2003 Cincinnati Bengals season

2003 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Marvin Lewis
Home field	Paul Brown Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	2nd AFC North
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season      Next season < 2002      2004 >

The 2003 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 36th year in professional football and its 34th with the National Football League. The Bengals are now under first year Head Coach Marvin Lewis, who replaced Dick LeBeau who was fired following the 2002 season after the worst season in Bengals history. The Bengals had the first pick overall in the 2003 NFL Draft and drafted Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer with the first pick. After a slow start, the Bengals got hot winning at midseason, winning four straight games to stand at 7-5, entering a key Week 14 match up with the Baltimore Ravens with a chance to win the division. However in the key showdown for first place the Bengals showed they were not quite ready for primetime as they were beaten 31-13. The Bengals would rebound to win their next game against the San Francisco 49ers, but at 8-6 the Bengals could not get that ninth win, losing their last two games to spoil an effort to earn their first winning season in 13 years, finishing at 8-8.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
1	Cincinnati Bengals	Carson Palmer	Quarterback	USC

Personnel

Staff

2003 Cincinnati Bengals staff
Head Coaches Head Coach – Marvin Lewis Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line – Paul Alexander Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Bob Bratkowski Quarterbacks – Ken Zampese Running Backs – Jim Anderson Wide Receivers – Alex Wood Tight Ends – Jonathan Hayes Offensive Assistant – Bob Surace			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Leslie Frazier Defensive Line – Jay Hayes Linebackers – Ricky Hunley Defensive Backs – Kevin Coyle Assistant Defensive Backs – Louie Cioffi Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Darrin Simmons Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Chip Morton Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Kurtis Shultz

Roster

2003 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks 9 Carson palmer 3 Jon Kitna 6 Shane Matthews Running Backs 28 Corey dillon 32 Rudi Johnson 33 Kenny Watson FB #37 Jeremi Johnson Wide Receivers 80 Peter Warrick 85 Chad Johnson 84 T.J. Houshmendzada Tight Ends 89 Matt Schobel 82 Reggie Kellly		Offensive Linemen Defensive Linemen 90 Justin Smith		Linebackers MLB #58 Brian Simmons Defensive Backs Special Teams K #17 Shayne Graham P #8 Nick Harris		Practice Squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Kickoff Time	Attendance
1	September 7, 2003	Denver Broncos	L 30–10	CBS 1:00pm	63,820
2	September 14, 2003	at Oakland Raiders	L 23–20	CBS 4:15pm	50,135
3	September 21, 2003	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–10	CBS 1:00pm	64,596
4	September 28, 2003	at Cleveland Browns	W 21–14	CBS 1:00pm	73,428
5	October 5, 2003	at Buffalo Bills	L 22–16	CBS 1:00pm	72,615
6	Bye
7	October 19, 2003	Baltimore Ravens	W 34–26	CBS 1:00pm	53,553
8	October 26, 2003	Seattle Seahawks	W 27–24	FOX 1:00pm	52,131
9	November 2, 2003	at Arizona Cardinals	L 17–14	CBS 4:05pm	23,531
10	November 9, 2003	Houston Texans	W 34–27	CBS 1:00pm	50,437
11	November 16, 2003	Kansas City Chiefs	W 24–19	CBS 1:00pm	64,923
12	November 23, 2003	at San Diego Chargers	W 34–27	CBS 4:05pm	52,069
13	November 30, 2003	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–20	CBS 1:00pm	58,797
14	December 7, 2003	at Baltimore Ravens	L 31–13	CBS 1:00pm	69,468
15	December 14, 2003	San Francisco 49ers	W 41–38	FOX 1:00pm	64,666
16	December 21, 2003	at St. Louis Rams	L 27–10	CBS 1:00pm	66,061
17	December 28, 2003	Cleveland Browns	L 22–14	CBS 1:00pm	65,362

Standings

AFC North
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Ravens	10	6	0	.625	4–2	7–5	391	281	W2
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	3–3	6–6	346	384	L2
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	10	0	.375	3–3	5–7	300	327	L1
Cleveland Browns	5	11	0	.313	2–4	3–9	254	322	W1

References

• Bengals on Pro Football Reference
• Bengals Schedule on jt-sw.com
• Bengals History on Official Site