The 2003 Green Bay Packers season was the franchise's 85th season overall and their 83rd in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. The Packers won the division on the last play of the season. Needing a win and a

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

loss to clinch the division, the Packers routed the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

31–3, while the Vikings lost 18–17 on a last second touchdown by the 3-12

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. The Packers defeated the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

in the wild-card round in overtime off an interception return for a touchdown by Al Harris. However, the season finished with an overtime loss to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the Divisional round of the playoffs after failing to stop the Eagles on

4th and 26 4th and 26 was an American football play on Sunday, January 11, 2004, during the National Football League's (NFL) 2003–04 playoffs. The play occurred during the fourth quarter of a divisional playoff game between the visiting Green Bay Packers ...

where a defensive stand on the play would have sealed a trip to the

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

for the first time since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

as the Eagles had only one timeout remaining and just over a minute left in regulation. In the Week 16 Monday night game,

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...

threw four touchdowns in a 41–7 win over the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, one night after his father died of a heart attack.

Offseason

The Packers were able to add Al Harris to their starting lineup from a trade with Philadelphia. They lost starters Terry Glenn to a trade and Vonnie Holliday to free agency.Offseason Overview: Green Bay Packers
espn.com obtained 2009-03-12

NFL draft

Undrafted free agents

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Preseason

File:Nick Luchey, Craig Nall, and William Henderson.jpg, Luchey, Nall, and

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *He ...

at the Tennessee preseason game File:Tony Fisher.jpg, Tony Fisher and others, August 28

Regular season

The Packers finished the season 10–6 and advanced to the Divisional round of the playoffs.

Game Summaries

Week 1: vs Minnesota Vikings

Week 2: vs Detroit Lions

Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals

Week 4: at Chicago Bears

Week 5: vs Seattle Seahawks

Week 6: vs Kansas City Chiefs

Week 7: at St. Louis Rams

Week 9: at Minnesota Vikings

Week 10: vs Philadelphia Eagles

Week 11: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 12: vs San Francisco 49ers

Week 13: at Detroit Lions

Week 14: vs Chicago Bears

Week 15: at San Diego Chargers

Week 16: at Oakland Raiders

Week 17: vs Denver Broncos

Addition of Grady Jackson

On November 5, 2003, the Packers claimed defensive tackle Grady Jackson off waivers from the New Orleans Saints. Jackson helped the Packers allow only 95.38 rushing yards per game over the final 8 games, after allowing over 117 yards per game in the first 8 games. Jackson signed a two-year contract extension on December 29, 2003.

Favre's Monday night performance

The day before the Week 16 game, Irvin Favre, father of Brett Favre, died suddenly of a heart attack. Favre elected to play and passed for four touchdowns in the first half, and 399 yards in a 41–7 defeat of the Raiders. Afterwards, Favre said, "I knew that my dad would have wanted me to play. I love him so much and I love this game. It's meant a great deal to me, to my dad, to my family, and I didn't expect this kind of performance. But I know he was watching tonight."

Playoffs

vs. Seattle Seahawks

Packers defensive back Al Harris returned an interception 52 yards for the game-winning touchdown 4:25 in overtime. The game was sent into overtime on Seahawk running back

Shaun Alexander Shaun Edward Alexander (born August 30, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the ...

's third touchdown of the day.

Ahman Green Ahman Rashad Green (; born February 16, 1977) is a former American football running back who played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Green played college football at Nebraska and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 3rd ro ...

scored two touchdowns for Green Bay, and

Bubba Franks Daniel Lamont "Bubba" Franks (born January 6, 1978) is a former American football tight end who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Miami. He was drafted by the Green Bay ...

caught a 23-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The game is memorable for Seahawks quarterback

Matt Hasselbeck Matthew Michael Hasselbeck (born September 25, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Boston College and was drafted in the sixth round ...

's ironic comment after winning the coin toss for the start of overtime, telling the referee "We want the ball and we're going to score." This game remains one of two times in NFL history that an NFL playoff game has ended with a defensive touchdown in OT (the other being the January 10, 2010 Wild Card game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Packers)./index.php?ntid=266179 Packers quarterback

completed 26 of 38 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown.

vs. Philadelphia Eagles

's franchise postseason record 156 rushing yards was not enough to lift the Packers to victory. Facing fourth down and 26 yards to go, with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter and the Packers leading 17–14, Eagles quarterback

Donovan McNabb Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Before his NFL career, he played football and b ...

completed a 28-yard pass to

Freddie Mitchell Freddie Lee Mitchell II (born November 28, 1978) is a former American football wide receiver who played for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He was chosen as a consensus All-American in 2000 whi ...

on a famous play now known as "

". The play set up

David Akers David Roy Akers (; born December 9, 1974) is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He began his career in 1998 with the Washington Reds ...

' 37-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. In the overtime Favre's deep pass was intercepted, and Akers then kicked a 31-yard field goal, giving the Eagles the victory. McNabb had a spectacular performance in the game, completing 21 of 39 passes for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also rushing for 107 yards on 11 carries.

Standings

Awards and honors

* Brett Favre, NFC Leader, Completion Percentage (65.4) * Brett Favre, NFC Leader, Touchdown Passes (32)

References

External links

2003 Packers results and recaps
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003 Green Bay Packers Season

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Green Bay Packers seasons NFC North championship seasons

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...