2003 Atlanta Falcons season

Last updated

2003 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner Arthur Blank
Head coach Dan Reeves
Wade Phillips (interim)
Home field Georgia Dome
Results
Record5–11
Division place4th NFC South
Playoff finishDid 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.

Contents

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

2003 Atlanta Falcons draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
255 Bryan Scott   Safety Penn State
4121 Justin Griffith   Fullback Mississippi State
5159Jon Olinger  Wide receiver Cincinnati
6196 LaTarence Dunbar  Wide receiver TCU
6202 Waine Bacon   Cornerback Alabama
7238 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 roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 10 reserve, 4 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]

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenue
1September 7at Dallas Cowboys W 27–131–0 Texas Stadium
2September 14 Washington Redskins L 31–331–1 Georgia Dome
3September 21 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–311–2 Georgia Dome
4September 28at Carolina Panthers L 3–231–3 Ericsson Stadium
5October 5 Minnesota Vikings L 26–391–4 Georgia Dome
6October 13at St. Louis Rams L 0–361–5 Edward Jones Dome
7October 19 New Orleans Saints L 17–451–6Georgia Dome
8 Bye
9November 2 Philadelphia Eagles L 16–231–7Georgia Dome
10November 9at New York Giants W 27–72–7 Giants Stadium
11November 16at New Orleans Saints L 20–232–8 Louisiana Superdome
12November 23 Tennessee Titans L 31–382–9Georgia Dome
13November 30at Houston Texans L 13–172–10 Reliant Stadium
14December 7 Carolina Panthers W 20–14 (OT)3–10Georgia Dome
15December 14at Indianapolis Colts L 7–383–11 RCA Dome
16December 20at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 30–284–11 Raymond James Stadium
17December 28 Jacksonville Jaguars W 21–145–11Georgia Dome
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC South
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
(3) Carolina Panthers 1150.6885–19–3325304W3
New Orleans Saints 880.5003–37–5340326W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 790.4382–46–6301264L2
Atlanta Falcons 5110.3132–44–8299422W2

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References

  1. ↑ "Uniform History" (PDF). 2019 Atlanta Falcons Media Guide. NFL Enterprises, LLC. August 13, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 2, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 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". Pro-Football-Reference.com . Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2018.


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