AFC Championship, 2002: Oakland 41 Tennessee 24

Game information
Oakland called only one running play in the first three quarters of the game, choosing to rely almost exclusively on the passing of 37-year-old quarterback Rich Gannon. And Gannon proved to be up to the task, leading the Raiders to victory with 286 passing yards and three touchdowns, along with 41 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

On the first play from scrimmage, Gannon completed a 29-yard pass to Jerry Rice. He went on to complete 5/5 passes for 64 yards and rush for three on a 70-yard drive that ended with his 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jerry Porter. The Titans countered with a 9-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Steve McNair to Drew Bennett to tie it up five minutes later. Oakland struck back as Gannon completed a 17-yard pass to Charlie Garner, a 14-yard pass to Jon Ritchie, and then ran the ball 13 yards to the Titans 42. Following a penalty, his 31-yard completion to Porter moved the ball to the 16, and he ended up finishing the drive with a 12-yard touchdown completion to Garner, giving the Raiders a 14–7 lead.

Tennessee then drove 59 yards, featuring a 16-yard scramble by McNair, to cut the score to 14-10 early in the second quarter on Joe Nedney's 29-yard field goal. Later on, Derrick Mason returned a Raiders punt 11 yards to the Titans 45-yard line, sparking a 55-yard drive that ended on McNair's 9-yard touchdown run that gave the team a 17–14 lead with 2:54 left in the half.

Then things fell apart for Tennessee. Backed up at their own 11-yard line by a Shane Lechler punt and simply trying to run out the clock, running back Robert Holcombe fumbled the ball while being tackled by Raiders linebacker Eric Barton, and safety Anthony Dorsett, Holcombe's old teammate who was a member of the Titans when they reached Super Bowl XXXIV, recovered the ball at the Tennessee 16-yard line. On the next play, Rice caught a 15-yard reception at the 1-yard line, and then Gannon found Doug Jolley in the back of the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown pass, giving the Raiders a 21–17 lead. Then on the ensuing kickoff, rookie returner John Simon was stripped of the ball by Tim Johnson, and Alvis Whitted recovered the fumble for Oakland on the Titans' 39-yard line, setting up a 43-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski on the last play of the first half, making the score 24–17.

Tennessee took the second half kickoff and drove all the way to the Raiders 22-yard line before McNair was sacked for an 11-yard loss on third down by John Parrella. Because Nedney had been injured making a tackle in the second quarter, Titans coach Jeff Fisher decided to punt rather than attempt a long field goal. The next time they had the ball, Titans punter Craig Hentrich was tackled for a 6-yard loss by Johnson before he could kick the ball, giving Oakland a first down on the Tennessee 19. Janikowski then kicked another field goal to make the score 27–17. This time, the Titans managed to respond, driving 70 yards and scoring with McNair's 13-yard touchdown run to cut their deficit to 27–24. But the Raiders responded with a 66-yard drive, kept alive by a 14-yard pass interference penalty on defensive back Samari Rolle on a third down play in which Gannon threw an incompletion. Garner also made a big impact with an 18-yard run, and eventually Gannon capped the drive off with a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Fullback Zack Crockett later finished a 69-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run to put the game away.

As of 2023, this is the last AFC championship game which has not featured Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger or Patrick Mahomes as a starting quarterback. With the Raiders' approved relocation to Las Vegas for 2020, this would prove to be the last playoff game played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. In addition, this is, to date, the last Oakland Raiders' playoff victory, as they would not qualify for the playoffs again until 2016.

This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Titans and Raiders. Oakland won all three previous meetings while the Titans were the Houston Oilers.

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