2003 NFL season

2003 National Football League season

Regular season
Duration	September 4 – December 28, 2003
Playoffs
Start date	January 3, 2004
AFC Champions	New England Patriots
NFC Champions	Carolina Panthers
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Date	February 1, 2004
Site	Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas
Champions	New England Patriots
Pro Bowl
Date	February 8, 2004
Site	Aloha Stadium

The 2003 NFL season was the 84th regular season of the National Football League (NFL).

The Philadelphia Eagles opened Lincoln Financial Field.

Regular season play was held from September 4, 2003 to December 28, 2003. Due to damage caused by the Cedar Fire, Qualcomm Stadium was used as an emergency shelter, and thus the Miami Dolphins–San Diego Chargers regular season match on October 27 was instead played at Sun Devil Stadium, the home field of the Arizona Cardinals.

The playoffs began on January 3, 2004. The NFL title was eventually won by the New England Patriots when they narrowly defeated the Carolina Panthers 32-29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas on February 1.

Major rule changes

"NFL Kickoff" event on September 4, 2003: Joe Theismann (L) and Joe Namath (R) at a military tribute

• If an onside kick inside the final five minutes of the game does not go 10 yards, goes out of bounds, or is touched illegally, the receiving team will have the option of accepting the penalty and getting the ball immediately. Previously, the kicking team was penalized, but had another chance to kick again from five yards back.
• League officials encouraged networks to immediately cut to a commercial break if an instant replay challenge review was initiated. Previously networks rarely utilized those stoppages for their prescribed commercial periods.

Coaching changes

• Cincinnati Bengals – Marvin Lewis; replaced Dick LeBeau who was fired following the 2002 season.
• Dallas Cowboys – Bill Parcells; replaced Dave Campo who was fired following the 2002 season.
• Detroit Lions – Steve Mariucci; replaced Marty Mornhinweg who was fired following the 2002 season.
• Jacksonville Jaguars – Jack Del Rio; replaced Tom Coughlin who was fired following the 2002 season.
• San Francisco 49ers – Dennis Erickson; replaced Steve Mariucci who was fired following the 2002 season.

Final regular season standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Clinched playoff seeds are marked in parentheses and shaded in green. No ties occurred this year.

AFC East
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
^(1) New England Patriots	14	2	.875	348	238
Miami Dolphins	10	6	.625	311	261
Buffalo Bills ^[c]	6	10	.375	243	279
New York Jets	6	10	.375	283	299
AFC North
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
^(4) Baltimore Ravens	10	6	.625	391	281
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	.500	346	384
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	10	.375	300	327
Cleveland Browns	5	11	.313	254	322
AFC South
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
^(3) Indianapolis Colts ^[a]	12	4	.750	447	336
^(5) Tennessee Titans	12	4	.750	435	324
Jacksonville Jaguars ^[d]	5	11	.313	276	331
Houston Texans	5	11	.313	255	380
AFC West
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
^(2) Kansas City Chiefs	13	3	.813	484	332
^(6) Denver Broncos ^[b]	10	6	.625	381	301
Oakland Raiders ^[e]	4	12	.250	270	379
San Diego Chargers	4	12	.250	313	441

NFC East
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
^(1) Philadelphia Eagles^[f]	12	4	.750	374	287
^(6) Dallas Cowboys	10	6	.625	289	260
Washington Redskins	5	11	.313	287	372
New York Giants	4	12	.250	243	387
NFC North
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
^(4) Green Bay Packers	10	6	.625	442	307
Minnesota Vikings	9	7	.563	416	353
Chicago Bears	7	9	.438	283	346
Detroit Lions	5	11	.313	270	379
NFC South
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
^(3) Carolina Panthers	11	5	.688	325	304
New Orleans Saints	8	8	.500	340	326
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	7	9	.438	301	264
Atlanta Falcons	5	11	.313	299	422
NFC West
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
^(2) St. Louis Rams	12	4	.750	447	328
^(5) Seattle Seahawks ^[g]	10	6	.625	404	327
San Francisco 49ers	7	9	.438	384	337
Arizona Cardinals	4	12	.250	225	452

Tiebreakers

• ^a Indianapolis finished ahead of Tennessee in the AFC South based on better head-to-head record (2–0).
• ^b Denver clinched the AFC 6 seed instead of Miami based on better conference record (9–3 to 7–5).
• ^c Buffalo finished ahead of N.Y. Jets in the AFC East based on better division record (2–4 to 1–5).
• ^d Jacksonville finished ahead of Houston in the AFC South based on better division record (2–4 to 1–5).
• ^e Oakland finished ahead of San Diego in the AFC West based on better conference record (3–9 to 2–10).
• ^f Philadelphia clinched the NFC 1 seed instead of St. Louis based on better conference record (9–3 to 8–4).
• ^g Seattle clinched the NFC 5 seed instead of Dallas based on strength of victory (.406 to .388).

2003 Changes

• New Orleans Saints – New AstroPlay home turf by midseason.
• Atlanta Falcons – New Logo. New Uniforms. New FieldTurf surface.

Tennessee at Green Bay in the preseason; both teams made the playoffs

• Green Bay Packers – New remodel Lambeau Field.
• Detroit Lions – New Uniforms. added black trim on logo and numbers.
• Chicago Bears – New remodel Soldier Field.
• Buffalo Bills – New AstroPlay home turf.
• Philadelphia Eagles – New stadium; Lincoln Financial Field. And added silver trim to numbers on uniforms. Introduce new home alternative uniforms. black uniforms with white numbers with midnight green shadow in numbers.
• San Diego Chargers – White pants with road uniforms.
• New England Patriots – Added third alternative uniforms. Silver uniforms.
• Miami Dolphins – Added third alternative uniforms. Orange uniforms.
• Houston Texans – Added third alternative uniforms. Red Uniforms.
• Cleveland Browns – Added new alternative orange pants last worn in the Kardiac Kids era of coach Sam Rutigliano.
• Tennessee Titans – Added third alternative uniforms. powder blue.

Playoffs

Within each conference, the four division winners and the two wild card teams (the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference then receive a bye in the first round. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5 or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4 or 5). The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.

Playoff seeds
Seed	AFC	NFC
1	New England Patriots (East winner)	Philadelphia Eagles (East winner)
2	Kansas City Chiefs (West winner)	St. Louis Rams (West winner)
3	Indianapolis Colts (South winner)	Carolina Panthers (South winner)
4	Baltimore Ravens (North winner)	Green Bay Packers (North winner)
5	Tennessee Titans (wild card)	Seattle Seahawks (wild card)
6	Denver Broncos (wild card)	Dallas Cowboys (wild card)

Bracket

	Jan. 3 – Bank of America Stadium					Jan. 10 – Edward Jones Dome
	6	Dallas	10
						3	Carolina	29**
	3	Carolina	29								Jan. 18 – Lincoln Financial Field
						2	St. Louis	23
						AFC
	Jan. 4 – Lambeau Field										3	Carolina	14
						Jan. 11 – Lincoln Financial Field
											1	Philadelphia	3
	5	Seattle	27								AFC Championship
						4	Green Bay	17
	4	Green Bay	33*													Feb. 1 – Reliant Stadium
						1	Philadelphia	20*
	Jan. 4 – RCA Dome															N3	Carolina	29
						Jan. 11 – Arrowhead Stadium
																A1	New England	32
	6	Denver	10													Super Bowl XXXVIII
						3	Indianapolis	38
	3	Indianapolis	41								Jan. 18 – Gillette Stadium
						2	Kansas City	31
						NFC
	Jan. 3 – M&T Bank Stadium										3	Indianapolis	14
						Jan. 10 – Gillette Stadium
											1	New England	24
	5	Tennessee	20								NFC Championship
						5	Tennessee	14
	4	Baltimore	17
						1	New England	17

* Indicates overtime victory

** Indicates double overtime victory

Milestones

The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:

Record	Player/Team	Date/Opponent	Previous Record Holder[1]
Most Touchdowns, Season	Priest Holmes, Kansas City (27)	December 28, vs. Chicago	Marshall Faulk, St. Louis, 2000 (26)
Most Rushing Yards Gained, Game	Jamal Lewis, Baltimore (295)	September 14, vs. Cleveland	Corey Dillon, Cincinnati vs. Denver, October 22, 2000 (278)
Most Consecutive Field Goals	Mike Vanderjagt, Indianapolis	December 28, at Houston	Gary Anderson, 1997–98 (40)
Most Consecutive Road Games Lost	Detroit Lions	December 21, vs. Carolina	Houston Oilers, 1981–84 (23)
Most Consecutive Games with a Sack	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (69)	November 9, 2003	Dallas Cowboys (68)

Statistical leaders

Team

Points scored	Kansas City Chiefs (484)
Total yards gained	Minnesota Vikings (6,294)
Yards rushing	Baltimore Ravens (2,674)
Yards passing	Indianapolis Colts (4,179)
Fewest points allowed	New England Patriots (238)
Fewest total yards allowed	Dallas Cowboys (4,056)
Fewest rushing yards allowed	Tennessee Titans (1,295)
Fewest passing yards allowed	Dallas Cowboys (2,631)

Individual

Scoring	Jeff Wilkins, St. Louis (163 points)
Touchdowns	Priest Holmes, Kansas City (27 TDs)
Most field goals made	Jeff Wilkins, St. Louis (39 FGs)
Rushing	Jamal Lewis, Baltimore (2,066 yards)
Passing	Steve McNair, Tennessee (100.4 rating)
Passing touchdowns	Brett Favre, Green Bay (32 TDs)
Pass receiving	Torry Holt, St. Louis (117 catches)
Pass receiving yards	Torry Holt, St. Louis (1,696)
Punt returns	Dante Hall, Kansas City (16.3 average yards)
Kickoff returns	Jerry Azumah, Chicago (29.0 average yards)
Interceptions	Brian Russell, Minnesota and Tony Parrish, San Francisco (9)
Punting	Shane Lechler, Oakland (46.9 average yards)
Sacks	Michael Strahan, New York Giants (18.5)

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Peyton Manning, Quarterback, Indianapolis and Steve McNair, Quarterback, Tennessee Titans
Coach of the Year	Bill Belichick, New England
Offensive Player of the Year	Jamal Lewis, Running back, Baltimore
Defensive Player of the Year	Ray Lewis, Linebacker, Baltimore
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Anquan Boldin, Wide Receiver, Arizona
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Terrell Suggs, Linebacker, Baltimore
NFL Comeback Player of the Year	Jon Kitna, Quarterback, Cincinnati

External links

• Football Outsiders 2003 Team Effiency Ratings
• Pro Football Reference.com – 2003

Notes

1. "Records". 2005 NFL Record and Fact Book. NFL. 2005. ISBN 978-1-932994-36-0.

References

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 2001– (Last accessed October 17, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)