2003 Baltimore Ravens season

2003 Baltimore Ravens season
Owner	Art Modell
General manager	Ozzie Newsome
Head coach	Brian Billick
Offensive coordinator	Matt Cavanaugh
Defensive coordinator	Mike Nolan
Home field	M&T Bank Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	1st AFC North
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Titans) 17–20
Pro Bowlers	RB Jamal Lewis TE Todd Heap T Jonathan Ogden OLB Peter Boulware MLB Ray Lewis CB Chris McAlister FS Ed Reed ST Adalius Thomas
Uniform

The 2003 Baltimore Ravens season was the team's eighth season in the NFL. They improved upon their previous output of 7–9, winning 10 games and making the third playoff appearance in franchise history. This marked the first season when the Ravens won their division. One memorable moment came in week 2, when Jamal Lewis set the NFL record for most rushing yards in a single game, rushing for 295 yards against the Cleveland Browns. Lewis went on to rush for 2,066 yards on the season and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year. In addition, Ray Lewis was named Defensive Player of the Year and 2003 first round pick Terrell Suggs was named Defensive Rookie of the Year.

The Ravens’ home stadium was renamed “M&T Bank Stadium’, a name which has remained unchanged ever since.

In Week 12 against the Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore fought from a seventeen-point deficit halfway through the 4th quarter to force overtime, winning 44–41. The game was named to NFL Top 10 as #9 on Top Ten Comebacks.

The Ravens season ended in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, when they lost 20–17 to the Steve McNair-led Tennessee Titans.

Shortly after the loss Art Modell sold his majority ownership (retaining 1%) of the team to minority owner Steve Biscotti.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 2003 NFL Draft

2003 Baltimore Ravens draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	10	Terrell Suggs *	DE	Arizona State
1	19	Kyle Boller	QB	California
3	77	Musa Smith	RB	Georgia
4	109	Jarret Johnson	DE	Alabama
4	134	Ovie Mughelli *	FB	Wake Forest
5	146	Aubrayo Franklin	DT	Tennessee
5	173	Tony Pashos	OT	Illinois
6	182	Gerome Sapp	S	Notre Dame
7	223	Trent Smith	TE	Oklahoma
7	250	Mike Mabry	C	Central Florida
7	258	Antwoine Sanders	S	Utah
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

2003 Baltimore Ravens staff

Front office 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 coaches Head coach – Brian Billick Offensive coaches 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 coaches 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 coaches Special teams coordinator – Gary Zauner Assistant special teams – Bennie Thompson Coaching assistant/quality control – Mike Pettine Strength and conditioning Head athletic trainer – Bill Tessendorf Strength and conditioning – Jeff Friday Assistant strength and conditioning – Paul Ricci

Roster

2003 Baltimore Ravens roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  8 Kyle Boller  7 Chris Redman  2 Anthony Wright Running backs (RB) 31 Jamal Lewis 33 Harold Morrow 34 Ovie Mughelli FB 39 Alan Ricard FB 29 Chester Taylor KR 32 Musa Smith Wide receivers (WR) 83 Ron Johnson 87 Marcus Robinson 81 Frank Sanders 89 Travis Taylor Tight ends (TE) 86 Todd Heap 88 John Jones 82 Terry Jones

Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Bennie Anderson G 77 Ethan Brooks T 78 Orlando Brown T 72 Damion Cook T 62 Mike Flynn C 64 Edwin Mulitalo G 75 Jonathan Ogden T 61 Casey Rabach C/G Defensive linemen (DL) 94 Marques Douglas DE 69 Aubrayo Franklin NT 97 Kelly Gregg NT 76 Jarret Johnson DE 92 Maʻake Kemoeatu NT 91 Riddick Parker DE 98 Anthony Weaver DE

Linebackers (LB) 58 Peter Boulware OLB 90 Cornell Brown OLB 56 Edgerton Hartwell ILB 52 Ray Lewis ILB 57 Bart Scott ILB 53 T. J. Slaughter ILB 55 Terrell Suggs OLB Defensive backs (DB) 28 Gary Baxter CB/FS 45 Lamont Brightful CB/KR/PR 47 Will Demps FS 26 Corey Fuller CB 22 Tom Knight CB 21 Chris McAlister CB 20 Ed Reed SS 27 Gerome Sapp FS 38 Raymond Walls CB 49 Chad Williams SS Special teams 59 Joe Maese LS  9 Wade Richey K 43 Mike Solwold LS  3 Matt Stover K 15 Dave Zastudil P

Practice squad 70 Nate Bolling DE 17 Todd Devoe WR 65 Michael Early G 18 Kareem Kelly WR 73 Lawrence Smith G Reserve 51 Bernardo Harris LB (IR) 84 Javin Hunter WR (IR) 80 Randy Hymes WR (IR) 79 Tony Pashos T (IR) 48 Trent Smith TE (IR) 96 Adalius Thomas LB (IR) Rookies in italics 53 active, 6 reserve, 5 practice squad

Schedule

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record
1	August 9	Buffalo Bills	L 19–20	0–1
2	August 16	at Atlanta Falcons	W 13–10	1–1
3	August 23	at Washington Redskins	L 3–24	1–2
4	August 28	New York Giants	L 24–30	1–3

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.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 7	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 15–34	0–1	63,157
2	September 14	Cleveland Browns	W 33–13	1–1	69,473
3	September 21	at San Diego Chargers	W 24–10	2–1	52,028
4	September 28	Kansas City Chiefs	L 10–17	2–2	69,459
5	Bye
6	October 12	at Arizona Cardinals	W 26–18	3–2	24,193
7	October 19	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 26–34	3–3	53,553
8	October 26	Denver Broncos	W 26–6	4–3	69,723
9	November 2	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 24–17	5–3	69,486
10	November 9	at St. Louis Rams	L 22–33	5–4	66,085
11	November 16	at Miami Dolphins	L 6–9 (OT)	5–5	73,333
12	November 23	Seattle Seahawks	W 44–41 (OT)	6–5	69,477
13	November 30	San Francisco 49ers	W 44–6	7–5	69,549
14	December 7	Cincinnati Bengals	W 31–13	8–5	69,468
15	December 14	at Oakland Raiders	L 12–20	8–6	45,398
16	December 21	at Cleveland Browns	W 35–0	9–6	72,548
17	December 28	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 13–10 (OT)	10–6	70,001
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Postseason

Main article: 2003–04 NFL playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Wildcard	January 3	Tennessee Titans	L 17–20	69,452

Division 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

Game summaries

Regular season

Week One at 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. 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 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. 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 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 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. 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. 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 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 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. 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. 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 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 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.