2003 San Diego Chargers season

Last updated

2003 San Diego Chargers season
Owner Alex Spanos
General manager A. J. Smith
Head coach Marty Schottenheimer
Home field Qualcomm Stadium
Results
Record4–12
Division place4th AFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers None [1]
All-Pros
1 [2]

The 2003 San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's 34th season in the National Football League (NFL), its 44th overall and the second under head coach Marty Schottenheimer. They finished the campaign last in their division with only four wins and earned the #1 pick in the 2004 NFL draft. They played one “home” game during the season, against the Miami Dolphins, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona where the Arizona Cardinals played, due to the Cedar Fire. The team declined from the previous season, as the Chargers won four games and surrendered the second most points per game (27.6), trailing only the Arizona Cardinals during the season. It was the worst season of Schottenheimer's career, and also his fourth consecutive non-winning season in the NFL, but also his final losing season as a coach.

Contents

On April 11, 2003, general manager John Butler died from lymphoma and A. J. Smith, a former assistant to Butler, took over the position for the next 10 seasons; during the season the Chargers wore a patch on their jerseys with the initials "JB" to commemorate John Butler.

For the first time since 1989, Junior Seau was not on the opening day roster.

NFL draft

2003 San Diego Chargers draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
1 30 Sammy Davis   CB Texas A&M Pick from PHI
246 Drayton Florence   CB Tuskegee
262 Terrence Kiel   S Texas A&MPick from GB
380 Courtney Van Buren   OT Arkansas–Pine Bluff
4112Matt Wilhelm  LB Ohio St
5149 Mike Scifres   P Western Illinois
6188 Hanik Milligan  * S Houston
7229 Andrew Pinnock   FB South Carolina
      Made roster        Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

2003 San Diego Chargers staff

Front office

  • Owner – Alex Spanos
  • President/chief executive officer – Dean Spanos
  • Executive vice president – Michael Spanos
  • Executive vice president/general manager – A. J. Smith
  • Assistant general manager/director of player personnel – Buddy Nix
  • Vice president of football operations – Ed McGuire
  • Director of college scouting – Jimmy Raye
  • Director of pro scouting – Fran Foley

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Dave Redding
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Matt Schiotz

[3]

Roster

2003 San Diego Chargers 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

Rookies in italics
53 active, 12 reserve, 4 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

In addition to their regular games with AFC West rivals, the Chargers played teams from the AFC North and NFC North as per the schedule rotation, and also played intraconference games against the Jaguars and the Dolphins based on divisional positions from 2002.

Oddly, this season marked the first time that the Chargers played the Jaguars, despite that team existing since 1995. This occurred 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 played interdivisional conference games according to position within a season’s table. [4] The Chargers played the Tennessee Titans only once during this period [5] (in 1998) but played the Bengals five times [6] during these years.

In preceding years, even longer gaps between two teams playing each other had occurred. For instance the Jets never opposed the Cardinals between 1979 and 1995 inclusive. [7]

The Week 8 home game against the Miami Dolphins was relocated to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona due to a massive wildfire that turned Qualcomm Stadium into an evacuation site. [8]

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
1September 7at Kansas City Chiefs L 14–270–1 Arrowhead Stadium 78,048 Recap
2September 14 Denver Broncos L 13–370–2 Qualcomm Stadium 65,445 Recap
3September 21 Baltimore Ravens L 10–240–3Qualcomm Stadium52,028 Recap
4September 28at Oakland Raiders L 31–34 (OT)0–4 Network Associates Coliseum 54,078 Recap
5October 5at Jacksonville Jaguars L 21–270–5 Alltel Stadium 48,954 Recap
6 Bye
7October 19at Cleveland Browns W 26–201–5 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,238 Recap
8October 27 Miami Dolphins L 10–261–6 Sun Devil Stadium 73,014 Recap
9November 2at Chicago Bears L 7–201–7 Soldier Field 61,500 Recap
10November 9 Minnesota Vikings W 42–282–7Qualcomm Stadium64,738 Recap
11November 16at Denver Broncos L 8–372–8 Invesco Field 75,217 Recap
12November 23 Cincinnati Bengals L 27–342–9Qualcomm Stadium52,069 Recap
13November 30 Kansas City Chiefs L 24–282–10Qualcomm Stadium57,671 Recap
14December 7at Detroit Lions W 14–73–10 Ford Field 61,544 Recap
15December 14 Green Bay Packers L 21–383–11Qualcomm Stadium64,978 Recap
16December 21at Pittsburgh Steelers L 24–403–12 Heinz Field 52,527 Recap
17December 28 Oakland Raiders W 21–144–12Qualcomm Stadium62,222 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 1: San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs
Quarter1234Total
Chargers007714
Chiefs14103027

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Game information

Week 2: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 2: Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers
Quarter1234Total
Broncos141010337
Chargers373013

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

Game information

Week 3: vs. Baltimore Ravens

Week 3: Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers
Quarter1234Total
Ravens7314024
Chargers300710

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

Game information

Week 4: at Oakland Raiders

Week 4: San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders – Game summary
Quarter1234OTTotal
Chargers71437031
Raiders77017334

at Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland, California

Game information

Week 5: at Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 5: San Diego Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Chargers0701421
Jaguars7310727

at Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida

  • Date: October 5
  • Game time: 1:05 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 84 °F (29 °C), relative humidity 47%, wind 5 mph
  • Game attendance: 48,954
  • Referee: Tom White
  • TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots
  • Box score
Game information

Week 7: at Cleveland Browns

Week 7: San Diego Chargers at Cleveland Browns – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Chargers6710326
Browns0331420

at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • Date: October 19
  • Game time: 1:02 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C), relative humidity 50%, wind 8 mph
  • Game attendance: 73,238
  • Referee: Jeff Triplette
  • TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots
  • Box score
Game information

Week 8: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week 8: Miami Dolphins at San Diego Chargers
Quarter1234Total
Dolphins10140226
Chargers300710

at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona

Game information

Week 9: at Chicago Bears

Week 9: San Diego Chargers at Chicago Bears – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Chargers00077
Bears373720

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Game information

Week 10: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Week 10: Minnesota Vikings at San Diego Chargers
Quarter1234Total
Vikings7701428
Chargers14147742

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

  • Date: November 9
  • Game time: 1:05 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C), relative humidity 57%, wind 9 mph
  • Game attendance: 64,738
  • Referee: Ed Hochuli
  • TV announcers (FOX): Kenny Albert and Brian Baldinger
  • Box score
Game information

Week 11: at Denver Broncos

Week 11: San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos
Quarter1234Total
Chargers00088
Broncos10177337

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

  • Date: November 16
  • Game time: 2:05 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: 52 °F (11 °C), relative humidity 25%, wind 6 mph
  • Game attendance: 75,217
  • Referee: Larry Nemmers
  • TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots
  • Box score
Game information

Week 12: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 12: Cincinnati Bengals at San Diego Chargers
Quarter1234Total
Bengals14143334
Chargers7601427

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

  • Date: November 23
  • Game time: 1:15 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C), relative humidity 49%, wind 9 mph
  • Game attendance: 52,069
  • Referee: Tony Corrente
  • TV announcers (CBS): Bill Macatee, Beasley Reece and Scott Kaplan
  • Box score
Game information

Week 13: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 13: Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers
Quarter1234Total
Chiefs7140728
Chargers0710724

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

  • Date: November 30
  • Game time: 1:15 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), relative humidity 48%, wind 8 mph
  • Game attendance: 57,671
  • Referee: Mike Carey
  • TV announcers (CBS): Dick Enberg, Dan Dierdorf and Bonnie Bernstein
  • Box score
Game information

Week 14: at Detroit Lions

Week 14: San Diego Chargers at at Detroit Lions
Quarter1234Total
Chargers770014
Lions00077

at Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

Game information

Week 15: vs. Green Bay Packers

Week 15: Green Bay Packers at San Diego Chargers
Quarter1234Total
Packers71002138
Chargers3031521

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

  • Date: December 14
  • Game time: 1:15 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), relative humidity 52%, wind 8 mph
  • Game attendance: 64,978
  • Referee: Ron Blum
  • TV announcers (FOX): Sam Rosen, Bill Maas and Drew Smith
  • Box score
Game information

Week 16: at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 16: San Diego Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarter1234Total
Chargers0107724
Steelers14771240

at Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game information

Week 17: vs. Oakland Raiders

Week 17: Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers
Quarter1234Total
Raiders0140014
Chargers770721

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

  • Date: December 28
  • Game time: 1:15 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), relative humidity 48%, wind 8 mph
  • Game attendance: 62,222
  • Referee: Bill Leavy
  • TV announcers (CBS): Bill Macatee, Beasley Reece and Scott Kaplan
  • Box score
Game information

Standings

AFC West
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
(2) Kansas City Chiefs 1330.8135–110–2484332W1
(6) Denver Broncos 1060.6255–19–3381301L1
Oakland Raiders 4120.2501–53–9270379L2
San Diego Chargers 4120.2501–52–10313441W1

References

  1. "2003 NFL Pro Bowlers". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  2. "2003 NFL All-Pros". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  3. 2012 San Diego Chargers Media Guide. pp. 263–264. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  4. "History of the NFL's Structure and Formats, Part Two". Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  5. San Diego Chargers v Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers
  6. San Diego Chargers v Cincinnati Bengals
  7. Arizona Cardinals v New York Jets
  8. Dillon, Jeff (October 26, 2003). "Week of Fire -- Fire crews battle to limit damage from raging wildfires". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)