# 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.
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 in 2001, this was the Steelers' first season with a losing record and their first season missing the playoffs. The team's record is tied with that of the 1999 season as the worst for a season under head coach Bill Cowher.
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.
Since then, this represents the most recent losing season for the Steelers.

## Offseason

| Additions | Subtractions |
| TE Jay Riemersma (Bills) | QB Kordell Stewart (Bears) |
| T Todd Fordham (Jaguars) | K Todd Peterson (49ers) |
| LB Clint Kriewaldt (Lions) | |
| WR Chris Doering (Redskins) | |

### NFL draft

2003 Pittsburgh Steelers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 16 | Troy Polamalu * $^†$ | Safety | USC |
| 2 | 59 | Alonzo Jackson | Linebacker | Florida State |
| 4 | 125 | Ike Taylor | Cornerback | Louisiana–Lafayette |
| 5 | 163 | Brian St. Pierre | Quarterback | Boston College |
| 7 | 242 | J. T. Wall | Running back | Georgia |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

2003 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Jason Armstead | Wide receiver | Ole Miss |
| Roy Attieh | Defensive Tackle | Kent State |
| Phil Braxton | Wide receiver | West Virginia |
| Nashville Dyer | Cornerback | Kent State |
| Jack Fadule | Tackle | Harvard |
| Rashad Faison | Safety | South Carolina |
| Casey Poppinga | Tight end | Utah State |
| Dan Rumishek | Defensive end | Michigan |
| Jonathan Ruffin | Kicker | Cincinnati |
| Leonard Scott | Wide receiver | Tennessee |

## Personnel

Notable additions include Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor.

## Preseason
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game Site |
| 1 | August 9 | at Detroit Lions | L 13–26 | 0–1 | Ford Field |
| 2 | August 16 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 16–21 | 0–2 | Heinz Field |
| 3 | August 21 | Dallas Cowboys | W 15–14 | 1–2 | Heinz Field |
| 4 | August 29 | 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 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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 |
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| Quarter | 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.
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | 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. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "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 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Steelers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
| Bengals | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Titans | 0 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 30 |
| Steelers | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Browns | 10 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 33 |
| Steelers | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
This was Pittsbrugh's last loss at home against Cleveland until 2020.

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 14 |
| • Broncos | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 17 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Rams | 7 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 33 |
| Steelers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
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 |

#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 15 |
| • Steelers | 0 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 28 |

#### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| • 49ers | 7 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 30 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Steelers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| Browns | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
The Steelers were the only team in the 2003 season to play on the road following a Monday night road game. The NFL at that time had typically given teams that traveled for a Monday night game either a home game or their bye week the following week. Steelers head coach Bill Cowher objected to the team playing a road game after a Monday night road game. Team president Dan Rooney said that he would not pursue the matter with the NFL, noting that the second game was in Cleveland, only 112 miles (180 km) from Pittsburgh.

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
| Steelers | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 20 |

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • Steelers | 0 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 27 |

#### Week 15

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Jets | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |

#### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chargers | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| • Steelers | 14 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 40 |

#### Week 17

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • Ravens | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 |

## Standings

AFC North :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |