2003 Green Bay Packers season
| 2003 Green Bay Packers season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Mike Sherman |
| Home field | Lambeau Field |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–6 |
| Division place | 1st NFC North |
| Playoff finish |
Won Wild Card Playoffs (Seahawks) 33–27 (OT) Lost Divisional Playoffs (Eagles) 20–17 (OT) |
| Uniform | |
 | |
The 2003 Green Bay Packers season was the franchise's 84th season in the National Football League and the 85th overall.
This season finished with an overtime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round of the 2004 playoffs, after the Packers defeated the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round in overtime off an interception return for a touchdown by Al Harris.
The season may be most notable for Brett Favre's Monday night performance against the Oakland Raiders the night after his father had died.
The Packers won the division on the last play of the season. Needing a win and a Minnesota Vikings loss to clinch the division, the Packers routed the Denver Broncos 31-3, while the Vikings lost 18-17 on a last second touchdown by the 3-12 Arizona Cardinals.
Offseason
The Packers were able to add Al Harris to their starting lineup from a trade with Philadelphia. They lost starters Terry Glenn to a trade and Vonnie Holliday to free agency.[1]
| Additions | Subtractions |
|---|---|
| FB Nick Luchey (Bengals) | LB Nate Wayne (Eagles) |
| LB Hannibal Navies (Panthers) | S Matt Bowen (Redskins) |
| OL Grey Ruegamer (Patriots) | CB Tyrone Williams (Falcons) |
| DE Chukie Nwokorie (Colts) | CB Tod McBride (Falcons) |
| OT Reggie Coleman (Bengals) | DE Vonnie Holliday (Chiefs) |
| RB Lamar Smith (Panthers) | WR Terry Glenn (Cowboys) |
| OT Marcus Spriggs (Dolphins) | LB Hardy Nickerson (retirement) |
| CB Al Harris (Eagles) |
NFL Draft
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 | Nick Barnett | LB | Oregon State |
| 3 | 79 | Kenny Peterson | DE | Ohio State |
| 4 | 147 | James Lee | OT | Oregon State |
| 4 | 166 | Hunter Hillenmeyer | LB | Vanderbilt |
| 6 | 212 | Brennan Curtin | OT | Notre Dame |
| 7 | 245 | Chris Johnson | CB | Louisville |
| 7 | 253 | DeAndrew Rubin | WR | South Florida |
| 7 | 256 | Carl Ford | WR | Toledo |
| 7 | 257 | Steve Josue | LB | Carson-Newman |
Personnel
Staff
| 2003 Green Bay Packers staff | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
| |||||
Roster
| 2003 Green Bay Packers roster | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
|
Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams
|
Practice Squad
Rookies in italics | |||||
Preseason
-
Tony Fisher and others, August 28
Regular season
The Packers finished the season 10–6 and advanced to the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Game site | TV Time (CST) | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 7, 2003 | Minnesota Vikings | L 25–30 | Lambeau Field | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 2 | September 14, 2003 | Detroit Lions | W 31–6 | Lambeau Field | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 3 | September 21, 2003 | at Arizona Cardinals | L 13–20 | Sun Devil Stadium | FOX 3:15pm | |
| 4 | September 29, 2003 | at Chicago Bears | W 38–23 | Soldier Field | ABC 8:00pm | |
| 5 | October 5, 2003 | Seattle Seahawks | W 35–13 | Lambeau Field | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 6 | October 12, 2003 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 34–40 (OT) | Lambeau Field | CBS 12:00pm | |
| 7 | October 19, 2003 | at St. Louis Rams | L 24–34 | Edward Jones Dome | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 8 | October 26, 2003 | Bye | ||||
| 9 | November 2, 2003 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 30–27 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | ESPN 7:30pm | |
| 10 | November 10, 2003 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 14–17 | Lambeau Field | ABC 8:00pm | |
| 11 | November 16, 2003 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 20–13 | Raymond James Stadium | FOX 3:15pm | |
| 12 | November 23, 2003 | San Francisco 49ers | W 20–10 | Lambeau Field | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 13 | November 27, 2003 | at Detroit Lions | L 14–22 | Ford Field | FOX 11:30am | |
| 14 | December 7, 2003 | Chicago Bears | W 34–21 | Lambeau Field | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 15 | December 14, 2003 | at San Diego Chargers | W 38–21 | Qualcomm Stadium | FOX 3:15pm | |
| 16 | December 22, 2003 | at Oakland Raiders | W 41–7 | Network Associates Coliseum | ABC 8:00pm | |
| 17 | December 28, 2003 | Denver Broncos | W 31–3 | Lambeau Field | CBS 3:15pm | |
Favre's Monday night performance
The day before the Week 16 game, Irvin Favre, father of Brett Favre, died suddenly of a heart attack. Favre elected to play and passed for four touchdowns in the first half, and 399 yards in a 41–7 defeat of the Raiders. Afterwards, Favre said, "I knew that my dad would have wanted me to play. I love him so much and I love this game. It's meant a great deal to me, to my dad, to my family, and I didn't expect this kind of performance. But I know he was watching tonight."[2]
Playoffs
vs. Seattle Seahawks
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seahawks | 3 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 27 |
| Packers | 0 | 13 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 33 |
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: 20 °F (−7 °C), cloudy
- Game attendance: 71,457
- Referee: Bernie Kukar
- TV announcers (Fox): Joe Buck (play-by-play), Troy Aikman, Cris Collinsworth (color commentators), and Chris Myers (sideline reporter)
Packers defensive back Al Harris returned an interception 52 yards for the game winning touchdown 4:25 in overtime. The game was sent into overtime on Seahawk running back Shaun Alexander's third touchdown of the day. Ahman Green scored two touchdowns for Green Bay, and Bubba Franks caught a 23-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The game is memorable for Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's ironic comment after winning the coin toss for the start of overtime, telling the referee "We want the ball and we're going to score." [3] This game remains one of two times in NFL history that an NFL playoff game has ended with a defensive touchdown in OT. The other being the January 10, 2010 Wild Card game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers.[4]
Packers quarterback Brett Favre completed 26 of 38 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown.
vs. Philadelphia Eagles
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packers | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| Eagles | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 20 |
at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Game time: 4:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 25 °F (−4 °C), clear
- Game attendance: 67,707
- Referee: Ed Hochuli
- TV announcers (Fox): Joe Buck (play-by-play), Troy Aikman, Cris Collinsworth (color commentators), and Pam Oliver (sideline reporter)
Ahman Green's franchise postseason record 156 rushing yards was not enough to lift the Packers to victory. Facing fourth down and 26 yards to go, with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter and the Packers leading 17–14, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb completed a 28-yard pass to Freddie Mitchell on a famous play now known as "4th and 26". The play set up David Akers' 37-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. In the overtime Favre's deep pass was intercepted, and Akers then kicked a 31-yard field goal, giving the Eagles the victory.
McNabb had a spectacular performance in the game, completing 21 of 39 passes for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also rushing for 107 yards on 11 carries.
Standings
| NFC North | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| (4) Green Bay Packers | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 4–2 | 7–5 | 442 | 307 | W4 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–2 | 7–5 | 416 | 353 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 2–4 | 4–8 | 283 | 346 | L1 |
| Detroit Lions | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–4 | 4–8 | 270 | 379 | W1 |
Awards and honors
- Brett Favre, NFC Leader, Completion Percentage (65.4)
- Brett Favre, NFC Leader, Touchdown Passes (32)
References
- ↑ Offseason Overview: Green Bay Packers, espn.com obtained 2009-03-12
- ↑ "Official Packers press release regarding the 12/22/03 game". Archived from the original on 2006-03-09. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
- ↑ http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap/NFL_20040104_SEA@GB
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2007-01-01./index.php?ntid=266179