2003 Detroit Lions season

The 2003 Detroit Lions season was the 74th season in franchise history.

2003 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
Head coach	Steve Mariucci
General manager	Matt Millen
Home field	Ford Field
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	4th NFC North
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	CB Dre Bly
Uniform

Prior to the season, the Lions hired Steve Mariucci, who was well known for his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers, as their head coach. He spent two and a half seasons with the Lions until his firing in November 2005.

The season saw the team draft Charles Rogers with the second overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. However, on-and-off the field issues, and later injuries, interrupted his career. He was released by the Lions in 2006, and immediately went out of the NFL. Much like quarterback Ryan Leaf, Rogers remains one of the biggest draft busts in the contemporary NFL.

Offseason

NFL Draft

2003 Detroit Lions draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	Charles Rogers	WR	Michigan State
2	34	Boss Bailey	LB	Georgia
3	66	Cory Redding	DT	Texas
4	99	Artose Pinner	RB	Kentucky
5	137	Terrence Holt	S	NC State
5	144	James Davis	LB	West Virginia
6	175	David Kircus	WR	Grand Valley State
7	216	Ben Johnson	OT	Wisconsin
7	220	Blue Adams	CB	Cincinnati	From Arizona
7	236	Brandon Drumm	RB	Colorado	From Cleveland via San Diego and Dallas
7	260	Travis Anglin	WR	Memphis	supplemental compensatory
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

2003 Detroit Lions staff

	Front office Owner and Chairman – William Clay Ford, Sr. Vice Chairman – William Clay Ford, Jr. President and Chief Executive Officer – Matt Millen Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Tom Lewand Senior Vice President of Football Administration/Legal Counsel – Martin Mayhew Director of Pro Personnel – Sheldon White Director of College Scouting – Scott McEwen Assistant Director of Pro Personnel – Charlie Sanders College Scouting Coordinator – Russ Bolinger Head coaches Head Coach – Steve Mariucci Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers – Richard Smith Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Sherman Lewis Quarterbacks – Kevin Higgins Running Backs – Tom Rathman Wide Receivers – Bobby Williams Tight Ends – Sean Kugler Offensive Line – Carl Mauck Offensive Assistant – Andy Sugarman			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Kurt Schottenheimer Defensive Line – George Dyer Secondary – Ray Horton Defensive Assistant – Don Clemons Defensive Assistant – Johnny Holland Special teams coaches Special Teams – Chuck Priefer Assistant Special Teams/Offense – Kevin O'Dea Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Jason Arapoff Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Malcolm Blacken

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Roster

2003 Detroit Lions final roster

	Quarterbacks 14 Ty Detmer 3 Joey Harrington 8 Mike McMahon Running backs 24 Shawn Bryson 31 Avon Cobourne 33 Olandis Gary 21 Artose Pinner 30 Cory Schlesinger FB 27 Stephen Trejo FB Wide receivers 88 Scotty Anderson 18 Eddie Drummond 81 Az-Zahir Hakim KR/PR 11 David Kircus 84 Bill Schroeder Tight ends 82 Casey FitzSimmons 83 John Owens 86 Mikhael Ricks		Offensive linemen 76 Jeff Backus T 79 Eric Beverly G 61 Ray Brown G 68 Tyrone Hopson C 75 Matt Joyce T 70 Josh Lovelady G 73 Stockar McDougle T 51 Dominic Raiola C 71 Victor Rogers T 62 Tony Semple G Defensive linemen 95 Jared DeVries DE 98 Kalimba Edwards DE 96 James Hall DE 91 Robert Porcher DE 93 Kelvin Pritchett DT 78 Cory Redding DT 92 Shaun Rogers DT 72 Dan Wilkinson DT		Linebackers 97 Boss Bailey OLB 55 Donté Curry OLB 52 James Davis OLB 59 Jeff Gooch MLB 54 Barrett Green OLB 50 Earl Holmes MLB 58 Wali Rainer MLB Defensive backs 32 Dré Bly CB 39 Doug Evans CB 35 André Goodman CB 25 Corey Harris FS 31 Terrence Holt FS 28 Bracy Walker SS 45 Brian Walker SS Special teams 4 Jason Hanson K 2 Nick Harris P		Reserve lists 29 Chris Cash CB (IR) 19 John Jett P (IR) 80 Charles Rogers WR (IR) Practice squad 74 Ben Johnson T Rookies in italics 51 active, 3 inactive, 1 practice squad

Schedule

In addition to their regular games with NFC North divisional rivals, the Lions played teams from the NFC West and AFC West according to the NFL's schedule rotation, and also played games against the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys, who had finished fourth in their respective divisions in 2002.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7	Arizona Cardinals	W 42–24	60,691
2	September 14	at Green Bay Packers	L 31–6	70,244
3	September 21	Minnesota Vikings	L 23–13	60,865
4	September 28	at Denver Broncos	L 20–16	75,719
5	October 5	at San Francisco 49ers	L 24–17	67,365
6	Bye
7	October 19	Dallas Cowboys	L 38–7	61,160
8	October 26	at Chicago Bears	L 24–16	61,428
9	November 2	Oakland Raiders	W 23–13	61,561
10	November 9	Chicago Bears	W 12–10	61,492
11	November 16	at Seattle Seahawks	L 35–14	65,865
12	November 23	at Minnesota Vikings	L 24–14	63,946
13	November 27	Green Bay Packers	W 22–14	62,123
14	December 7	San Diego Chargers	L 14–7	61,544
15	December 14	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 45–17	77,922
16	December 21	at Carolina Panthers	L 20–14	72,835
17	December 28	St. Louis Rams	W 30–20	61,006

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 7 7 10 0 24 • Lions 7 7 14 14 42 Date: September 7 Location: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 60,691 Game weather: indoors (dome) Referee: Bill Carollo Television network: Fox

Scoring summary 1 ARI Anquan Boldin 7 yard pass from Jeff Blake (Bill Gramatica kick) Cardinals 7–0 1 DET Charles Rogers 4 yard pass from Joey Harrington (Jason Hanson kick) Tie 7–7 2 DET Charles Rogers 13 yard pass from Joey Harrington (Jason Hanson kick) Lions 14–7 2 ARI Freddie Jones 12 yard pass from Jeff Blake (Bill Gramatica kick) Tie 14–14 3 ARI Anquan Boldin 71 yard pass from Jeff Blake (Bill Gramatica kick) Cardinals 21–14 3 DET Eddie Drummond 57 yard punt return (Jason Hanson kick) Tie 21–21 3 DET Cory Schlesinger 8 yard pass from Joey Harrington (Jason Hanson kick) Lions 28–21 3 ARI Bill Gramatica 38 yard field goal Lions 28–24 4 DET Bill Schroeder 5 yard pass from Joey Harrington (Jason Hanson kick) Lions 35–24 4 DET Dre' Bly 48 yard interception return (Jason Hanson kick) Lions 42–24

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Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 3 7 3 13 • Lions 10 0 7 6 23 Date: November 2 Location: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: indoors (dome) Referee: Jeff Triplette

Scoring summary 1 DET Jason Hanson 54 yard field goal Lions 3–0 1 DET Olandis Gary 2 yard run (Jason Hanson kick) Lions 10–0 2 OAK Sebastian Janikowski 55 yard field goal Lions 10–3 3 DET Cory Schlesinger 33 yard pass from Joey Harrington (Jason Hanson kick) Lions 17–3 3 OAK Charlie Garner 7 yard run (Sebastian Janikowski kick) Lions 17–10 4 DET Jason Hanson 42 yard field goal Lions 20–10 4 OAK Sebastian Janikowski 24 yard field goal Lions 20–13 4 DET Jason Hanson 39 yard field goal Lions 23–13

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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

References

1. "Administration and Coaches". 2003 Detroit Lions Media Guide. pp. 4–29.
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links

• 2003 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com