2003 Pittsburgh Steelers season

The 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 71st season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League.

2003 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coach	Bill Cowher
General manager	Kevin Colbert
Owner	The Rooney Family
Home field	Heinz Field
Results
Record	6–10
Division place	3rd AFC North
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	3 G Alan Faneca NT Casey Hampton WR Hines Ward
AP All-Pros	Alan Faneca (2nd team) Hines Ward (2nd team)
Team MVP	Hines Ward
Team ROY	Troy Polamalu
Uniform

Their season began with the team trying to improve on their 10–5–1 record from 2002 in which they lost to the Tennessee Titans in the Divisional round of the playoffs.

With the team suffering through injuries as well as less reliance on the running game than normal, the Steelers stumbled to a 6–10 record, going the entire season without winning consecutive games. Since moving to Heinz Field, this marked their first losing season as well as missing the playoffs along with the 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2019. The team's 6–10 finish matched their worst under Bill Cowher (1999).

In his final season with the team, linebacker Jason Gildon became the franchise's career sack leader during a game against the Arizona Cardinals on November 9.

As of 2019, this represents the most recent losing season for the Steelers, and the most recent time they have lost more than 8 games.

Personnel

2003 Pittsburgh Steelers staff

	Front office Chairman – Daniel M. Rooney President – Arthur J. Rooney II Vice President – John R. McGinley Vice President – Arthur J. Rooney, Jr. Administration Advisor – Chuck Noll Director of Business – Mark Hart Business Accounting Coordinator – Jim Ellenberger Human Relations/Office Coordinator – Geraldine Glenn Business Operations – Omar Khan Accounting Manager – Jodie Spagnolli Communications Coordinator – Ron Wahl Public Relations/Media Manager – David Lockett Website/Network Administrator – Scott Phelps Marketing Director of Marketing – Tony Quatrini Marketing Coordinator – Rick Giugliano Client Services Administrator – Amy Corbett Marketing Manager – John Wodarek Producer/Broadcasting Manager – Rick Fairbend Marketing/Community Relations Manager – Lynne Molyneaux Marketing Assistant – John Simpson Marketing Assistant – Mike Marchinsky Ticket Operations Ticket Manager – Ben Lentz Season Ticket Assistant – Libby Patcher Football Operations Director of Football Operations – Kevin Colbert College Scouting Coordinator – Ron Hughes Pro Scouting Coordinator – Doug Whaley Pro/College Scout – Phil Kreidler College Scout – Mark Gorscak College Scout – Bob Lane College Scout – Bruce McNorton College Scout – Dan Rooney College Scout – Bill Nunn BLESTO Scout – Kelvin Fisher Head coaches Head Coach – Bill Cowher Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Mike Mularkey Quarterbacks – Tom Clements Offensive Line – Russ Grimm Running Backs – Dick Hoak Wide Receivers – Kenny Jackson Tight Ends – Ken Whisenhunt Offensive Assistant – Mike Miller			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Tim Lewis Linebackers – Keith Butler Defensive Line – John Mitchell Defensive Backs – Darren Perry Defensive Assistant – Lou Spanos Special teams coaches Special Teams – Kevin Spencer Strength and conditioning Conditioning Coach – Chet Fuhrman Medical Staff Ophthalmologist – Dr. Randy Beatty Physician, Orthopedic – Dr. James P. Bradley Neurological Surgeon – Dr. Joseph Maroon Physician, M.D. – Dr. Richard Rydze Physician, Consultant – Dr. Abraham J. Twerski Physician, M.D. – Dr. Anthony P. Yates Training Staff Head Athletic Trainer – John Norwig Assistant Athletic Trainer – Ryan Grove Assistant Athletic Trainer – Ariko Iso Football Staff Player Development Coordinator – Anthony Griggs Equipment Manager – Rodgers Freyvogel Field Manager – Rich Baker Field/Equipment Assistant – Kalvin Jones Video Coordinator – Bob McCartney Video Assistant – Andy Lizanich Video Assistant – Rob Brakel Photographers – Mike Fabus [1]

Notable additions include Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor.

Roster

2003 Pittsburgh Steelers final roster

	Quarterbacks 16 Charlie Batch  8 Tommy Maddox  2 Brian St. Pierre Running backs 36 Jerome Bettis 46 Dante Brown 22 Dee Brown 35 Dan Kreider FB 21 Amos Zereoué Wide receivers 80 Plaxico Burress 83 Chris Doering 89 Lee Mays 81 Freddie Milons 82 Antwaan Randle El PR/KR 86 Hines Ward Tight ends 87 Mark Bruener 48 Matt Cushing 85 Jay Riemersma 84 Jerame Tuman		Offensive linemen 72 Barrett Brooks T 66 Alan Faneca G 71 Todd Fordham T/G 64 Jeff Hartings C/G 78 Mathias Nkwenti T 56 Chukky Okobi C/G 79 Oliver Ross T/G 73 Kendall Simmons G 68 Keydrick Vincent G Defensive linemen 94 Rodney Bailey DE 96 Kendrick Clancy NT 98 Casey Hampton NT 76 Chris Hoke DT 91 Aaron Smith DE 67 Kimo von Oelhoffen DL		Linebackers 97 Kendrell Bell ILB 51 James Farrior ILB 50 Larry Foote ILB 92 Jason Gildon OLB 53 Clark Haggans OLB 95 Alonzo Jackson OLB 57 Clint Kriewaldt ILB 55 Joey Porter OLB Defensive backs 27 Brent Alexander FS 28 Chris Hope S 29 Chidi Iwuoma CB 31 Mike Logan SS 43 Troy Polamalu S 33 Russell Stuvaints S 24 Ike Taylor CB/KR 26 Deshea Townsend CB 20 Dewayne Washington CB Special teams 54 Mike Schneck LS  3 Jeff Reed K  4 Josh Miller P/H		Reserve lists 34 Verron Haynes RB (IR) 99 Brett Keisel DE (IR) 30 Chad Scott CB (IR) 77 Marvel Smith T (IR) Practice squad 76 Josh Burr T 61 Morgan Pears T 62 Jimond Pugh C 65 David Upchurch DT 49 J. T. Wall FB [2] [3] [4] [5] Rookies in italics 53 active, 4 inactive, 4 practice squad

Monday Night Controversy

The team did gain some notoriety during the season. The NFL tried to make it easier on teams after playing a Monday night game by giving every team that was away for a Monday night game either a home game or their bye week the following week. The Steelers were the only team that season to play on the road following a Monday night road game,[6] playing the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on November 17 before traveling to Cleveland the following week to play against the rival Cleveland Browns on November 23.

While Steelers head coach Bill Cowher was livid at the team playing a road game after a Monday night road game, team president Dan Rooney mentioned that the league putting the Steelers in Cleveland—only 112 miles from Pittsburgh—after flying to the West Coast was somewhat as a compromise to the team.

The Steelers got mixed results from the back-to-back road games on a short week, losing to the 49ers 30–14 in the game the 49ers retired Ronnie Lott's number 42 during halftime, but defeating the Browns 13–6, the latter being the first of the team's twelve-game winning streak against their bitter rivals, which ended in a 2009 game in Cleveland.

Preseason

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff (ET)	TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	NFL Recap
1	Sat. Aug. 9	12:30 p.m.	KDKA	at Detroit Lions	L 13–26	0–1	Ford Field
2	Sat. Aug. 16	7:30 p.m.	KDKA	Philadelphia Eagles	L 16–21	0–2	Heinz Field
3	Thu. Aug. 21	8:00 p.m.	FOX	Dallas Cowboys	W 15–14	1–2	Heinz Field
4	Fri. Aug. 29	8:00 p.m.	KDKA	at Carolina Panthers	L 14–21	1–3	Bank of America Stadium

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	NFL Recap
1	September 7	Baltimore Ravens	W 34–15	1–0	Heinz Field	Summary
2	September 14	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 20–41	1–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Summary
3	September 21	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 17–10	2–1	Paul Brown Stadium	Summary
4	September 28	Tennessee Titans	L 13–30	2–2	Heinz Field	Summary
5	October 5	Cleveland Browns	L 13–33	2–3	Heinz Field	Summary
6	October 12	at Denver Broncos	L 14–17	2–4	Invesco Field at Mile High	Summary
7	October 19	Bye
8	October 26	St. Louis Rams	L 21–33	2–5	Heinz Field	Summary
9	November 2	at Seattle Seahawks	L 16–23	2–6	Seahawks Stadium	Summary
10	November 9	Arizona Cardinals	W 28–15	3–6	Heinz Field	Summary
11	November 17	at San Francisco 49ers	L 14–30	3–7	San Francisco Stadium	Summary
12	November 23	at Cleveland Browns	W 13–6	4–7	Cleveland Browns Stadium	Summary
13	November 30	Cincinnati Bengals	L 20–24	4–8	Heinz Field	Summary
14	December 7	Oakland Raiders	W 27–7	5–8	Heinz Field	Summary
15	December 14	at New York Jets	L 0–6	5–9	Giants Stadium	Summary
16	December 21	San Diego Chargers	W 40–24	6–9	Heinz Field	Summary
17	December 28	at Baltimore Ravens	L 10–13 (OT)	6–10	M&T Bank Stadium	Summary

Game summaries

Week 1

See also: 2003 Baltimore Ravens season and Ravens–Steelers rivalry

Week One: Baltimore Ravens (0–0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (0–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ravens	0	0	7	8	15
Steelers	6	7	14	7	34

at Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Date: September 7
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: Mostly cloudy • 75 °F (24 °C) • Wind 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h; 2.6 kn)
• Game attendance: 63,157
• Referee: Ron Winter
• TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Ravens Kyle Boller 22/43, 152 Yds, TD, INT Jamal Lewis 15 Rush, 69 Yds Todd Heap 6 Rec, 55 Yds Steelers Tommy Maddox 21/29, 260 Yds, 3 TD Amos Zereoue 15 Rush, 56 Yds, TD Plaxico Burress 6 Rec, 116 Yds

Pittsburgh won their season opener for the first time since 1999.[7]

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP BAL PIT 1 10:19 10 69 4:41 Steelers 29-yard field goal by Jeff Reed 0 3 1 4:01 8 15 3:21 Steelers 31-yard field goal by Jeff Reed 0 6 2 2:57 8 90 4:08 Steelers Hines Ward 4-yard touchdown reception from Tommy Maddox, Jeff Reed kick good 0 13 3 9:49 8 60 3:23 Steelers Jay Riemersma 20-yard touchdown reception from Tommy Maddox, Jeff Reed kick good 0 20 3 3:54 1 28 0:07 Steelers Hines Ward 28-yard touchdown reception from Tommy Maddox, Jeff Reed kick good 0 27 3 1:56 3 80 1:58 Ravens Jamal Lewis 14-yard touchdown run, Matt Stover kick good 7 27 4 9:01 9 48 3:59 Steelers Amos Zereoue 8-yard touchdown run, Jeff Reed kick good 7 34 4 4:22 3 2 1:02 Ravens Travis Taylor 5-yard touchdown reception from Kyle Boller, 2-point pass good 15 34 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 15 34

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 17 3 0 0 20 • Chiefs 7 20 7 7 41 Date: September 14 Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 78,416 Referee: Larry Nemmers TV announcers (CBS): Kevin Harlan and Randy Cross

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total • Steelers 0 7 7 3 17 Bengals 0 0 3 7 10 Date: September 21 Location: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 64,596 Referee: Walt Coleman TV announcers (CBS): Gus Johnson and Brent Jones

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total • Titans 0 16 7 7 30 Steelers 3 10 0 0 13 Date: September 28 Location: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 63,244 Game weather: 55°F (Cloudy) Referee: Walt Anderson TV announcers (CBS): Gus Johnson and Brent Jones

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total • Browns 10 13 7 3 33 Steelers 0 10 3 0 13 Date: October 5 Location: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 8:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 64,595 Game weather: 46°F (Clear) Referee: Gerald Austin TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire & Suzy Kolber

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 3 3 0 8 14 • Broncos 0 7 0 10 17 Date: October 12 Location: Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado Game start: 4:15 p.m. EST Game attendance: 75,974 Referee: Mike Carey TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel & Phil Simms

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total • Rams 7 10 10 6 33 Steelers 7 7 7 0 21 Date: October 26 Location: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 62,665 Game weather: 59°F (Light Rain) Referee: Johnny Grier TV announcers (Fox): Sam Rosen & Bill Maas

This was the 1,000th game in Steelers history.

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 3 3 10 16 • Seahawks 3 3 3 14 23 Date: November 2 Location: Seahawks Stadium, Seattle Game start: 4:05 p.m. EST Game attendance: 66,507 Referee: Bill Leavy TV announcers (CBS): Dick Enberg & Dan Dierdorf

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 0 3 6 6 15 • Steelers 0 7 21 0 28 Date: November 9 Location: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 59,520 Game weather: 41°F (Sunny) Referee: Jeff Triplette TV announcers (Fox): Ron Pitts & Tim Ryan

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 0 7 7 14 • 49ers 7 3 14 6 30 Date: November 17 Location: San Francisco Stadium, San Francisco Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 67,877 Referee: Ed Hochuli TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, John Madden & Lisa Guerrero

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total • Steelers 0 10 0 3 13 Browns 3 3 0 0 6 Date: November 23 Location: Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 73,658 Referee: Walt Coleman TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle & Solomon Wilcots

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total • Bengals 7 7 0 10 24 Steelers 0 3 7 10 20 Date: November 30 Location: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 58,797 Game weather: 46°F (Sunny) Referee: Bernie Kukar TV announcers (CBS): Don Criqui & Steve Tasker

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 7 0 0 0 7 • Steelers 0 17 7 3 27 Date: December 7 Location: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 53,079 Game weather: 30°F (Partly Cloudy) Referee: Johnny Grier TV announcers (CBS): Gus Johnson & Brent Jones

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 0 0 0 0 • Jets 3 3 0 0 6 Date: December 14 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 77,900 Referee: Terry McAulay TV announcers (CBS): Gus Johnson & Brent Jones

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total Chargers 0 10 7 7 24 • Steelers 14 7 7 12 40 Date: December 21 Location: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 4:05 p.m. EST Game attendance: 52,527 Game weather: 37°F (Sunny) Referee: Bill Carollo TV announcers (CBS): Don Criqui & Steve Tasker

Week 17

1 2 3 4 OT Total Steelers 0 0 10 0 0 10 • Ravens 7 0 0 3 3 13 Date: December 28 Location: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland Game start: 8:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 70,001 Referee: Walt Anderson TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire & Suzy Kolber

Standings

AFC North
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
^(4) Baltimore Ravens	10	6	0	.625	4–2	7–5	391	281	W2
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	3–3	6–6	346	384	L2
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	10	0	.375	3–3	5–7	300	327	L1
Cleveland Browns	5	11	0	.313	2–4	3–9	254	322	W1

Honors and awards

References

1. 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
2. 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
3. 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
4. "2003 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
5. "2004 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
6. Cowher says NFL scheduling puts team in bad spot for next 2 weeks – PostGazette.com
7. ESPN.com. Retrieved April 23, 2013.