# 2003 Cleveland Browns season

The 2003 Cleveland Browns season was the franchise's 55th season as a professional sports franchise and its 51st season as a member of the National Football League. The Browns were unable to replicate the success from the previous season, and they ended up winning only five games. They failed to return to the playoffs. This season would begin a stretch, which was unbroken until the 2020 season, in which the Browns would not make it to the playoffs in any capacity.

## Offseason
### 2003 NFL Draft

| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College |
| Round | Pick | Player name | Position | College |
| 1 | 21 | Jeff Faine | Center | Notre Dame |
| 2 | 52 | Chaun Thompson | Linebacker | West Texas A&M |
| 3 | 84 | Chris Crocker | Safety | Marshall |
| 4 | 115 | Lee Suggs | Running back | Virginia Tech |
| 5 | 142 | Ryan Pontbriand | Long snapper | Rice |
| 5 | 152 | Michael Lehan | Cornerback | Minnesota |
| 6 | 195 | Antonio Garay | Defensive end | Boston College |

### Undrafted free agents

2003 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Leigh Bodden | Cornerback | Duquesne |
| Enoch DeMar | Guard | Indiana |
| Nate Hybl | Quarterback | Oklahoma |
| Israel Idonije | Defensive end | Manitoba |

## Regular season
### Schedule

Apart from their AFC North division games, the Browns played against the AFC West and NFC West according to the NFL’s conference rotation, and played the Colts and Patriots based on 2002 standings in their respective AFC divisions.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 7 | Indianapolis Colts | L 6–9 | 0–1 | 73,358 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 14 | at Baltimore Ravens | L 13–33 | 0–2 | 69,473 | M&T Bank Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | September 21 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 13–12 | 1–2 | 67,412 | 3Com Park | Recap |
| 4 | September 28 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 14–21 | 1–3 | 73,428 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | October 5 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 33–13 | 2–3 | 64,595 | Heinz Field | Recap |
| 6 | October 12 | Oakland Raiders | W 13–7 | 3–3 | 73,318 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | October 19 | San Diego Chargers | L 20–26 | 3–4 | 73,238 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | October 26 | at New England Patriots | L 3–9 | 3–5 | 68,436 | Gillette Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 10 | November 9 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 20–41 | 3–6 | 78,560 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 16 | Arizona Cardinals | W 44–6 | 4–6 | 72,908 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | November 23 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 6–13 | 4–7 | 73,658 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | November 30 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 7–34 | 4–8 | 64,680 | Seahawks Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 8 | St. Louis Rams | L 20–26 | 4–9 | 73,108 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
| 15 | December 14 | at Denver Broncos | L 20–23 | 4–10 | 75,358 | Invesco Field at Mile High | Recap |
| 16 | December 21 | Baltimore Ravens | L 0–35 | 4–11 | 72,548 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
| 17 | December 28 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 22–14 | 5–11 | 65,362 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap |
| Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### 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 |

## Game summaries
### Week 2: at Baltimore

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 13 |
| Ravens | 10 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 33 |
at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
* Date: September 14
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 75 °F (23.9 °C), relative humidity 83%, wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)
* Game attendance: 69,473
* Referee: Tom White
* TV announcers (CBS): Tim Brando (play–by–play), Spencer Tillman (color commentator)
Browns linebacker Andra Davis telephoned Ravens running back Jamal Lewis before the game and stated he wanted Lewis to carry the ball at least thirty times in their upcoming matchup. “If that happens, it's going to be a career day’, Lewis replied. Lewis then erupted to 295 rushing yards, breaking the record previously held by Corey Dillon in 2000 as the Browns fell 33–13.

### Week 11: vs. Arizona

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Browns | 10 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 44 |
at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland
* Date: November 16
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 43 °F (6.1 °C), relative humidity 89%, wind 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h; 4.3 kn)
* Game attendance: 72,908
* Referee: Ron Winter
* TV announcers (Fox): Scott Graham (play–by–play), Dale Hellestrae (color commentator) and Tony Rizzo (sideline reporter)
Game information :
First quarter
CLE (9:06) – Dawson 34 yard field goal Browns 3, Cardinals 0
CLE (2:57) – Davis 4 yard pass from Holcomb (Dawson kick) Browns 10, Cardinals 0
Second quarter
CLE (11:16) – Dawson 24 yard field goal Browns 13, Cardinals 0
CLE (4:14) – Northcutt 1 yard pass from Holcomb (Dawson kick) Browns 20, Cardinals 0
ARI (0:55) – Rackers 42 yard field goal Browns 20, Cardinals 3
Third quarter
ARI (9:55) – Rackers 26 yard field goal Browns 20, Cardinals 6
CLE (6:59) – Jackson 4 yard rush (Dawson kick) Browns 27, Cardinals 6
CLE (2:56) – Morgan 68 yard pass from Holcomb (Dawson kick) Browns 34, Cardinals 6
Fourth quarter
CLE (14:20) – Jackson 4 yard rush (Dawson kick) Browns 41, Cardinals 6
CLE (8:57) – Dawson 29 yard field goal Browns 44, Cardinals 6
Top passers
ARI – Jeff Blake 9/21, 121 yds, 1 INT
CLE – Kelly Holcomb 29/35, 392 yds, 3 TD
Top rushers
ARI – Marcel Shipp 9 carr, 23 yds
CLE – James Jackson 19 carr, 45 yds, 2 TD
Top receivers
ARI – Anquan Boldin 4 rec, 86 yds
CLE – André Davis 7 rec, 117 yds, 1 TD
Turnovers
ARI – 4
CLE – 0 :