2003 Green Bay Packers season

The 2003 Green Bay Packers season was the franchise's 85th season overall and their 83rd in the National Football League.

2003 Green Bay Packers season
Head coachMike Sherman
Home fieldLambeau Field
Results
Record10–6
Division place1st NFC North
Playoff finishWon Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Seahawks) 33–27 (OT)
Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Eagles) 17–20 (OT)
Uniform
Packers (including QB Doug Pederson) at their preseason game against Tennessee, August 28, 2003

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.

The Packers defeated the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round in overtime off an interception return for a touchdown by Al Harris. However, the season finished with an overtime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional round of the playoffs after failing to stop the Eagles on 4th and 26 where a defensive stand on the play would have sealed a trip to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1997 as the Eagles had only one timeout remaining and just over a minute left in regulation.

In the Week 16 Monday night game, Brett Favre threw four touchdowns in a 41–7 win over the Oakland Raiders, one night after his father died of a heart attack.

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]

AdditionsSubtractions
FB Nick Luchey (Bengals)LB Nate Wayne (Eagles)
LB Hannibal Navies (Panthers)S Matt Bowen (Redskins)
C 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
2003 Packers Draft Selections
RoundOverallPlayerPositionCollege
129Nick BarnettLBOregon State
379Kenny PetersonDEOhio State
4147James LeeOTOregon State
4166Hunter HillenmeyerLBVanderbilt
6212Brennan CurtinOTNotre Dame
7245Chris JohnsonCBLouisville
7253DeAndrew RubinWRSouth Florida
7256Carl FordWRToledo
7257Steve JosueLBCarson-Newman

Undrafted free agents
2003 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Cullen Jenkins Defensive end Central Michigan

Personnel

Staff
2003 Green Bay Packers staff
Front office
  • President and Chief Executive Officer – Bob Harlan
  • Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – John Jones
  • Vice President of Player Finance/General Counsel – Andrew Brandt
  • Vice President of Football Operations – Mark Hatley
  • Director of College Scouting – John Dorsey
  • Director of Pro Personnel – Reggie McKenzie
  • Personnel Analyst to General Manager – John Schneider
  • Assistant Director of College Scouting – Shaun Herock
  • Assistant Director of Pro Personnel – Sean Howard

Head coaches

  • Executive Vice President/General Manager/Head Coach – Mike Sherman
  • Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Backs – Bob Slowik

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams Coordinator – John Bonamego
  • Assistant Special Teams – Stan Drayton
  • Special Teams Consultant – Frank Novak

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Barry Rubin
  • Strength and Conditioning Assistant – Mark Lovat
  • Weight Room Assistant – Vince Workman

Roster
2003 Green Bay Packers roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

 Injured Reserve
  • 29 Bobby Jackson S
  • 37 Chris Johnson CB (IR)
  • 28 Adam Tate FB (IR)

Practice Squad

Rookies in italics

Preseason

Regular season

The Packers finished the season 10–6 and advanced to the Divisional round of the playoffs.

WeekDateOpponentResultGame siteTV Time (CST)Attendance
1September 7, 2003Minnesota VikingsL 25–30Lambeau FieldFox 12:00pm
70,505
2September 14, 2003Detroit LionsW 31–6Lambeau FieldFox 12:00pm
70,244
3September 21, 2003at Arizona CardinalsL 13–20Sun Devil StadiumFox 3:05pm
58,784
4September 29, 2003at Chicago BearsW 38–23Soldier FieldABC 8:00pm
61,500
5October 5, 2003Seattle SeahawksW 35–13Lambeau FieldFox 12:00pm
70,365
6October 12, 2003Kansas City ChiefsL 34–40 (OT)Lambeau FieldCBS 12:00pm
70,407
7October 19, 2003at St. Louis RamsL 24–34Edward Jones DomeFox 12:00pm
66,201
8October 26, 2003Bye
9November 2, 2003at Minnesota VikingsW 30–27Hubert H. Humphrey MetrodomeESPN 7:30pm
64,482
10November 10, 2003Philadelphia EaglesL 14–17Lambeau FieldABC 8:00pm
70,291
11November 16, 2003at Tampa Bay BuccaneersW 20–13Raymond James StadiumFox 3:15pm
65,614
12November 23, 2003San Francisco 49ersW 20–10Lambeau FieldFox 12:00pm
70,250
13November 27, 2003at Detroit LionsL 14–22Ford FieldFox 11:30am
62,123
14December 7, 2003Chicago BearsW 34–21Lambeau FieldFox 12:00pm
70,458
15December 14, 2003at San Diego ChargersW 38–21Qualcomm StadiumFox 3:15pm
64,978
16December 22, 2003at Oakland RaidersW 41–7Network Associates ColiseumABC 8:00pm
62,298
17December 28, 2003Denver BroncosW 31–3Lambeau FieldCBS 3:15pm
70,299

Addition of Grady Jackson

On November 5, 2003, the Packers claimed defensive tackle Grady Jackson off waivers from the New Orleans Saints.[2] Jackson helped the Packers allow only 95.38 rushing yards per game over the final 8 games,[3] after allowing over 117 yards per game in the first 8 games.[3] Jackson signed a two-year contract extension on December 29, 2003.[2]

Favre's Monday night performance
Lambeau Field on a game day, December 2003

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."[4]

Playoffs

vs. Seattle Seahawks
1 2 34OTTotal
Seahawks 3 3 147027
Packers 0 13 014633

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

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." [5] 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.[6]

Packers quarterback Brett Favre completed 26 of 38 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown.

vs. Philadelphia Eagles
1 2 34OTTotal
Packers 14 0 03017
Eagles 0 7 010320

at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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
  1. Offseason Overview: Green Bay Packers, espn.com obtained 2009-03-12
  2. "Green Bay Packers 2003 Team Transactions - Trades, Injured List, Free Agents, and Signings - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  3. "2003 Green Bay Packers Statistics & Players | Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  4. "Official Packers press release regarding the 12/22/03 game". Archived from the original on 2006-03-09. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
  5. http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap/NFL_20040104_SEA@GB
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2007-01-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)/index.php?ntid=266179
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