The 2002 season was the San Diego Chargers' 33rd in the National Football League (NFL), their 43rd overall and their first under head coach Marty Schottenheimer. Their stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, hosted Super Bowl XXXVII at the end of the season, but the Chargers' failure to secure a playoff berth marked the 18th straight season that the Super Bowl did not include the team in whose region the game was being played. Their division was reduced to four teams at the start of the season, with the Seattle Seahawks moving to the NFC. Despite going into their bye week with a 6–1 record, the Chargers suffered a late-season collapse, winning just two out of their last nine games after their bye week and missing the postseason.
This season would be the last for two longtime defensive stalwarts in Charger uniforms; as future Hall-of-Fame linebacker Junior Seau would leave for the Miami Dolphins; while longtime safety Rodney Harrison would likewise leave for New England. Seau and Harrison would be reunited with the Patriots from 2006 until Harrison's retirement after the 2008 season.
Offseason Additions Subtractions TE Stephen Alexander (Redskins) TE Steve Heiden (Browns) LB Donnie Edwards (Chiefs) LB John Holecek (Falcons) G Bob Hallen (Falcons) LB Sam Rogers (Falcons) C Cory Raymer (Redskins) G Raleigh Roundtree (Cardinals) DT Jason Fisk (Titans) TE Freddie Jones (Cardinals) SS Keith Lyle (Redskins) G DeMingo Graham (Texans)
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents + 2002 undrafted free agents of note Player Position College Jason Ball Center New Hampshire Jesse Chatman Running back Eastern Washington Chris Demaree Defensive end Kentucky Vernon Fox Safety Fresno State Bart Hendricks Quarterback Boise State Tony Okanlawon Cornerback Maryland Josh Norman Tight end Oklahoma
Personnel Staff
Roster
Preseason
WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance 1 August 10 Arizona Cardinals L 14–24 0–1 Qualcomm Stadium 2 August 16 Seattle Seahawks W 24–14 1–1 Qualcomm Stadium 3 August 22 at St. Louis Rams W 31–10 2–1 Edward Jones Dome 4 August 28 at San Francisco 49ers L 3–27 2–2 3Com Park
Regular season
Schedule In addition to their regular games with AFC West rivals, the Chargers played teams from the AFC East and NFC West as per the schedule rotation, and also played intraconference games against the Texans and the Bengals based on divisional positions from 2001. Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 8 at Cincinnati Bengals W 34–6 1–0 Paul Brown Stadium 53,705 2 September 15 Houston Texans W 24–3 2–0 Qualcomm Stadium 56,098 3 September 22 at Arizona Cardinals W 23–15 3–0 Sun Devil Stadium 28,980 4 September 29 New England Patriots W 21–14 4–0 Qualcomm Stadium 66,463 5 October 6 at Denver Broncos L 9–26 4–1 Invesco Field 75,065 6 October 13 Kansas City Chiefs W 35–34 5–1 Qualcomm Stadium 58,995 7 October 20 at Oakland Raiders W 27–21 (OT) 6–1 Network Associates Coliseum 60,974 8 Bye 9 November 3 New York Jets L 13–44 6–2 Qualcomm Stadium 59,772 10 November 10 at St. Louis Rams L 24–28 6–3 Edward Jones Dome 66,093 11 November 17 San Francisco 49ers W 20–17 (OT) 7–3 Qualcomm Stadium 67,161 12 November 24 at Miami Dolphins L 3–30 7–4 Pro Player Stadium 73,138 13 December 1 Denver Broncos W 30–27 (OT) 8–4 Qualcomm Stadium 66,357 14 December 8 Oakland Raiders L 7–27 8–5 Qualcomm Stadium 67,968 15 December 15 at Buffalo Bills L 13–20 8–6 Ralph Wilson Stadium 61,838 16 December 22 at Kansas City Chiefs L 22–24 8–7 Arrowhead Stadium 77,899 17 December 29 Seattle Seahawks L 28–31 (OT) 8–8 Qualcomm Stadium 52,159 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Cincinnati Bengals
Tomlinson had a 14-yard run and a 13-yard catch on the Chargers' opening drive of the season, which resulted in a field goal. Their first touchdown was set up by Alex Molden intercepting Gus Frerotte at the Cincinnati 14; Tomlinson converted a 3rd and 5 with a 6-yard run, and Josh Norman's touchdown catch followed two play later. After a 22-yard Conway run on a reverse, San Diego extended their lead with Christie's second field goal. On their next drive, they embarked on a 95-yard drive in which all but 7 yards came from running the ball. Tomlinson had gains of 14 and 17 yards, and finished the drive from a yard out shortly before halftime.
Cincinnati managed a field goal on the opening drive of the second half, but Tomlinson's 30-yard catch on the next play from scrimmage was followed by a 20-yard end-around by Dwight, with Conway's 9-yard touchdown catch soon following on a 3rd and 5 play. Terrell Fletcher added the final Charger touchdown on a drive that saw him carry the ball on seven consecutive plays at one point.
San Diego totalled 45 carries for 241 yards, against Cincinnati's 13 carries for 36 yards; they gained 16 rushing first downs while the Bengals had just 2. This helped them to control possession for 37:48 of the match.
Week 2: vs. Houston Texans
The Chargers took the opening kickoff and drove 78 yards to take the lead; Tomlinson converted a 3rd and 2 with a 6-yard run, and Conway pulled in a Brees pass up the left sideline for a 35-yard touchdown two plays later. Later in the 1st quarter, Seau intercepted a tipped ball and returned it 25 yards to the Houston 6. On 3rd and goal from the 3, Conway took an end-around and scored easily. Brees was sacked for a loss of 20 on the next Charger drive, eventually leading the Chargers to punt from their own 3. Houston took over at the San Diego 35 and scored their only points with a field goal despite only gaining 8 yards from there. Bennett pinned the Texans at their own 7 with a punt late in the half, and Seau sacked David Carr in the end zone, though the quarterback was ruled to have reached the ball over the goal line and avoided a safety. Houston were forced to punt from their own 1 yard line; San Diego took over at their own 46 and Conway's 23- and 14-yard receptions moved them into position for Christie's field goal.
Houston drove into Charger territory on the opening drive of the second half, but were forced to punt after a Wiley 3rd-down sack; the Texans failed gain a first down on their next five drives. San Diego missed a scoring chance in the 3rd quarter when Brees was intercepted at the goal line on 1st and 10 from the Texans 42, but their defense scored the game's final points early in the final quarter. Bennett pinned the Texans at their own 5 and Leber sacked Carr in the end zone two plays later; the quarterback fumbled, and Raylee Johnson recovered. In the final five minutes, Vernon Fox intercepted Carr and Leber sacked him on 4th down as the Charger defense conceded no touchdowns for the second game in a row.
Leber had 3 sacks and the Chargers had 9 – it was their most for 16 years. With Carr only passing for 87 yards and losing 58 yards from the sacks, the Texans finished with 29 net passing yards; they were allowed only 118 yards and 7 first downs.
Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals
San Diego conceded their first touchdown of the season on the Cardinals' second play, when MarTay Jenkins took a short pass 65 yards for a touchdown. Christie missed a 50-yard field goal late in the 1st quarter, but Wiley intercepted a pass near the line of scrimmage two plays later and returned it 40 yards to the 6 yard line. Tomlinson's first touchdown followed when he took a pitch two plays later. On the next Arizona drive, Leber forced a fumble that McNeil recovered at his own 38. The Chargers again capitalized on the turnover, with Stephen Alexander's 19-yard catch and run converting a 3rd and 6 and Tomlinson scoring his second touchdown of the day. Late in the half, Wiley sacked Jake Plummer to push the Cardinals out of field goal range, keeping the San Diego lead at 14–7.
After a scoreless 3rd quarter, the Chargers score through their special teams. With Arizona punting from their own 8, Carlos Polk broke through to block the kick through the back of the end zone for a safety. Later, Edwards stepped in front of an out pattern, intercepted the ball and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. Arizona soon halved the deficit with Plummer passing for both a touchdown and a two-point conversion. The Chargers reached a 3rd and 5 at the Arizona 33, but Brees was intercepted with five minutes to play. Given a chance to tie, Arizona drove to a 1st and goal at the San Diego 9 at the two minute warning, from where Plummer threw four incompletions. The Cardinals had one more possession, but Plummer was sacked by Johnson and threw incomplete from his own 38 to end the game.
Week 4: vs. New England Patriots
New England, the defending Super Bowl champions, scored a touchdown on the game's opening drive. A Fred McCrary fumble soon set the Patriots up at the San Diego 39, but the Charger defense allowed only three yards and forced a punt. Tomlinson then carried the ball on four consecutive plays, gaining 5, 4, 7 and 24 yards to bring up a 1st and 10 at their own 48. Brees then used play action before hitting Conway in stride up the left sideline; he made the catch at the 15 and completed the 52-yard touchdown. New England responded with a 65-yard drive to Tom Brady's second touchdown pass of the day. New England had a chance to extend their lead on their next possession, but Adam Vinatieri missed a field goal wide right from 41 yards out. Brees then converted a 3rd and 7 with an 11-yard pass to Dwight, and scrambled for 10 yards on 3rd and 10. On 3rd and 2 from the New England 37, Tomlinson cut through a hole in the line of scrimmage and outran the defense for the game-tying touchdown.
Tomlinson put the Chargers ahead with a 58-yard touchdown run two plays into the second half. He cut to the right to evade two Patriots at the line of scrimmage, slipped a tackle ten yards upfield and benefitted from a Dwight block up the right sideline to complete the run. There were no more points despite numerous scoring chances the rest of the way. McNeil intercepted Brady on a 3rd and 6 from the Charger 30; Tomlinson converted a 4th and inches on the following drive, but was later stopped on 4th and 1. New England drove to a 2nd and 1 at the Charger 23, but Brady was again intercepted, this time by Edwards, who returned the ball 46 yards to the opposition 47 yard line. That led to a Christie field goal attempt, but his 50-yard kick was blocked. The Patriots went for it on 4th and inches at the San Diego 39, but Leber tackled Marc Edwards just short. Following a Charger punt, New England again drove into Charger territory, but Seau stopped an attempted draw play in the backfield on a 3rd and 10 from the 39, forcing a punt. Tomlinson picked up two first downs before Bennett's 52-yard punt pinned New England at their 4 with 1:51 to play and a single timeout to work with. The Patriots converted a 4th and 1 and crossed midfield again, but Kevin Faulk's attempted lateral went loose at the Charger 42, and Molden recovered with 8 seconds left to clinch the win.
Tomlinson's 217 yards tied the franchise record set by Gary Anderson in 1988. New England made it at least as far as the San Diego 42 yard line on every one of their ten drives throughout the game. The result broke a ten-game losing streak for San Diego against the Patriots, beating them for the first time since the 1970 season.
Week 5: at Denver Broncos