Sunday January 12.2C 2003 2002–03 NFL playoffs

at raymond james stadium, tampa, florida

game time: 1:00 p.m. est
game weather: 54 °f (12 °c), partly cloudy
game attendance: 65,599
referee: gerald austin
tv announcers (fox): joe buck (play-by-play), troy aikman, cris collinsworth (color commentators), , pam oliver (sideline reporter)

the buccaneers, league s top-ranked defense during 2002 regular season, forced 5 turnovers, sacked quarterback jeff garcia 4 times, , limited 49ers 2 field goals. tampa bay quarterback brad johnson, had been sidelined month, returned throw 196 yards , 2 touchdowns. fullback mike alstott rushed 60 yards, caught 3 passes 27 yards, , scored 2 touchdowns, while buccaneers held onto ball 36:46 , held 49ers season low 228 yards. san francisco s first playoff game without touchdown since 1986, while tampa bay finished game more points scored in last 3 playoff games combined.

san francisco had chance score when defensive rashad holman intercepted pass johnson on opening drive , returned 13 yards buccaneers 40-yard line. on third down, bucs defenders warren sapp , derrick brooks shared sack on garcia pushed 49ers out of field goal range. tampa bay drove 74 yards in 13 plays drive included 17-yard receptions alstott , receiver keyshawn johnson, along 4 third down conversions. alstott finished drive 2-yard touchdown run. san francisco responded garcia s 30-yard completion tai streets set 24-yard field goal jeff chandler, 7-3 score ended being close 49ers ever rest of game.

tampa bay increased lead 14-3 in second quarter 73-yard drive in keyshawn johnson caught 2 passes 42 total yards , brad johnson finished off 20-yard scoring pass joe jurevicius. pair of 15-yard penalties against bucs defense enabled 49ers drive chandler field goal, 36-yard pass interference call against san francisco safety tony parrish led buccaneer touchdown, 1 12-yard catch tight end rickey dudley. later on, brooks intercepted pass garcia @ 49ers 26-yard line. 1 play later, michael pittman s 22-yard burst moved ball 4-yard line, , alstott finished drive 2-yard touchdown run, giving tampa bay 28-6 lead 55 seconds left in half.

on first play of third quarter, bucs defensive dwight smith intercepted garcia , returned ball 6 yards san francisco 37, setting martín gramática s 19-yard field goal. ended being final score of game both defenses took on point on. closest bucs come scoring again missed 45-yard field goal attempt gramatica. meanwhile, san francisco s remaining drives result in 2 punts, garcia fumble recovered brooks on tampa bay 35, failed fourth down conversion attempt when brooks tackled eric johnson 1 yard short of marker, interception tampa bay defensive ronde barber, , time expiring in game.

despite san francisco s 10–6 record, nfc west title, , wild card playoff win against new york giants, coach steve mariucci fired 3 days after game. 49ers not return playoffs until 2011.

afc: oakland raiders 30, new york jets 10

at network associates coliseum, oakland, california

game time: 4:30 p.m. est/1:30 p.m. pst
game weather: 61 °f (16 °c), cloudy
game attendance: 62,207
referee: dick hantak
tv announcers (cbs): greg gumbel (play-by-play), phil simms (color commentator), , armen keteyian (sideline reporter)

chad pennington s dream season came end jets quarterback threw 2 interceptions, lost 2 fumbles, , sacked 4 times (twice rod coleman). raiders quarterback rich gannon threw 283 yards , 2 touchdowns oakland pulled away 10–10 halftime tie forcing 4 consecutive turnovers , scoring twenty consecutive second half points.

aided 15-yard run curtis martin , 20-yard pass interference penalty on charles woodson, john hall s 38-yard field goal gave jets 3–0 lead before matched 29-yard field goal sebastian janikowski tie game. on jets next drive, oakland lineman travian smith forced , recovered fumble pennington on new york s 27-yard line. on next play, running charlie garner fumbled ball, oakland guard frank middleton recovered it, , fullback zack crockett ended scoring 1-yard touchdown run few plays later. pennington led jets back, completing 8 of 9 passes 51 yards on 81-yard drive took 7 minutes off clock , ended 1-yard touchdown pass jerald sowell, tying game 22 seconds left in first half.

early in third quarter, raiders defensive tory james intercepted pass pennington on jets 45-yard line. gannon went downfield, hitting tim brown 16-yard completion , throwing 29-yard touchdown pass jerry rice. new york turned ball on over downs next possession, , gannon once again went work, completing 50-yard strike jerry porter , finishing drive 9-yard touchdown pass rice, increasing raiders lead 24–10. jets turned ball on again when richie anderson fumbled handoff on ensuing drive. new york defensive damien robinson intercepted pass gannon on next play, oakland s eric barton returned favor interception of own, setting 34-yard janikowski field goal. janikowski later added field goal less 5 minutes left in game.