2002 New England Patriots season The 2002 New England Patriots season was the 33rd season for the team in the National Football League and 43rd season overall . They finished with a 9 – 7 record , good enough for second in the division but not a playoff berth . Following their victory in Super Bowl XXXVI seven months earlier , the Patriots played their first game in the new Gillette Stadium in the NFL ' s prime - time Monday Night Football opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers , a win for the Patriots . After an additional two wins to begin the season , including a 44 – 7 road win against the division rival New York Jets , the team lost five of its next seven games , allowing an average of 137 rushing yards a game during that span . In the final week of the season , the Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins on an overtime Adam Vinatieri field goal to give both teams a 9 – 7 record . A few hours later , the Jets , who defeated the Patriots the week prior , also finished with a 9 – 7 record with a win over the Green Bay Packers . Due to their record against common opponents , the Jets won the tiebreaker for the division title , which eliminated the Patriots and Dolphins from the playoffs . Opening training camp roster . At the time of the first public training camp practice at Bryant College on July 26 , they had 79 players signed to their roster , one short of the NFL maximum of 80 players . The Patriots received five roster exemptions for the NFL Europe allocations of Mike Clare , Patrick Downey , Radell Lockhart , Scott McCready , and Maugaula Tuitele . Additionally , the Patriots allocated safety Mark Washington and cornerback Cecil Deckard to NFL Europe and received roster exemptions for them , but those players were waived before the start of training camp . Notable games . The Patriots unveiled their first ever championship banner in pregame ceremonies on the opening of Monday Night Football for 2002 . A Tom Brady touchdown to Christian Fauria was answered by a Kordell Stewart touchdown to Hines Ward , and the score was 10 – 7 New England at the half . In the third quarter the Patriots put the game away with Brady touchdowns to Donald Hayes and rookie Deion Branch ; two Adam Vinatieri field goals secured the win despite a last - minute Steelers drive ending in a Stewart rouchdown run on the final play ; all the score did was reduce the Patriots ' margin of victory to 30 – 14 . Of note this was commentator John Madden ' s first regular season game that did not feature an NFC team . He had worked at CBS and Fox for the NFC package from 1979 – 2001 , and moved to " MNF " on ABC this season . ABC ' s games featured teams regardless of conference affiliation . After a scoreless first quarter the Patriots scored ten points in the second , then in the third erupted in points by their defense ; Tebucky Jones hammered the ball from Vinny Testaverde and ran in a 24 - yard touchdown , and later ex - Jet Victor Green picked off Vinny and ran in a 90 - yard touchdown . A Deion Branch touchdown catch and Kevin Faulk rushing score polished off a 44 – 7 slaughter in which New York punter Matt Turk on a 14 - yard scramble outrushed the entire Jets offensive backfield ( Curtis Martin , LaMont Jordan , and Richie Anderson managed only nine rushing yards and the former Patriot Martin was stopped for no gain three times ) . Tom Brady reached 400 passing yards for the first time in his career , and wound up needing them as the Chiefs clawed to a 17 – 9 lead in the third quarter on two Trent Green touchdown throws . Following the second Green touchdown the Patriots kicked it up several notches as Brady erupted to three straight touchdown throws and a 31 – 17 Patriots lead ; the Chiefs fought back themselves as Priest Holmes began storming up and down the field , setting up another Green touchdown throw ( to Eddie Kennison ) , then answering a 42 - yard Antowain Smith touchdown with two of his own , the final one on the game ' s final play , leaving the score tied 38 – 38 . The game thus went into overtime and the Patriots settled the issue on the extra quarter ' s only possession , whipping down field in 4 : 40 for Adam Vinatieri ' s 35 - yard game winner and a 41 – 38 final . A year after erasing a 10 - point gap and thus launching a run to Super Bowl XXXVI , New England ' s team - record 11 - game winning streak crashed to a halt at Qualcomm Stadium . The game lead changed or tied five times ; Tom Brady touchdowns to Christian Fauria and linebacker / tight end Mike Vrabel were answered by a Drew Brees touchdown to Curtis Conway and two LaDanian Tomlinson rushing scores . Brady clawed the Patriots to the Chargers red zone twice in the fourth but was picked off in the endzone by Donnie Edwards and Ryan McNeil . The second post - Super Bowl XXXI rematch with the Packers was no better than the first one in 1997 , as Brett Favre threw for just 147 yards , but they led to three touchdowns while Tom Brady was bullied into three interceptions , Kevin Faulk botched a lateral , and Bobby Hamilton was almost the only member of New England ' s defense to show up , recording a four - yard sack . The Packers romped 28 – 10 . The 3 – 4 Patriots faced former franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe for the first time since trading him to the Bills after the 2001 season . Bledsoe had raced the Bills to a 5 – 3 start but the Patriots now found their championship moxie again . Brady threw three touchdowns while ex - Bill Antowain Smith rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown . Mike Hollis missed three field goal tries as the Patriots raced to a 38 – 7 win . Another matchup with a former Super Bowl opponent took place in Champaign , Illinois , as renovation of Soldier Field forced the Bears to play their home games at the University of Illinois ' Urbana - Champaign area stadium . Chris Chandler was drilled in the head by Lawyer Milloy on a quarterback sneak and had to leave the game , replaced by Jim Miller . An exchange of field goals left the score tied at 6 after one quarter , then the Bears , trying to end a six - game losing streak , erupted to three touchdowns , one a 44 - yard Marty Booker pass to Marcus Robinson . Kevin Faulk , smarting from criticism of the botched lateral the previous month , now surged to the front , catching a pair of Tom Brady touchdown catches only to be stopped by Brian Urlacher on a two - point conversion try . Trailing 30 – 25 in the final two minutes , Brady was picked off by Marcus Harrison ; Harrison started upfield with the ball bobbling in his hands ; Brady swatted it out of his hands and the Bears recovered . The play was initially ruled an interception , but it went to replay and the ruling was changed to an incomplete pass . Brady then completed a four - yard quarterback sneak , and on the next play barely escaped a sack to flip the ball to Faulk for a first down to the Bears 20 . With 30 seconds to go Brady dodged Bears defenders and lofted a pass caught by David Patten ; the catch went to review as it initially appeared to be out of bounds , but replay showed Patten dragged both feet in bounds ; the Patriots then completed a two - point throw to Troy Brown and the Bears ' final drive petered out for a stunning 33 – 30 Patriots win .