 37 - 34 Packers win . Atlanta ' s perennial arch - foe , the Saints had raced to a 6 - 1 record when they hosted the 3 - 3 Falcons . The Saints clawed to a 10 - 0 lead in the first quarter , then Michael Vick and Warrick Dunn rushing scores put Atlanta up 14 - 10 at the half . Bob Christian ran in a score early in the third , but less than two minutes later Aaron Brooks landed a 19 - yard touchdown pass to Deuce McAllister and then caught a two - point pass from Boo Williams . Two Jay Feely field goals and a Joe Horn touchdown made it 27 - 25 Atlanta early in the fourth before Vick ran 32 yards for another touchdown . The Saints erupted with another McAllister score and a John Carney field goal , but on the final play Feely finished off the Saints from 47 yards out and a 37 - 35 Falcons win . Now 4 - 3 , the Falcons began riding momentum as they hosted the 3 - 4 Ravens . Michael Vick completed only 12 of 24 passes with one INT and rushed seven times , suffering a net loss of five yards . Despite this the Falcons stayed toe - to - toe with the Ravens , racing to a 17 - 3 lead in the second before Baltimore tied it . Kicker Jay Feely booted a 40 - yard field goal in the third , and after that the Falcons defense shut out the Ravens enough for a 20 - 17 Atlanta win . Former draft bust ( and XFL champ ) Tommy Maddox replaced Kordell Stewart early in the season and the Steelers overcame an 0 - 2 start to win five of their next six games . The Steelers fell behind 7 - 3 following a 43 - yard touchdown from Michael Vick to Shawn Jefferson , but two Maddox touchdown throws put Pittsburgh up 17 - 7 at the half . After a 59 - yard Warrick Dunn score Maddox found Plaxico Burress from 62 yards out , but the PAT was blocked . Maddox later found Jerame Tuman and a two - point throw to Hines Ward , and the Steelers led 34 - 17 with ten minutes to go . But Vick exploded on the ground and in the air , racing the Falcons to set up Bob Christian ' s one - yard score , then a 40 - yard Jay Feely field goal , and finally an 11 - yard rushing touchdown himself with 32 seconds in regulation . Tied at 34 the Steelers clawed within range of a 48 - yard field goal try ; at this point Falcons receiver Brian Finneran was put onto special teams , an area he ' d never played before ; it proved decisive as Finneran blocked the kick . After an exchange of punts Maddox was picked off by Kevin Mathis , setting up a 56 - yard Feely kick in the final seconds of overtime ; this kick was blocked , and there was one second remaining . Maddox thus launched a desperation heave of some 60 yards ; in traffic it was caught by Burress but he was ruled down at the one - foot line , and the game ended tied at 34 , the first NFL tie since 1997 . " It ' s a win for them , " said a bitter Joey Porter . " To come back from 17 points down in the fourth quarter , it ' s a win for them , a loss for us . " Michael Vick ' s running had steadily become a major story in the league , and it became his signature play against the struggling Vikings . It was only the second game between the two clubs since the stunning NFC Title Game upset by the Falcons and the Vikings were smarting from a 3 - 8 record . The game lead tied or changed on every score ; Daunte Culpepper ran in a touchdown and connected on a two - yard score to Hunter Goodwin , while the Falcons behind 227 total rushing yards scored on rushing touchdowns by Vick and Bob Christian . With the Falcons up 24 - 21 in the final seconds , the Vikings reached the Falcons 10 ; Culpepper handed off to Randy Moss and Moss turned and tossed the ball to Culpepper for an apparent touchdown , but the Vikings were flagged for illegal formation and Gary Anderson booted a 29 - yarder . In overtime the Falcons got the ball first and just over two minutes in Vick dropped back to pass from the Vikings 46 ; with no receivers open he scrambled , then found a hole , cut back right , and raced in the winning touchdown ( 30 - 24 final ) , putting the Falcons at 8 - 3 - 1 and still within shot of the division title . A loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following week hurt Atlanta ' s title chances and they effectively ended against the Seahawks . The Falcons raced to a 17 - 7 lead in the first half but the Seahawks clawed back and surged to a 21 - 17 lead after Willie Williams ran back a Falcons fumble in the third . Seattle surged to a 24 - 17 lead but Vick landed a 12 - yard touchdcown into the hands of Trevor Gaylor with 17 seconds in regulation . The ensuing overtime lasted over ten minutes before Shaun Alexander burst from the Falcons 27 to finish it off at 30 - 24 . Week 17 of the 2002 season became a dizzying conundrum with multiple teams battling for a handful of playoff spots in both conferences . The Falcons needed a win over Cleveland or a Saints loss to Carolina to make the playoffs , while the 8 - 7 Browns needed a win and help around the AFC to make it to the club ' s first playoffs since the original incarnation of the Browns made it in 1994 . The Falcons - Browns game and the fate of the two teams ' playoff hopes became intertwined with New Orleans vs . Carolina , the New England Patriots vs . Miami Dolphins , and the New York Jets vs . Green Bay Packers . The Panthers embarrassed the Saints by forcing multiple turnovers and winning 10 - 6 , while the Patriots erased a 24 - 13 gap to beat the Dolphins ; in Cleveland the Falcons clawed to a 16 - 10 lead after three quarters , but Kelly Holcomb ' s touchdown to Kevin Johnson in the fourth was followed by a 64 - yard William Green touchdown run . The Falcons raced to the Browns 1 - yard line , but two straight runs by Warrick Dunn were stopped , and the Browns , winners 24 - 16 , now had to wait to see if they would make the playoffs - the Jets got them in by hammering the Packers and thus eliminating Miami and New England , while Atlanta made it in on New Orleans ' loss . The Falcons traveled to Lambeau Field , where the Packers had never lost a playoff game in their history ; thirteen playoff games had been played at Lambeau and the Packers had won all of them . That ended on a bitterly cold night as the Falcons upset the Packers . The Falcons scored first on a ten - yard Michael Vick pass to Shawn Jefferson , then Artie Ulmer blocked a Packers punt at their 1 - yard line and scored . The Falcons defense bullied the Packers into three fumbles and Brett Favre ' s reputation for playoff recklessness led to two interceptions by Keion Carpenter . The Falcons rushed for 192 yards , 128 of them split between Vick and Warrick Dunn , as the Falcons raced to a 23 - 7 win , Green Bay ' s first ever home playoff loss .