2003 Denver Broncos season

2003 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Pat Bowlen
General manager	Mike Shanahan
Head coach	Mike Shanahan
Home field	Invesco Field at Mile High
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost AFC Wild Card Playoff (at Colts) 10–41

The 2003 Denver Broncos season was the team's 44th year in professional football and its 34th with the National Football League.

After the departure of Brian Griese, who signed with his father's team, the Dolphins, the Broncos acquired Jake Plummer, who had been struggling in recent years with Arizona.

After two seasons of mediocrity, the Broncos rebounded with a 10–6 record. Denver's season ended with a 41–10 blowout to the Indianapolis Colts in the Wildcard round. Following the season, Clinton Portis was traded to the Washington Redskins, and Shannon Sharpe and Ed McCaffrey both retired.

Off Season

NFL Draft

Main article: 2003 NFL Draft

2003 Denver Broncos draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	20	George Foster	Offensive Tackle	Georgia
2	51	Terry Pierce	Linebacker	Kansas State
4	108	Quentin Griffin	Running Back	Oklahoma	from Carolina
4	114	Nick Eason	Defensive Tackle	Clemson
4	128	Bryant McNeal	Defensive End	Clemson
5	157	Ben Claxton	Center	Ole Miss	from New England
5	158	Adrian Madise	Wide Receiver	TCU
6	194	Aaron Hunt	Defensive End	Texas Tech
7	227	Clint Mitchell	Defensive End	Florida	from Carolina
7	235	Ahmaad Galloway	Running Back	Alabama
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

2003 Denver Broncos staff

Front office President and Chief Executive Officer – Pat Bowlen Executive Vice President of Football Operations – Mike Shanahan General Manager – Ted Sundquist Director of Pro Personnel – Rick Smith Director of College Scouting – Jim Goodman Head coaches Head Coach – Mike Shanahan Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line – Alex Gibbs Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Gary Kubiak Quarterbacks – Pat McPherson Running Backs – Bobby Turner Wide Receivers – Steve Watson Tight Ends – Brian Pariani Offensive Line – Rick Dennison

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Larry Coyer Defensive Line – Jacob Burney Assistant Defensive Line/Pass Rush Specialist – Keith Millard Defensive Backs/Secondary – David Gibbs Assistant Defensive Backs/Secondary – Jimmy Spencer Defensive Assistant – Troy Calhoun Special teams coaches Special Teams – Frank Bush Assistant Special Teams – Ronnie Bradford Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Rich Tuten Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Greg Saporta Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Cedric Smith

Roster

2003 Denver Broncos roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 11 Steve Beuerlein 17 Jarious Jackson 13 Danny Kanell 16 Jake Plummer Running backs (RB) 38 Mike Anderson 34 Reuben Droughns 22 Quentin Griffin 26 Clinton Portis 37 Cecil Sapp FB Wide receivers (WR) 12 Charlie Adams 81 Chris Cole KR 14 Nate Jackson 85 Ashley Lelie 82 Adrian Madise 87 Ed McCaffrey 80 Rod Smith Tight ends (TE) 88 Jeb Putzier 84 Shannon Sharpe

Offensive linemen (OL) 71 Blake Brockermeyer T 65 Cooper Carlisle G 72 George Foster G 50 Ben Hamilton G 78 Matt Lepsis T 66 Tom Nalen C 62 Dan Neil G 74 Ephraim Salaam T Defensive linemen (DL) 92 Bertrand Berry DE 96 Dorsett Davis DT 98 Reggie Hayward DE 90 Darius Holland DT 75 Monsanto Pope DT 93 Trevor Pryce DT

Linebackers (LB) 55 Keith Burns MLB 51 John Mobley OLB 58 Terry Pierce 59 Donnie Spragan OLB 57 Jashon Sykes OLB 56 Al Wilson MLB Defensive backs (DB) 25 Nick Ferguson FS 31 Kelly Herndon 28 Kenoy Kennedy SS 24 Deltha O'Neal CB/PR 35 Lenny Walls CB 33 Jimmy Spencer CB Special teams  1 Jason Elam K  4 Micah Knorr P 83 Mike Leach LS

Reserve 52 Ian Gold OLB (IR) 99 Daryl Gardener DT (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 2003	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 30–10	63,820
2	September 14, 2003	at San Diego Chargers	W 37–13	65,445
3	September 22, 2003	Oakland Raiders	W 31–10	76,753
4	September 28, 2003	Detroit Lions	W 20–16	75,719
5	October 5, 2003	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 24–23	78,903
6	October 12, 2003	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–14	75,974
7	October 19, 2003	at Minnesota Vikings	L 28–20	64,381
8	October 26, 2003	at Baltimore Ravens	L 26–6	69,721
9	November 3, 2003	New England Patriots	L 30–26	76,203
10	Bye
11	November 16, 2003	San Diego Chargers	W 37–8	75,217
12	November 23, 2003	Chicago Bears	L 19–10	75,540
13	November 30, 2003	at Oakland Raiders	W 22–8	57,201
14	December 7, 2003	Kansas City Chiefs	W 45–27	76,403
15	December 14, 2003	Cleveland Browns	W 23–20	75,358
16	December 21, 2003	at Indianapolis Colts	W 31–17	57,149
17	December 28, 2003	at Green Bay Packers	L 31–3	70,299

Game summaries

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Chiefs 7 14 0 6 27 • Broncos 7 10 14 14 45 Date: December 7 Location: Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado Game start: 4:15 p.m. EST Game attendance: 76,403 Game weather: 45°F; wind 11 Referee: Tony Corrente TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms, and Armen Keteyian

Scoring summary Q1 9:24 DEN Clinton Portis 1 yard run (Jason Elam kick) DEN 7–0 Q1 3:03 KC Priest Holmes 2 yard run (Morten Andersen kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 11:18 DEN Clinton Portis 1 yard run (Jason Elam kick) DEN 14–7 Q2 7:36 KC Priest Holmes 1 yard run (Morten Andersen kick) Tie 14–14 Q2 9:32 DEN Jason Elam 47 yard field goal DEN 17–14 Q2 1:19 KC Eddie Kennison 42 yard pass from Trent Green (Morten Andersen kick) KC 21–17 Q3 5:58 DEN Reuben Droughns 3 yard pass from Jake Plummer (Jason Elam kick) DEN 24–21 Q3 2:42 DEN Clinton Portis 59 yard run (Jason Elam kick) DEN 31–21 Q4 11:24 DEN Clinton Portis 28 yard run (Jason Elam kick) DEN 38–21 Q4 7:58 DEN Clinton Portis 53 yard run (Jason Elam kick) DEN 45–21 Q4 :02 KC Trent Green 1 yard run (pass failed) DEN 45–27

• Clinton Portis 22 Rush, 218 Yds, 5 TD

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

External links

• Broncos on Pro Football Reference
• Broncos Schedule on jt-sw.com