2002–03 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 2002 season began on January 4, 2003. The postseason tournament concluded with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeating the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, 48–21, on January 26, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
| Dates | January 4–26, 2003 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 2002 | ||||
| Teams | 12 | ||||
| Games played | 11 | ||||
| Super Bowl XXXVII site |
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| Defending champions | New England Patriots (did not qualify) | ||||
| Champions | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | ||||
| Runners-up | Oakland Raiders | ||||
| Conference runners-up | |||||
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Prior to the 2002–03 season, the league realigned its teams into eight divisions (four in each conference). Thus, the 12-team playoff format was modified. The league abided by this updated system until 2020:
- The four division champions are seeded 1–4 based on their regular season won-lost-tied record.
- Two "wild card" qualifiers (those non-division champions with the conference's best won-lost-tied percentages) are seeded 5 and 6 within the conference.
As a result, a wild card team could no longer host a playoff game during the opening Wild Card round. Prior to the 2002–03 playoffs, a team could finish second in its division and host a playoff game as the number 4 seed (best wild-card team). The new rules meant that the number 4 seed was awarded to a division champion and not a wild card team (non-division champion). Under the new system, a wild card team could host a playoff game only if the number 5 and number 6 seeds in one conference advance to a Conference Championship Game, in which case a number 5 seed would host the game (which, under this format, never happened).
This would be the last season until 2022-23 in which the Divisional Round did not include Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning or Ben Roethlisberger.