The Arizona Cardinals season was the franchise's 105th season, 84th season in the National Football League and the 16th in Arizona. The team was unable to improve upon their previous output of 5–11, instead winning only four games,2003 Arizona Cardinals although this was not considered a disaster as before their win over the Packers there was talk the 2003 Cardinals would become the first NFL team to go 0–16.Bouchette, Ed; “NFC Notebook: Cardinals primed for 0–16?” in Post-Gazette Sports Writer; September 21, 2003 For the fifth consecutive season, the franchise failed to reach the playoffs, and based on point differential had the worst record in the only NFL season where every team won at least four games.See 2011 NFL Record and Fact Book; pp. 367–392 This resulted in the Cardinals firing head coach Dave McGinnis and replacing him with Dennis Green. In his NFL debut, Anquan Boldin had 217 receiving yards.Sports Illustrated, October 27, 2008, p. 24, Vol. 109, No. 16
The team recorded a notable highlight in the last game of the season. Instead of choosing to tank and secure the number 1 draft pick, the Cardinals chose to play spoiler, rallying from an 11-point deficit with minutes left in the fourth quarter and defeating the Vikings on a touchdown pass by Josh McCown to Nate Poole with zeroes on the clock to knock the Vikings out of the playoffs. The win is considered to have had a huge impact on NFL history; on top of giving the Packers the NFC North crown, it had a significant effect on the draft next year, as the win knocked the Cardinals down to the number 3 spot and gave the first pick to the Chargers. The Chargers would select Eli Manning with that pick and trade him to the Giants for fourth overall pick Phillip Rivers, while the Cardinals would select Larry Fitzgerald, who became one of the greatest players in franchise history.
Offseason Draft
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 7 at Detroit Lions L 24–42 0–1 Ford Field 60,691 2 September 14 Seattle Seahawks L 0–38 0–2 Sun Devil Stadium 23,127 3 September 21 Green Bay Packers W 20–13 1–2 Sun Devil Stadium 58,784 4 September 28 at St. Louis Rams L 13–37 1–3 Edward Jones Dome 65,758 5 October 5 at Dallas Cowboys L 7–24 1–4 Texas Stadium 63,601 6 October 12 Baltimore Ravens L 18–26 1–5 Sun Devil Stadium 24,193 7 Bye 8 October 26 San Francisco 49ers W 16–13 2–5 Sun Devil Stadium 40,824 9 November 2 Cincinnati Bengals W 17–14 3–5 Sun Devil Stadium 23,531 10 November 9 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 15–28 3–6 Heinz Field 59,520 11 November 16 at Cleveland Browns L 6–44 3–7 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,908 12 November 23 St. Louis Rams L 27–30 3–8 Sun Devil Stadium 42,089 13 November 30 at Chicago Bears L 3–28 3–9 Soldier Field 61,550 14 December 7 at San Francisco 49ers L 14–50 3–10 San Francisco Stadium 66,975 15 December 14 Carolina Panthers L 17–20 3–11 Sun Devil Stadium 23,217 16 December 21 at Seattle Seahawks L 10–28 3–12 Seahawks Stadium 64,899 17 December 28 Minnesota Vikings W 18–17 4–12 Sun Devil Stadium 52,734 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Detroit Lions
Week 2: vs. Seattle Seahawks
Week 3: vs. Green Bay Packers
Week 4: at St. Louis Rams
Week 5: at Dallas Cowboys
Week 6: vs. Baltimore Ravens
Week 8: vs. San Francisco 49ers
Week 9: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Week 10: at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 11: at Cleveland Browns
With the blowout loss, the Cardinals fell to 3-7 and finished 1-3 against the AFC North.
Week 12: vs. St. Louis Rams
Week 13: at Chicago Bears
Week 14: at San Francisco 49ers
With the blowout loss, the Cardinals fell to 3-10 and they were eliminated from playoff contention for the 5th consecutive season.
Week 15: vs. Carolina Panthers
Week 16: at Seattle Seahawks
With another horrible performance, the Cardinals fell to 3-12 and finished winless on the road along with securing a 1-5 record against the NFC West.
Week 17: vs. Minnesota Vikings
After being down 17-6, Arizona managed to mount a 12-point comeback win over Vikings, which included a game winning "force out" 28 yard TD pass from Josh McCown to Nate Poole. As a result of this, additionally due to the Packers 31-3 win over Denver, Arizona ended their 2003 campaign with a record 4-12 (2-2 against the NFC North & 4-8 at home) while also eliminating the Vikings from playoff contention and allowing the Packers to clinch the NFC North.
Standings
Awards and honors Anquan Boldin, Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year
References