On the Eagles first drive of the game, Buccaneers safety Dexter Jackson intercepted a pass from McNabb and returned it nine yards to the Eagles 36-yard line, setting up a 36-yard field goal from Martín Gramática. It was the second consecutive season in which Philadelphia eliminated Tampa Bay from the playoffs during the wild card round, and two days later, Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy was fired. Bucs quarterback Brad Johnson was intercepted four times, twice by Damon Moore. PHI – Moore 59 interception return (Akers kick) PHI 31–9Įagles quarterback Donovan McNabb threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 54 yards, as Philadelphia dominated Tampa Bay from start to finish.

PHI – Buckhalter 25 run (Akers kick) PHI 24–9.

PHI – Staley 23 pass from McNabb (Akers kick) PHI 17–6.

PHI – Lewis 16 pass from McNabb (Akers kick) PHI 10–3.

Wild Card playoffs Saturday, Janu NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana Fox televised the rest of the NFC games and Super Bowl XXXVI. In the United States, ABC broadcast the first two Wild Card playoff games, then CBS broadcast the rest of the AFC playoff games. Concurrently, the league abandoned its general practice of scheduling colder, northern playoff games for daylight hours only any stadium, regardless of evening January temperatures, could host prime time playoff games. Saturday wild card and divisional playoff games were moved from 12:30 p.m. įor the first time, the NFL scheduled prime time playoff games for the first two rounds in an attempt to attract more television viewers. No bye week was originally scheduled between the conference championships and the Super Bowl this season, so the NFL had to work diligently to get the final game in New Orleans rescheduled, including having alternative plans to host the Super Bowl in another city. This thus marked the first time in NFL history that the Super Bowl was played in February. This caused the playoffs and Super Bowl to be delayed by one week. The Septemterrorist attacks led the league to postpone its September 16–17 games and play them a week after the scheduled conclusion of the regular season.

Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, the designated home team was based on an annual rotation by conference. The two winning teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosted the worst-remaining seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed played the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5). The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference received a first-round bye. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosted the sixth seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosted the fifth. The NFL did not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there were no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. The three division winners were seeded 1–3 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams were seeded 4–6. Within each conference, the three division winners and the three wild card teams (the top three non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. Under the current playoff format, wild card qualifiers can meet in any playoff round except the wild card round. Under the 2002 system, the only way two wild card teams in the same conference could meet in the playoffs would be for both teams to each win two road games to advance to the conference championship game hosted by the fifth seed, which never occurred. As was the case prior to 2002, division champions retain priority for higher seeding and home field advantage regardless of records. The number of playoff berths remained six per conference, meaning one wild card berth per conference was eliminated and there would be no more meetings between wild card teams in the first round.

The addition of the Houston Texans to the league in 2002 led to a realignment to eight divisions. Until the 2020 season, this was the last season that three wild card teams qualified for the playoffs in each conference, and the last time a wild card team from each conference hosted a postseason game. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, 20–17, on February 3, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The postseason tournament concluded with the New England Patriots defeating the St. The National Football League playoffs for the 2001 season began on January 12, 2002.

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