2003 Atlanta Falcons season

2003 Atlanta Falcons season
Head coach Dan Reeves
Wade Phillips (interim)
Owner Arthur Blank
Home field Georgia Dome
Results
Record 5–11
Division place 4th NFC South
Playoff finish did not qualify
Pro Bowlers TE Alge Crumpler
LB Keith Brooking

The 2003 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 38th season in the National Football League (NFL). It is best remembered for the third preseason game, in which quarterback Michael Vick broke his leg and was done for most of the season. Atlanta had two other quarterbacks take over for a combined 2–10 record (Doug Johnson and Kurt Kittner). Vick returned in week 14 and ended the season with a 3–1 record.

After losing seven straight games, Dan Reeves was let go by Falcons management, and Wade Phillps took over for the rest of the season.

For the season, the Falcons sported a new logo and uniforms, which remains in use today. Although they still wore black tops, they would be switched to red the following season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

2003 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 55 Bryan Scott  Safety Penn State
4 121 Justin Griffith  Fullback Mississippi State
5 159 Jon Olinger  Wide receiver Cincinnati
6 196 LaTarence Dunbar  Wide receiver TCU
6 202 Waine Bacon  Cornerback Alabama
7 238 Demetrin Veal  Defensive end Tennessee
      Made roster  

[1]

Personnel

Staff

2003 Atlanta Falcons staff
Front office
  • Owner/Chief Executive Officer – Arthur Blank
  • Senior Advisor to the President – Bobby Beathard
  • Vice President of Football Operations – Ron Hill
  • College Scouting Coordinator – Reed Johnson
  • Director of Pro Personnel – Les Snead
  • Assistant to Head Coach/Pro Personnel – Marvin Bass

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Al Miller
  • Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Rocky Colburn

Roster

2003 Atlanta Falcons final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

In the 2003 regular season, the Falcons’ non-divisional, conference opponents were primarily from the NFC East, although they also played the Minnesota Vikings from the NFC North, and the St. Louis Rams from the NFC West. Their non-conference opponents were from the AFC South. This was the first occasion when the Falcons played the Washington Redskins since 1994,[2] due to old NFL scheduling formulas in place prior to 2002, whereby teams had no rotating schedule opposing members of other divisions within their own conference, but instead played interdivisional conference games according to position within a season’s table.[3]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance TV Time
1 September 7, 2003 at Dallas Cowboys W 27–13
64,104
 FOX 4:15ET
2 September 14, 2003 Washington Redskins L 33–31
70,241
 FOX 1:00ET
3 September 21, 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 31–10
70,871
 FOX 1:00ET
4 September 28, 2003 at Carolina Panthers L 23–3
72,765
 FOX 1:00ET
5 October 5, 2003 Minnesota Vikings L 39–26
70,427
 FOX 1:00ET
6 October 13, 2003 at St. Louis Rams L 36–0
66,075
 ABC 9:00ET
7 October 19, 2003 New Orleans Saints L 45–17
70,837
 FOX 4:15ET
8 Bye
9 November 2, 2003 Philadelphia Eagles L 23–16
70,064
 FOX 4:15ET
10 November 9, 2003 at New York Giants W 27–7
78,813
 FOX 1:00ET
11 November 16, 2003 at New Orleans Saints L 23–20
68,432
 FOX 1:00ET
12 November 23, 2003 Tennessee Titans L 38–31
70,891
 CBS 4:15ET
13 November 30, 2003 at Houston Texans L 17–13
70,388
 FOX 1:00ET
14 December 7, 2003 Carolina Panthers W 20–14
70,079
 ESPN 8:30ET
15 December 14, 2003 at Indianapolis Colts L 38–7
57,103
 FOX 1:00ET
16 December 21, 2003 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 30–28
65,572
 FOX 12:30ET
17 December 28, 2003 Jacksonville Jaguars W 21–14
70,266
 CBS 1:00ET

Standings

NFC South
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(3) Carolina Panthers 11 5 0 .688 5–1 9–3 325 304 W3
New Orleans Saints 8 8 0 .500 3–3 7–5 340 326 W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7 9 0 .438 2–4 6–6 301 264 L2
Atlanta Falcons 5 11 0 .313 2–4 4–8 299 422 W2

References

  1. ↑ "2003 Atlanta Falcons Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  2. ↑ Urena, Ivan; Pro Football Schedules: A Complete Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present, p. 221 ISBN 0786473517
  3. ↑ History of the NFL’s Structure and Formats, Part Two
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