2003 Baltimore Ravens season

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 2003 NFL draft

Staff

• Owner and CEO – Art Modell

• President and coo – David Modell

• Minority owner – Steve Bisciotti

• General manager/executive vice president – Ozzie Newsome

• Director of player personnel – Phil Savage

• Director of football administration – Pat Moriarty

• Director of college scouting – Eric DeCosta

• Director of pro personnel – George Kokinis

• Assistant director of pro personnel – Vincent Newsome

• Head coach – Brian Billick

• Offensive coordinator – Matt Cavanaugh

• Quarterbacks/wide receivers – David Shaw

• Running backs – Matt Simon

• Tight ends/assistant offensive line – Wade Harman

• Offensive line – Jim Colletto

• Defensive coordinator – Mike Nolan

• Defensive line – Rex Ryan

• Outside linebackers – Phil Zacharias

• Inside linebackers – Mike Singletary

• Defensive backs – Donnie Henderson

• Defensive assistant – Dennis Thurman

• Special teams coordinator – Gary Zauner

• Assistant special teams – Bennie Thompson

• Coaching assistant/quality control – Mike Pettine

• Head athletic trainer – Bill Tessendorf

• Strength and conditioning – Jeff Friday

• Assistant strength and conditioning – Paul Ricci

Roster

• Kyle Boller

• Chris Redman

• Anthony Wright

• Jamal Lewis

• Harold Morrow

• Ovie Mughelli FB

• Alan Ricard FB

• Chester Taylor KR

• Musa Smith

• Ron Johnson

• Marcus Robinson

• Frank Sanders

• Travis Taylor

• Todd Heap

• John Jones

• Terry Jones

• Bennie Anderson G

• Ethan Brooks T

• Orlando Brown T

• Damion Cook T

• Mike Flynn C

• Edwin Mulitalo G

• Jonathan Ogden T

• Casey Rabach C/G

• Marques Douglas DE

• Aubrayo Franklin NT

• Kelly Gregg NT

• Jarret Johnson DE

• Maʻake Kemoeatu NT

• Riddick Parker DE

• Anthony Weaver DE

• Peter Boulware OLB

• Cornell Brown OLB

• Edgerton Hartwell ILB

• Ray Lewis ILB

• Bart Scott ILB

• T. J. Slaughter ILB

• Terrell Suggs OLB

• Gary Baxter CB/FS

• Lamont Brightful CB/KR/PR

• Will Demps FS

• Corey Fuller CB

• Tom Knight CB

• Chris McAlister CB

• Ed Reed SS

• Gerome Sapp FS

• Raymond Walls CB

• Chad Williams SS

• Joe Maese LS

• Wade Richey K

• Mike Solwold LS

• Matt Stover K

• Dave Zastudil P

• Bernardo Harris LB (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Javin Hunter WR (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Randy Hymes WR (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Tony Pashos T (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Trent Smith TE (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Adalius Thomas LB (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Nate Bolling DE

• Todd Devoe WR

• Michael Early G

• Kareem Kelly WR

• Lawrence Smith G

Schedule

Preseason

Regular season

In addition to their regular games with AFC North divisional rivals, the Ravens played games against the AFC West and NFC West according to the NFL schedule rotation introduced in 2002, and also played against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Miami Dolphins, who finished 2002 third in the two remaining AFC divisions.

Postseason

Main article: 2003–04 NFL playoffs

Division standings

Game summaries

Regular season

Week One at [[2003 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh Steelers]]

Three Tommy Maddox touchdowns raced the Steelers to a 27–0 lead, more than enough to win 34–15. Kyle Boller managed only 152 yards with an interception and a late touchdown.

Week Two vs. [[2003 Cleveland Browns season|Cleveland Browns]]

Jamal Lewis erupted for 295 rushing yards and two scores in a 33–13 rout of the Browns. Lewis’ rampage offset another weak performance by quarterback Kyle Boller with just seven completions.

Week Three at [[2003 San Diego Chargers season|San Diego Chargers]]

Kyle Boller once again failed to reach 100 yards passing but did have a touchdown while Jamal Lewis reached 132 yards rushing and added a touchdown in a 24–10 win at Qualcomm Stadium. Drew Brees was intercepted three times.

Week Four vs. [[2003 Kansas City Chiefs season|Kansas City Chiefs]]

Despite limiting the Chiefs to 265 yards of offense the Ravens fell 17–10 on a Dante Hall 87-yard return score and three interceptions by Kyle Boller.

Week Six at [[2003 Arizona Cardinals season|Arizona Cardinals]]

Cardinals quarterback Jeff Blake had played for the Ravens (coming off their bye week) the year before and here was intercepted three times; Chris McAlister ran back one pick for a score while Ed Reed scored on a blocked punt. It was enough to win 26-18 and offset yet another weak performance from Kyle Boller (nine completions for 75 yards and 61.1 passer rating).

Week Seven at [[2003 Cincinnati Bengals season|Cincinnati Bengals]]

For seven seasons Marvin Lewis had been Ravens defensive coordinator and he had the long-slumping Bengals beginning a competitive turnaround; Cincinnati's 34–26 win over his former team took a step in that direction. The Ravens fumbled twice and Jon Kitna, filling in for the season before rookie Carson Palmer would assume the starting role, threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns. The Ravens loss happened even as Kyle Boller hit 302 yards, two scores, and passer rating at 104.

Week Eight vs. [[2003 Denver Broncos season|Denver Broncos]]

For the second straight year the Ravens hosted and defeated the Broncos, this time 26–6. With Jake Plummer and Steve Beuerlein injured Danny Kanell started and was intercepted twice. Former Raven Shannon Sharpe was limited to two catches. Despite the win Brian Billick was angry over NFL replay challenges after a Ravens touchdown was overruled on replay.

Week Nine vs. [[2003 Jacksonville Jaguars season|Jacksonville Jaguars]]

Kyle Boller had a touchdown and nine other completions in a 24–17 win over Baltimore's former division rival. The Ravens fumbled once and Akin Ayodele scored for the Jaguars on the return.

Week Ten at [[2003 St. Louis Rams season|St. Louis Rams]]

Four years earlier the Ravens had been humiliated by the Rams and Brian Billick wrapped up his debut game by saying “We don’t have enough paper to list my frustration.” In this 33–22 loss he saw his Ravens cough up four fumbles while Kyle Boller had another interception; he injured his knee on a collision with fullback Alan Ricard and eventually gave way to former starter Chris Redman; Redman threw two more picks.

Week Eleven at [[2003 Miami Dolphins season|Miami Dolphins]]

The Ravens decided to start veteran quarterback Anthony Wright at Miami. In a battle of field goals the game went to overtime. After the Dolphins had to punt in overtime, Wright fumbled while handing off to Jamal Lewis and the ensuing Dolphins field goal ended a 6–9 Ravens loss.

Week Twelve vs. [[2003 Seattle Seahawks season|Seattle Seahawks]]

The turning point in the Ravens season came against the Seahawks, whom they’d only faced once before. The game was only tied 3–3 with one minute to go in the first half when the Seahawks scored then grabbed a Chester Taylor fumble and scored on the next play. Anthony Wright managed touchdowns to Marcus Robinson but a Jamal Lewis fumble set up a Seahawks drive deep in their territory with the Ravens trailing 24–41. It was here that Ed Reed blocked a Seahawks punt and scored. Ray Lewis then forced and grabbed a Seahawks fumble and after getting sacked on consecutive plays Wright completed a 40-yard pass off Robinson's hands caught by Frank Sanders. Robinson caught the subsequent touchdown, then the Ravens stopped a fourth down attempt (a mistake in resetting the game clock on this drive appeared to give the Ravens thirty extra seconds). A Seahawks interference penalty set up the tying Matt Stover field goal. After stopping the Seahawks in overtime (former Ravens quarterback Trent Dilfer had to come in for one play during the overtime, where he threw an incompletion) the Ravens won on another Stover kick. The 44–41 win was doubly emotional for Wright as immediately afterward he raced to the hospital in time for his wife to deliver their daughter.

Week Thirteen vs. [[2003 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco 49ers]]

The Ravens exploded to 44 points for the second straight game and the second straight against a visiting NFC West opponent but competitive fireworks were not necessary as they intercepted Jeff Garcia four times; Ray Lewis scored on one pick while Anthony Wright had two more touchdowns. The two teams combined for 546 yards vs. the 426 the Ravens had put up by themselves the previous week.

Week Fourteen vs. Cincinnati Bengals

The Ravens completed a rare three game home stand by downing the upstart Bengals 31–13. Baltimore rushed for 223 yards with three scores and forced five Cincinnati turnovers, offsetting two Anthony Wright interceptions.

Week Fifteen at [[2003 Oakland Raiders season|Oakland Raiders]]

Baltimore's surge to the playoffs hit a speed bump in a 12–20 loss to the faltering Raiders. Three Ravens turnovers neutralized 149 rushing yards led by Jamal Lewis at 125 yards and aided Raiders starter Rick Mirer in completing for 186 yards and a score to Jerry Rice.

Week Sixteen at Cleveland Browns

The ex-Browns traveled to Cleveland and reasserted themselves in a 35–0 shutout win. The Ravens rushed for 276 yards and three touchdowns as Jamal Lewis, on his way to 2,000 yards, accounted for 205 yards and two scores for a season total of 500 yards against the Browns; Anthony Wright had another touchdown, and Baltimore's vaunted defense forced four Browns turnovers.

Week Seventeen vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

The bitterness of this rivalry meant the 6-9 Steelers refused to roll over. An 81-yard touchdown by punter Josh Miller tied the game in the third. The Steelers went up 10–7 before a Ravens field goal tied the game. Jerome Bettis’ fumble at the two minute warning set up a 52-yard Stover field goal. When Tommy Maddox was intercepted with 26 seconds to go Anthony Wright completed two passes for 32 yards but a 51-yard kick was no good. In overtime the Steelers had to punt and a 22-yard Wright pass led to Stover’s winning kick and the first division title for the Ravens.

Postseason vs [[2003 Tennessee Titans season|Tennessee Titans]]

Baltimore's five game winning streak over Tennessee dating to 2000 came to an end in a tense grinder of a game. Jamal Lewis was held to just 39 yards of offense. After the Titans took a 7–0 lead Will Demps picked off Steve McNair and scored. Following multiple punts and another McNair pick a Ravens field goal put them up 10–7 at the half, until McNair's 49-yard strike to Justin McCareins put Tennessee back up 14–10. Trailing 17–10 in the fourth Anthony Wright found Todd Heap on a 35-yard score. McNair was intercepted again but the Ravens had to punt with 2:56 to go, where McNair completed four passes and Gary Anderson booted the winning field goal, ending Baltimore's season 20-17 and with a 10–7 record.

References

References

1. [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rav/2003.htm 2003 Baltimore Ravens]
2. [http://www.profootballhof.com/history/decades/2000s/jamal_lewis.aspx Lewis rushes for 295 yards!]. [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]]. 15 September 2003. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
3. (2009-01-07). "Top 10 greatest comebacks in NFL history". [[National Football League]].
4. [https://www.footballdb.com/teams/nfl/baltimore-ravens/results/2003 "2003 Baltimore Ravens schedule and results"] ''The Football Database''