2003 Atlanta Falcons season

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.

2003 Atlanta Falcons season
Head coachDan Reeves
Wade Phillips (interim)
OwnerArthur Blank
Home fieldGeorgia Dome
Results
Record5–11
Division place4th NFC South
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersTE Alge Crumpler
LB Keith Brooking

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.[1]

Offseason

NFL Draft
Main article: 2003 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  

[2]

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,[3] 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.[4]

WeekDateKickoff (ET)OpponentResultRecordGame siteTVNFL.com
recap
1 September 7 4:15 p.m. at Dallas Cowboys W 27–13 1–0 Texas Stadium Fox
2 September 14 1:00 p.m. Washington Redskins L 31–33 1–1 Georgia Dome Fox
3 September 21 1:00 p.m. Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–31 1–2 Georgia Dome Fox
4 September 28 4:15 p.m. at Carolina Panthers L 3–23 1–3 Ericsson Stadium Fox
5 October 5 1:00 p.m. Minnesota Vikings L 26–39 1–4 Georgia Dome Fox
6 October 13 9:00 p.m. at St. Louis Rams L 0–36 1–5 Edward Jones Dome ABC
7 October 19 1:00 p.m. New Orleans Saints L 17–45 1–6 Georgia Dome Fox
8 Bye
9 November 2 4:15 p.m. Philadelphia Eagles L 16–23 1–7 Georgia Dome Fox
10 November 9 1:00 p.m. at New York Giants W 27–7 2–7 Giants Stadium Fox
11 November 16 1:00 p.m. at New Orleans Saints L 20–23 2–8 Bank of America Stadium Fox
12 November 23 4:15 p.m. Tennessee Titans L 31–38 2–9 Georgia Dome CBS
13 November 30 1:00 p.m. at Houston Texans L 13–17 2–10 Reliant Stadium Fox
14 December 7 8:30 p.m. Carolina Panthers W 20–14 3–10 Georgia Dome ESPN
15 December 14 1:00 p.m. at Indianapolis Colts L 7–38 3–11 RCA Dome Fox
16 December 20 12:30 p.m. at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 30–28 4–11 Raymond James Stadium Fox
17 December 28 1:00 p.m. Jacksonville Jaguars W 21–14 5–11 Georgia Dome CBS

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. "Uniform History" (PDF). 2019 Atlanta Falcons Media Guide. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  2. "2003 Atlanta Falcons Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  3. Urena, Ivan; Pro Football Schedules: A Complete Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present, p. 221 ISBN 0786473517
  4. History of the NFL’s Structure and Formats, Part Two
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