2002_Chicago_Bears

2002 Chicago Bears season

2002 Chicago Bears season

NFL team season


The 2002 season was the Chicago Bears' 83rd in the National Football League (NFL) and their fourth under head coach Dick Jauron.

Quick Facts Chicago Bears season, Owner ...

The team had hopes of returning to the playoffs after an unexpected 13–3 season the previous year, However, the team failed to improve on that record and finished with a 4–12 record and missed the postseason for the second time in three years. The Bears had problems on both sides of the ball, finishing 27th in the league in points scored and 23rd in points allowed.[1] The Bears began the season 2–0, but things quickly fell apart as the team fell into an eight-game losing streak, including a loss at home to the New England Patriots where, despite having a 27–6 lead at some point, the Patriots came back and won the game late in the fourth quarter. After this, the Bears never recovered, finishing 4–12 and in third place in their division, the newly aligned NFC North.

With Soldier Field being rebuilt, the Bears opted to play all of their home games Downstate in Champaign, at Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Illinois.[2] The arrangement was similar to the one made by the newly-relocated Tennessee Oilers five years earlier, in that the Bears continued to be based in Chicago and travelled to Champaign (a two-hour drive to the southwest) only for games, essentially consigning themselves to playing sixteen games on the road.

While (unlike the 1997 Oilers) the venture was reasonably successful at the box office, with the Bears drawing more than 50,000 fans to every game in Champaign and more than 60,000 to all but two games, the Bears never seemed to get used to their "new" home field. Injuries piled up as the season went on for both offense and defense. Starting quarterback Jim Miller was injured throughout the year, leaving the team no choice but to use backup Chris Chandler and rookie third-string quarterback Henry Burris for both spot relief and as starters. 2001 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Anthony Thomas suffered a broken right index finger in Week 15 against the Green Bay Packers.[3] These injuries and the league's 23rd worst turnover differential contributed to the team's franchise record-tying eight-game losing streak and their poor record.[4]

Offseason

More information Signings, Departures ...

2002 Expansion Draft

More information Round, Overall ...

Draft

[5]

Undrafted free agents

More information Player, Position ...

Training camp

2002 marked the first Bears Training Camp at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois, after practicing at University of Wisconsin–Platteville from 1984 to 2001. Other candidates in the selection process included universities like Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Illinois State in Normal, Millikin in Decatur, Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Southern Illinois Carbondale and Edwardsville, and Urbana–Champaign; smaller schools like Knox College in Galesburg, Monmouth College in Monmouth, and Rockford College in Rockford; and the Chanute Air Force Base near Rantoul, where the Illinois Fighting Illini held their offseason camps.[6]

The list was eventually narrowed to Eastern Illinois, Millikin, Northern Illinois, and Olivet Nazarene. On July 17, 2001, the Bears announced Olivet Nazarene as the new Training Camp site on a two-year deal.[7]

Staff

2002 Chicago Bears staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Physical development coordinator – Russ Riederer
  • Assistant physical development coordinator – Steve Little

Roster

2002 Chicago Bears final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
53 active, 14 inactive, 5 practice squad

Preseason

More information Week, Date ...

Regular season

Schedule

More information Week, Date ...

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Minnesota Vikings

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 1: Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

  • Date: September 8, 2002
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Partly Cloudy, 85 °F (29 °C)
  • Game attendance: 63,226
  • Referee: Mike Carey (94)
  • TV: FOX
  • Recap, Game Book

Week 2: at Atlanta Falcons

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 2: Chicago Bears at Atlanta Falcons

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

Week 3: vs. New Orleans Saints

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 3: New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

  • Date: September 22, 2002
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Partly Cloudy, 68 °F (20 °C)
  • Game attendance: 63,216
  • Referee: Ron Blum (7)
  • TV: FOX
  • Recap, Game Book

Week 4: at Buffalo Bills

More information Period, OT ...
More information Game information ...
Week 4: Chicago Bears at Buffalo Bills

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Week 5: vs. Green Bay Packers

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 5: Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

Week 7: at Detroit Lions

More information Period, OT ...
More information Game information ...
Week 7: Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions

at Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

  • Date: October 20, 2002
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: none (indoor stadium)
  • Game attendance: 60,421
  • Referee: Bernie Kukar (86)
  • TV: FOX
  • Recap, Game Book

Week 8: at Minnesota Vikings

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 8: Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings

at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • Date: October 27, 2002
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: none (indoor stadium)
  • Game attendance: 64,122
  • Referee: Bill Leavy (127)
  • TV: FOX
  • Recap, Game Book

Week 9: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 9: Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

  • Date: November 3, 2002
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Light rain 38 °F (3 °C)
  • Game attendance: 54,049
  • Referee: Terry McAulay (77)
  • TV: FOX
  • Recap, Game Book

Week 10: vs. New England Patriots

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 10: New England Patriots at Chicago Bears

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

  • Date: November 10, 2002
  • Game time: 4:15 p.m.
  • Game weather: Overcast, 60 °F (16 °C)
  • Game attendance: 63,105
  • Referee: Bob McElwee (95)
  • TV: CBS
  • Recap, Game Book

Week 11: at St. Louis Rams

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 11: Chicago Bears at St. Louis Rams

at Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri

  • Date: November 18, 2002
  • Game time: 9:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: None (indoor stadium)
  • Game attendance: 66,250
  • Referee: Gerry Austin (34)
  • TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, John Madden and Melissa Stark
  • Recap, Game Book

Week 12: vs. Detroit Lions

More information Period, OT ...
More information Game information ...
Week 12: Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

Week 13: at Green Bay Packers

More information Period, Total ...
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Week 13: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

  • Date: December 1, 2002
  • Game time: 1:00 pm
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 23 °F (−5 °C)
  • Game attendance: 64,196
  • Referee: Ron Winter (14)
  • TV: FOX
  • Recap, Game Book

Week 14: at Miami Dolphins

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 14: Chicago Bears at Miami Dolphins

at Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

Week 15: vs. New York Jets

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 15: New York Jets at Chicago Bears

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

  • Date: December 15, 2002
  • Game time: 1:00 pm
  • Game weather: Partly Cloudy, 43 °F (6 °C)
  • Game attendance: 62,226
  • Referee: Mike Carey (94)
  • TV: CBS
  • Recap. Game Book

Week 16: at Carolina Panthers

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 16: Chicago Bears at Carolina Panthers

at Ericsson Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

  • Date: December 22, 2002
  • Game time: 1:00 pm
  • Game weather: Sunny, 56 °F (13 °C)
  • Game attendance: 72,602
  • Referee: Terry McAulay (77)
  • TV: FOX
  • Recap, Game Book

Week 17: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

More information Period, Total ...
More information Game information ...
Week 17: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Chicago Bears

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

Standings

Division

More information NFC North, W ...

Conference

More information #, Team ...

References

  1. "2002 Chicago Bears Statistics and Players". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  2. "2002 Chicago Bears". Chicago Bears History. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  3. "Packers capitalize on turnovers to stop Bears". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  4. "Bears snap eight-game slide with OT victory". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  5. "2002 NFL Draft". NFL.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2007. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  6. Isaacson, Melissa (May 4, 2001). "The state of camp-site wooing". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 20, 2018. Free access icon

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