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2003 Green Bay Packers season

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2003 Green Bay Packers season
Head coachMike Sherman
Home fieldLambeau Field
Results
Record10–6
Division place1st NFC North
Playoff finishWon NFC Wild Card
Lost NFC Divisional Game (Philadelphia Eagles)
Packers (including QB Doug Pederson) at their preseason game against Tennessee, August 28, 2003

The 2003 Green Bay Packers season finished with an overtime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round of the 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, however, 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

2003 Packers Draft Selections
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 Mark Gaulocher P Carson-Newman

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


[2]

Preseason

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
70,505
2 September 14, 2003 Detroit Lions W 31–6 Lambeau Field FOX 12:00pm
70,244
3 September 21, 2003 at Arizona Cardinals L 13–20 Sun Devil Stadium FOX 3:15pm
58,784
4 September 29, 2003 at Chicago Bears W 38–23 Soldier Field ABC 8:00pm
61,500
5 October 5, 2003 Seattle Seahawks W 35–13 Lambeau Field FOX 12:00pm
70,365
6 October 12, 2003 Kansas City Chiefs L 34–40 (OT) Lambeau Field CBS 12:00pm
70,407
7 October 19, 2003 at St. Louis Rams L 24–34 Edward Jones Dome FOX 12:00pm
66,201
8 October 26, 2003 Bye
9 November 2, 2003 at Minnesota Vikings W 30–27 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome ESPN 7:30pm
64,482
10 November 10, 2003 Philadelphia Eagles L 14–17 Lambeau Field ABC 8:00pm
70,291
11 November 16, 2003 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 20–13 Raymond James Stadium FOX 3:15pm
65,614
12 November 23, 2003 San Francisco 49ers W 20–10 Lambeau Field FOX 12:00pm
70,250
13 November 27, 2003 at Detroit Lions L 14–22 Ford Field FOX 11:30am
62,123
14 December 7, 2003 Chicago Bears W 34–21 Lambeau Field FOX 12:00pm
70,458
15 December 14, 2003 at San Diego Chargers W 38–21 Qualcomm Stadium FOX 3:15pm
64,978
16 December 22, 2003 at Oakland Raiders W 41–7 Network Associates Coliseum ABC 8:00pm
62,298
17 December 28, 2003 Denver Broncos W 31–3 Lambeau Field CBS 3:15pm
70,299

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."[3]

Lambeau Field on a game day, December 2003

Playoffs

vs. Seattle Seahawks

Quarter 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." [4] 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.[5]

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

vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Quarter 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. ^ "All Time Coaches Database". Packers.com. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  3. ^ "Official Packers press release regarding the 12/22/03 game". Archived from the original on 2006-03-09. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
  4. ^ http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap/NFL_20040104_SEA@GB
  5. ^ http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports//index.php?ntid=266179
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