2003 Kansas City Chiefs season

The 2003 Kansas City Chiefs season was the franchise's 34th season in the National Football League, the 44th overall and the third under head coach Dick Vermeil.

2003 Kansas City Chiefs season
Head coach	Dick Vermeil
Home field	Arrowhead Stadium
Results
Record	13–3
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Colts) 31–38
Pro Bowlers	QB Trent Green RB Priest Holmes FB Tony Richardson TE Tony Gonzalez T Willie Roaf G Will Shields S Jerome Woods KR Dante Hall ST Gary Stills

The season resulted in a 13–3 winning record, beginning with a nine-game winning streak—the franchise's best start in their 40-year history. The Chiefs won the AFC West and clinched the second seed in the playoffs. Kansas City lost in an offensive shootout at home in the AFC Divisional Playoffs to the Indianapolis Colts 38–31, a game noted for involving no punts from either team's kicking squad.

The season is best remembered for the Chiefs' record-breaking offense. On December 28, running back Priest Holmes broke Marshall Faulk's single-season rushing touchdown record by scoring his 27th rushing touchdown against the Chicago Bears. Quarterback Trent Green threw for 4,000 yards and kick returner Dante Hall returned four kicks for touchdowns. However, the weak Chiefs defense would prove to be too big a weakness, as they failed to stop the Colts in the 2003-04 playoffs. The Chiefs offensive line from the season has frequently been considered one of the best offensive lines in NFL history. Two members of the offensive line, Will Shields and Willie Roaf, have been inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with the tight end from the team, Tony Gonzalez.

2003 NFL Draft

The Chiefs originally had the 16th pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. Vermeil was intent on selecting a defensive player, but felt that there were no defensive players available with their pick, and traded the pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 27th pick, as well as the Steelers third and sixth round picks.[1] With the 27th overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs selected running back Larry Johnson from Penn State.[2]

Round	Selection	Overall	Player	Position	College
1	27	27	Larry Johnson	Running back	Penn State
2	15	47	Kawika Mitchell	Linebacker	South Florida
3	28	92	Julian Battle	Defensive back	Tennessee
4	16	113	Brett Williams	Offensive tackle	Florida State
5	18	153	Jordan Black	Offensive tackle	Notre Dame
6	16	189	Jimmy Wilkerson	Defensive end	Oklahoma
7	16	230	Montique Sharpe	Defensive tackle	Wake Forest
7	38	252	Willie Pile	Linebacker	Virginia Tech

Roster

2003 Kansas City Chiefs final roster

	Quarterbacks 15 Todd Collins 10 Trent Green 12 Jonathan Quinn Running backs 43 Omar Easy FB 31 Priest Holmes 27 Larry Johnson 49 Tony Richardson FB Wide receivers 85 Marc Boerigter 82 Dante Hall KR/PR 87 Eddie Kennison 80 Johnnie Morton 84 LaShaun Ward Tight ends 89 Jason Dunn 88 Tony Gonzalez		Offensive linemen 65 Jordan Black T 77 Willie Roaf T 68 Will Shields G 76 John Tait T 54 Brian Waters G 62 Casey Wiegmann C 60 Donald Willis G Defensive linemen 93 John Browning DT 92 Eric Downing DE 71 Eddie Freeman DT 98 Eric Hicks DE 99 Vonnie Holliday DE 97 Allen Reese DT 61 Montique Sharpe DT 90 Ryan Sims DT 96 Jimmy Wilkerson DE		Linebackers 96 Monty Beisel 52 Quinton Caver 51 Scott Fujita 53 Fred Jones 57 Mike Maslowski 50 Kawika Mitchell 55 Gary Stills Defensive backs 24 William Bartee CB 26 Julian Battle CB 38 Clint Finley 42 Shaunard Harts SS 44 Eric Warfield CB 25 Greg Wesley SS 30 Lyle West 21 Jerome Woods FS Special teams  8 Morten Andersen K  9 Jason Baker P 83 Kendall Gammon LS/TE		Reserve lists 84 Sylvester Morris WR Practice squad 46 Joe Hall FB Rookies in italics active, inactive, practice squad

Regular season

After beginning the 2003 season 9–0, the Chiefs finished the regular season with a record of 13–3. The Chiefs' offense topped the NFL in almost all statistical categories and Kansas City became favorites to win Super Bowl XXXVIII.[3]

The Chiefs clinched their first AFC West title since 1997 with a 45–17 win against the Detroit Lions, as QB Trent Green became the first player in team history to register a "perfect" 158.3 passer rating in a game.[4]

Kansas City concluded its 13–3 regular season with a 31–3 victory vs. Chicago (December 28), marking a perfect 8–0 record at home and the club's 13th consecutive regular season victory at Arrowhead Stadium. In that win, Priest Holmes set a trio of TD records. He finished the season with 27 rushing scores, establishing NFL single-season records for both rushing TDs and total TDs. Holmes (61) also bypassed WR Otis Taylor (60) for the most career TDs scored by a player in Chiefs history.[4]

The Chiefs five win improvement from the previous season tied as the best mark in franchise history. Kansas City became the first AFC team to lead the NFL in scoring in consecutive seasons since San Diego in 1981–1982 as the club produced a franchise-best 484 points. The team also led the NFL with a +19 turnover differential.[4]

Nine Chiefs players received Pro Bowl recognition, the third-highest total in team history, while the club's six offensive Pro Bowlers marked the most in club annals.[4]

Schedule

Week	Opponent	Result	Game site	TV Time	Attendance
1	San Diego Chargers	W 27–14	Arrowhead Stadium	CBS 12:00CT	78,048
2	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 41–20	Arrowhead Stadium	CBS 12:00CT	78,416
3	at Houston Texans	W 42–14	Reliant Stadium	CBS 12:00CT	70,487
4	at Baltimore Ravens	W 17–10	Ravens Stadium	CBS 3:05CT	69,459
5	Denver Broncos	W 24–23	Arrowhead Stadium	CBS 12:00CT	78,903
6	at Green Bay Packers	W 40–34 (OT)	Lambeau Field	CBS 12:00CT	70,407
7	at Oakland Raiders	W 17–10	Network Associates Coliseum	ABC 8:00CT	62,391
8	Buffalo Bills	W 38–5	Arrowhead Stadium	ESPN 7:30CT	78,689
Week 9 — Bye
10	Cleveland Browns	W 41–20	Arrowhead Stadium	CBS 12:00CT	78,560
11	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–19	Paul Brown Stadium	CBS 12:00CT	64,923
12	Oakland Raiders	W 27–24	Arrowhead Stadium	CBS 3:15CT	78,889
13	at San Diego Chargers	W 28–24	Qualcomm Stadium	CBS 3:15CT	57,671
14	at Denver Broncos	L 45–27	Invesco Field at Mile High	CBS 3:15CT	76,403
15	Detroit Lions	W 45–17	Arrowhead Stadium	FOX 12:00CT	77,922
16	at Minnesota Vikings	L 45–20	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	CBS 3:15CT	64,291
17	Chicago Bears	W 31–3	Arrowhead Stadium	FOX 12:00CT	78,413
2004 playoffs
Divisional Playoff	Indianapolis Colts	L 38–31	Arrowhead Stadium	CBS 12:05CT	79,159

Game summaries

Week 7

Kansas City Chiefs (6-0) at Oakland Raiders (2-4)

1 2 3 4 Total • Chiefs 7 3 0 7 17 Raiders 0 0 0 10 10 Date: Oct 20, 2003 Location: Network Associates Coliseum - Oakland, California Game start: 9:05pm EST Game attendance: 62,391 Game weather: 75 °F (24 °C) • 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn) Referee: Mike Carey (American football) TV announcers ((ABC) Monday Night Football): Al Michaels , John Madden ,and Lisa Guerrero (sideline reporter)

[5]

Playoffs

Main article: 2003–04 NFL playoffs

AFC Divisional Playoffs

Indianapolis Colts 38, Kansas City Chiefs 31

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts	14	7	10	7	38
Chiefs	3	7	14	7	31

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: 51 °F (11 °C), clear
• Game attendance: 79,159
• Referee: Gerald Austin
• TV announcers (CBS): Dick Enberg (play-by-play), Dan Dierdorf (color commentator), and Bonnie Bernstein (sideline reporter)

This offensive shootout became the second game without a punt in NFL playoff history, and first since the Buffalo Bills played the San Francisco 49ers in 1992. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns, while Edgerrin James ran for a career postseason high 125 yards and two scores. On the Kansas City side, Dante Hall caught a touchdown and returned a kickoff for another; and Priest Holmes, who set the regular-season rushing touchdown record, rushed for 176 yards, caught 5 passes for 32 yards, and scored twice. Kansas City quarterback Trent Green threw for 212 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 18 yards in his first career postseason game. The Chiefs defense failed to stop the Colts offense. Kansas City's defensive coordinator Greg Robinson was asked to resign the following week.

• Scoring
  • IND – Stokley 29 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
  • KC – FG Andersen 22
  • IND – James 11 run (Vanderjagt kick)
  • KC – Hall 9 pass from Green (Andersen kick)
  • IND – Lopienski 2 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
  • IND – FG Vanderjagt 45
  • KC – Holmes 1 run (Andersen kick)
  • IND – Wayne 19 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
  • KC – Hall 92 kickoff return (Andersen kick)
  • IND – James 1 run (Vanderjagt kick)
  • KC – Holmes 1 run (Andersen kick)

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
^(2) Kansas City Chiefs	13	3	0	.813	5–1	10–2	484	332	W1
^(6) Denver Broncos	10	6	0	.625	5–1	9–3	381	301	L1
Oakland Raiders	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	270	379	L2
San Diego Chargers	4	12	0	.250	1–5	2–10	313	441	W1

References

1. So there they were with the 16th pick... Retrieved October 4, 2010
2. Kansas City Chiefs 2003 season – Database Football Archived December 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved December 18, 2006.
3. Zimmerman, Paul. The Race to XXXVIII Sports Illustrated, November 17, 2003.
4. Chiefs history: 2003 Archived June 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine KCChiefs.com, retrieved December 18, 2006.
5. . Retrieved 2020-Jul-07.

External links

• 2003 Kansas City Chiefs on Database Football
• http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/teams/transactions?team=kan&year=2003