2003 New Orleans Saints season

The 2003 season was the New Orleans Saints' 37th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 28th playing home games at the Louisiana Superdome. They failed to improve on their 9–7 record from 2002 and finished with a record of 8–8.^[1]

2003 New Orleans Saints season
Owner	Tom Benson
General manager	Mickey Loomis
Head coach	Jim Haslett
Home stadium	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	2nd NFC South
Playoffs	Did not qualify
All-Pros	None
Pro Bowlers	G LeCharles Bentley RB Deuce McAllister
← 2002 Saints seasons 2004 →

This was the season of the River City Relay, a play that has gone down in NFL lore from a week 16 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Saints were 7–7 and needed a victory to keep their postseason hopes alive. The Jaguars held a 20–13 lead with seven seconds left in regulation, and the Saints had possession on their own 25. In a scene evoking memories of The Play, Aaron Brooks passed to Donté Stallworth for 42 yards, Stallworth lateraled to Michael Lewis for 7 yards, Lewis lateraled to Deuce McAllister for 5 yards, and McAllister lateraled to Jerome Pathon for 21 yards and a touchdown. The score was 20–19, leaving only the extra point to force overtime. However, in an unlikely twist, John Carney, who in his career made 98.4% of extra points attempted and had not missed one in a full decade, inexplicably missed the kick wide right, causing the Saints to miss the playoffs for the third consecutive season and 10th time in the past 11.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 2003 NFL draft

2003 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	6	Johnathan Sullivan	Defensive tackle	Georgia
2	37	Jon Stinchcomb *	Offensive tackle	Georgia
3	86	Cie Grant	Linebacker	Ohio State
4	102	Montrae Holland	Guard	Florida State
5	155	Melvin Williams	Defensive end	Kansas State
6	203	Kareem Kelly	Wide receiver	USC
7	231	Talman Gardner	Wide receiver	Florida State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

2003 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office Owner – Tom Benson Executive vice president/general manager – Mickey Loomis Senior football administrator – Russ Ball Director of player personnel – Rick Mueller College scouting coordinator – Rick Thompson Head coaches Head coach – Jim Haslett Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Mike McCarthy Quarterbacks – Mike Sheppard Running backs – Dave Atkins Wide receivers – Hubbard Alexander Assistant wide receivers – Danny Langsdorf Tight ends – Bob Palcic Offensive line – Jack Henry Offensive assistant/quality control – John Misciagna

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Rick Venturi Defensive line – Sam Clancy Linebackers – Winston Moss Secondary – Joe Baker Secondary/cornerbacks – Greg Brown Defensive assistant/quality control – Ty Knott Defensive assistant/special projects – Joe Alley Special teams coaches Special teams – Al Everest Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Rock Gullickson Assistant strength and conditioning – Jerry Palmieri

Roster

2003 New Orleans Saints roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  4 Todd Bouman  2 Aaron Brooks 14 J. T. O'Sullivan Running backs (RB) 25 Fred McAfee KR 26 Deuce McAllister 36 Lamar Smith 44 Terrelle Smith FB Wide receivers (WR) 88 Talman Gardner 87 Joe Horn 89 Derrick Lewis 84 Michael Lewis KR/PR 18 Phil McGeoghan 80 Jerome Pathon 83 Donté Stallworth KR/PR Tight ends (TE) 81 Zach Hilton 86 Walter Rasby 48 David Sloan 82 Boo Williams

Offensive linemen (OL) 62 Jerry Fontenot C 72 Wayne Gandy T 61 Montrae Holland G 64 Kendyl Jacox G 66 Victor Riley T 78 Jon Stinchcomb T 70 Terence Wagner C Defensive linemen (DL) 99 Kenderick Allen DT 92 Tony Bryant DE 94 Charles Grant DE 95 Howard Green DT 93 Darren Howard DE 90 Kenny Smith DT 97 Johnathan Sullivan DT 98 Willie Whitehead DE/DT 96 Melvin Williams DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 James Allen OLB 58 Cie Grant OLB 52 Sedrick Hodge OLB 53 Roger Knight OLB 59 Derrick Rodgers OLB 56 Orlando Ruff MLB 54 Darrin Smith MLB/OLB Defensive backs (DB) 33 Ashley Ambrose CB 20 Jay Bellamy SS 35 Fakhir Brown CB 29 Keyuo Craver CB/KR 37 Steve Gleason SS 23 Victor Green FS 28 Deveron Harper CB/S 34 Tebucky Jones FS 22 Fred Thomas CB Special teams (ST) 17 Mitch Berger P  3 John Carney K 47 Kevin Houser LS

Practice squad 60 Ben Archibald T 31 Tavian Banks RB 77 Shawn Draper T 75 Josh Shaw DT 24 Maurice Tucker CB Reserve 65 LeCharles Bentley G (IR) 21 Dale Carter CB (IR) 32 Ki-Jana Carter RB (IR) 85 Ernie Conwell TE (IR) 10 Kerwin Cook WR (NF-Inj.) 27 James Fenderson RB (IR) 71 Spencer Folau G (IR) 42 Spencer Frederick FB (IR) 40 Mel Mitchell S (IR) 63 Chad Setterstrom G (IR) -- Nate Turner WR (NF-Inj.) Rookies in italics 53 active, 11 reserve, 5 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

During the 2003 regular season, the Saints’ non-division opponents were primarily from the NFC East and AFC South, based on the NFLʼs schedule rotation. They also played the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears based on the teams' 2002 divisional placement.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 7	at Seattle Seahawks	L 10–27	0–1	52,250
2	September 14	Houston Texans	W 31–10	1–1	68,390
3	September 21	at Tennessee Titans	L 12–27	1–2	68,809
4	September 28	Indianapolis Colts	L 21–55	1–3	70,020
5	October 5	at Carolina Panthers	L 13–19	1–4	72,496
6	October 12	Chicago Bears	W 20–13	2–4	68,390
7	October 19	at Atlanta Falcons	W 45–17	3–4	70,837
8	October 26	Carolina Panthers	L 20–23	3–5	68,370
9	November 2	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 17–14	4–5	65,524
10	Bye
11	November 16	Atlanta Falcons	W 23–20	5–5	68,432
12	November 23	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 20–33	5–6	67,802
13	November 30	at Washington Redskins	W 24–20	6–6	76,821
14	December 7	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 7–14	6–7	68,442
15	December 14	New York Giants	W 45–7	7–7	68,399
16	December 21	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 19–20	7–8	49,207
17	December 28	Dallas Cowboys	W 13–7	8–8	68,451

Standings

NFC South
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(3) Carolina Panthers	11	5	0	.688	5–1	9–3	325	304	W3
New Orleans Saints	8	8	0	.500	3–3	7–5	340	326	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	7	9	0	.438	2–4	6–6	301	264	L2
Atlanta Falcons	5	11	0	.313	2–4	4–8	299	422	W2