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2003 Denver Broncos season

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2003 Denver Broncos season
OwnerPat Bowlen
General managerTed Sundquist and Mike Shanahan
PresidentPat Bowlen
Head coachMike Shanahan
Offensive coordinatorGary Kubiak
Defensive coordinatorLarry Coyer
Home fieldInvesco Field at Mile High
Results
Record10–6
Division place2nd AFC West
Playoff finishLost Wild Card Playoffs
(at Colts) 10–41
Pro BowlersRB Clinton Portis
C Tom Nalen
ILB Al Wilson
AP All-ProsC Tom Nalen (1st team)

The 2003 Denver Broncos season was the franchise's 34th season in the National Football League (NFL) and the 44th overall.

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. They also earned their first playoff berth since 2000. But Denver's season ended with a 41–10 blowout to the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round. Following the season, Clinton Portis was traded to the Washington Redskins, and Shannon Sharpe and Ed McCaffrey both retired.

Offseason

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 [R4 - 1]
4 114 Nick Eason  Defensive tackle Clemson
4 128 Bryant McNeal  Defensive end Clemson
5 157 Ben Claxton  Center Ole Miss from New England [R5 - 1]
5 158 Adrian Madise  Wide receiver TCU
6 194 Aaron Hunt  Defensive end Texas Tech
7 227 Clint Mitchell  Defensive end Florida from Carolina [R7 - 1]
7 235 Ahmaad Galloway  Running back Alabama
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Draft notes

  1. ^ #108: Carolina → Denver (D). see #82: Denver → Carolina
  1. ^ #157: New England → Denver (D). see #120: Denver → New England.
  1. ^ #227: Carolina → Denver (D). see #82: Denver → Carolina

Staff

2003 Denver Broncos staff

Front office

Head coaches

  • Executive vice president of football operations/head coach – Mike Shanahan
  • Assistant head coach/offensive line – Alex Gibbs

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning


Roster

2003 Denver Broncos roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 11 reserve, 3 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 7 at Cincinnati Bengals W 30–10 1–0 Paul Brown Stadium 63,820
2 September 14 at San Diego Chargers W 37–13 2–0 Qualcomm Stadium 65,445
3 September 22 Oakland Raiders W 31–10 3–0 Invesco Field at Mile High 76,753
4 September 28 Detroit Lions W 20–16 4–0 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,719
5 October 5 at Kansas City Chiefs L 23–24 4–1 Arrowhead Stadium 78,903
6 October 12 Pittsburgh Steelers W 17–14 5–1 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,974
7 October 19 at Minnesota Vikings L 20–28 5–2 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 64,381
8 October 26 at Baltimore Ravens L 6–26 5–3 M&T Bank Stadium 69,721
9 November 3 New England Patriots L 26–30 5–4 Invesco Field at Mile High 76,203
10 Bye
11 November 16 San Diego Chargers W 37–8 6–4 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,217
12 November 23 Chicago Bears L 10–19 6–5 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,540
13 November 30 at Oakland Raiders W 22–8 7–5 Network Associates Coliseum 57,201
14 December 7 Kansas City Chiefs W 45–27 8–5 Invesco Field at Mile High 76,403
15 December 14 Cleveland Browns W 23–20 (OT) 9–5 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,358
16 December 21 at Indianapolis Colts W 31–17 10–5 RCA Dome 57,149
17 December 28 at Green Bay Packers L 3–31 10–6 Lambeau Field 70,299

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 1: Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 3 17 7330
Bengals 0 3 0710

at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

Game information

Week 2

Week 2: Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 14 10 10337
Chargers 3 7 3013

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

Game information

Week 3

Week 3: Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Raiders 0 0 7310
Broncos 21 3 7031

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

Game information

Week 4

Week 4: Detroit Lions at Denver Broncos
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Lions 7 3 0616
Broncos 7 7 3320

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

Game information

Week 5

Week 5: Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 7 6 7323
Chiefs 7 3 7724

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Game information

Week 6

Week 6: Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Steelers 3 3 0814
Broncos 0 7 01017

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

Game information

Week 7

Week 7: Denver Broncos at Minnesota Vikings
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 0 7 31020
Vikings 7 7 14028

at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. CDT/11:00 a.m. MDT
  • Game weather: Game played indoors (Domed stadium)
  • Game attendance: 64,381
  • Referee: Bill Carollo
  • TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms and Armen Keteyian
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 8

Week 8: Denver Broncos at Baltimore Ravens
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 3 0 306
Ravens 0 9 01726

at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST/11:00 a.m. MST
  • Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C), Mostly Cloudy
  • Game attendance: 69,721
  • Referee: Ron Winter
  • TV announcers (CBS): Kevin Harlan and Randy Cross
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 9

Week 9: New England Patriots at Denver Broncos
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Patriots 7 6 71030
Broncos 7 10 7226

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: 35 °F (2 °C), foggy
  • Game attendance: 76,203
  • Referee: Pete Morelli
  • TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, John Madden and Lisa Guerrero
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 11

Week 11: San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Chargers 0 0 088
Broncos 10 17 7337

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

Game information

Week 12

Week 12: Chicago Bears at Denver Broncos
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bears 3 6 01019
Broncos 7 0 3010

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

Game information

Week 13

Week 13: Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 0 14 0822
Raiders 5 3 008

at Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland, California

  • Game time: 2:15 p.m. MST/1:15 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C), Light Rain
  • Game attendance: 57,201
  • Referee: Ron Blum
  • TV announcers (CBS): Kevin Harlan and Randy Cross
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 14

Week 14: Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Chiefs 7 14 0627
Broncos 7 10 141445

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

  • Game time: 2:15 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: 63 °F (17 °C), Partly Cloudy
  • Game attendance: 76,403
  • Referee: Tony Corrente
  • TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms and Armen Keteyian
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 15

Week 15: Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos
Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Browns 0 10 010020
Broncos 10 0 010323

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

  • Game time: 2:00 p.m. MDT
  • Game weather: 52 °F (11 °C), Partly Cloudy
  • Game attendance: 75,358
  • Referee: Mike Carey
  • TV announcers (CBS): Kevin Harlan and Randy Cross
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 16

Week 16: Denver Broncos at Indianapolis Colts
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 14 14 0331
Colts 7 10 0017

at RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana

Game information

Week 17

Week 17: Denver Broncos at Green Bay Packers
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 0 0 303
Packers 7 3 71431

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

  • Game time: 3:15 p.m. CST/2:15 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C), Mostly Cloudy
  • Game attendance: 70,299
  • Referee: Bill Carollo
  • TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms and Armen Keteyian
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

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

Postseason

Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap
AFC Wild Card January 4 at Indianapolis Colts (3) L 10–41 0-1 RCA Dome Recap

Game summaries

AFC Wild Card Playoffs: at (#3) Indianapolis Colts

AFC Wild Card Playoffs: (6) Denver Broncos at (3) Indianapolis Colts
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 3 0 0710
Colts 14 17 10041

at RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana

Game information

References