2003 Pittsburgh Steelers season

Pittsburgh Steelers 71st US football season August 2023 March 2026 Pittsburgh Steelers 2003 6–10 3rd AFC North Bill Cowher Kevin Colbert The Rooney Family Heinz Field Did not qualify border:none; padding:0; 3 G Alan Faneca NT Casey Hampton WR Hines Ward Alan Faneca (2nd team)Hines Ward (2nd team) Hines Ward Troy Polamalu Steelers seasons 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. This was the Steelers' only losing season from 2000 to 2025. 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, as well as the only time they've lost to the Browns on Heinz Field in the regular season. Offseason Additions Subtractions TE Jay Riemersma (Bills) QB Kordell Stewart (Bears) T Todd Fordham (Jaguars) K Todd Peterson (49ers) LB Clint Kriewaldt (Lions) T Wayne Gandy (Saints) WR Chris Doering (Redskins) NFL draft 2003 NFL draft 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers 1 16 Troy Polamalu Safety USC yes yes yes 2 59 Alonzo Jackson Linebacker Florida State yes 4 125 Ike Taylor Cornerback Louisiana–Lafayette yes 5 163 Brian St. Pierre Quarterback Boston College yes 7 242 J. T. Wall Running back Georgia no yes Undrafted free agents + 2003 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeJason ArmsteadWide receiverOle MissRoy AttiehDefensive TackleKent StatePhil BraxtonWide receiverWest VirginiaDante BrownRunning backMemphisNashville DyerCornerbackKent StateJack FaduleTackleHarvardRashad FaisonSafetySouth CarolinaCasey PoppingaTight endUtah StateDan RumishekDefensive endMichiganJonathan RuffinKickerCincinnatiLeonard ScottWide receiverTennesseeRussell StuvaintsSafetyYoungstown State Personnel 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers #08214A white #EEC607 Chairman – Daniel M. Rooney President – Arthur J. Rooney II Vice president – John R. McGinley Vice president – Arthur J. Rooney, Jr. Administration advisor – Chuck Noll Director of business – Mark Hart Business accounting coordinator – Jim Ellenberger Human relations/office coordinator – Geraldine Glenn Business operations – Omar Khan Accounting manager – Jodie Spagnolli Communications coordinator – Ron Wahl Public relations/media manager – David Lockett Website/network administrator – Scott Phelps Marketing Director of marketing – Tony Quatrini Marketing coordinator – Rick Giugliano Client services administrator – Amy Corbett Marketing manager – John Wodarek Producer/broadcasting manager – Rick Fairbend Marketing/community relations manager – Lynne Molyneaux Marketing assistant – John Simpson Marketing assistant – Mike Marchinsky Ticket operations Ticket manager – Ben Lentz Season ticket assistant – Libby Patcher Football operations Director of football operations – Kevin Colbert College scouting coordinator – Ron Hughes Pro scouting coordinator – Doug Whaley Pro/college scout – Phil Kreidler College scout – Mark Gorscak College scout – Bob Lane College scout – Bruce McNorton College scout – Dan Rooney College scout – Bill Nunn BLESTO Scout – Kelvin Fisher Head coach – Bill Cowher Offensive coordinator – Mike Mularkey Quarterbacks – Tom Clements Running backs – Dick Hoak Wide receivers – Kenny Jackson Tight ends – Ken Whisenhunt Offensive line – Russ Grimm Offensive assistant – Mike Miller Defensive coordinator – Tim Lewis Defensive line – John Mitchell Linebackers – Keith Butler Defensive backs – Darren Perry Defensive assistant – Lou Spanos Special teams – Kevin Spencer Conditioning coach – Chet Fuhrman Medical staff Ophthalmologist – Dr. Randy Beatty Physician, orthopedic – Dr. James P. Bradley Neurological surgeon – Dr. Joseph Maroon Physician, M.D. – Dr. Richard Rydze Physician, consultant – Dr. Abraham J. Twerski Physician, M.D. – Dr. Anthony P. Yates Training staff Head athletic trainer – John Norwig Assistant athletic trainer – Ryan Grove Assistant athletic trainer – Ariko Iso Football staff Player development coordinator – Anthony Griggs Equipment manager – Rodgers Freyvogel Field manager – Rich Baker Field/equipment assistant – Kalvin Jones Video coordinator – Bob McCartney Video assistant – Andy Lizanich Video assistant – Rob Brakel Photographers – Mike Fabus 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide Notable additions include Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor. Roster 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers 53 5 5 16 Charlie Batch  8 Tommy Maddox  2 Brian St. Pierre y 36 Jerome Bettis 46 Dante Brown y 22 Dee Brown American football 35 Dan Kreider FB 21 Amos Zereoué 80 Plaxico Burress 83 Chris Doering 89 Lee Mays 81 Freddie Milons 82 Antwaan Randle El PR/KR 86 Hines Ward 87 Mark Bruener 48 Matt Cushing 85 Jay Riemersma 84 Jerame Tuman 72 Barrett Brooks T 66 Alan Faneca G/T 71 Todd Fordham T 64 Jeff Hartings C 56 Chukky Okobi C/G 79 Oliver Ross offensive lineman T 73 Kendall Simmons G 68 Keydrick Vincent G 94 Rodney Bailey DE 96 Kendrick Clancy NT 98 Casey Hampton NT 76 Chris Hoke NT 91 Aaron Smith American football DE 67 Kimo von Oelhoffen DE 97 Kendrell Bell ILB 51 James Farrior ILB 50 Larry Foote ILB 92 Jason Gildon OLB 53 Clark Haggans OLB 95 Alonzo Jackson y OLB 57 Clint Kriewaldt ILB 55 Joey Porter OLB 27 Brent Alexander FS 28 Chris Hope American football FS 29 Chidi Iwuoma CB 31 Mike Logan American football SS 43 Troy Polamalu y SS 33 Russell Stuvaints y FS 24 Ike Taylor y CB 26 Deshea Townsend CB 25 B. J. Tucker y CB 20 Dewayne Washington CB  4 Josh Miller punter P  3 Jeff Reed American football K 54 Mike Schneck LS 34 Verron Haynes RB IR 99 Brett Keisel DE IR 78 Mathias Nkwenti T IR 30 Chad Scott CB IR 77 Marvel Smith T IR 60 Josh Burr American football T 61 Morgan Pears y T 62 Jimond Pugh y C 65 David Upchurch y DE 49 J. T. Wall y FB 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/2003_roster.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com 2014-12-27 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/2004_roster.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com 2014-12-27 Preseason Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site NFL Recap 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 FieldSummary 2 September 14 at Kansas City Chiefs L 20–41 1–1 Arrowhead StadiumSummary 3 September 21 at Cincinnati Bengals W 17–10 2–1 Paul Brown StadiumSummary 4 September 28 Tennessee Titans L 13–30 2–2 Heinz FieldSummary 5 October 5 Cleveland Browns L 13–33 2–3 Heinz FieldSummary 6 October 12 at Denver Broncos L 14–17 2–4 Invesco Field at Mile HighSummary 7 Bye 8 October 26 St. Louis Rams L 21–33 2–5 Heinz FieldSummary 9 November 2 at Seattle Seahawks L 16–23 2–6 Seahawks StadiumSummary 10 November 9 Arizona Cardinals W 28–15 3–6 Heinz FieldSummary 11 November 17 at San Francisco 49ers L 14–30 3–7 San Francisco StadiumSummary 12 November 23 at Cleveland Browns W 13–6 4–7 Cleveland Browns StadiumSummary 13 November 30 Cincinnati Bengals L 20–24 4–8 Heinz FieldSummary 14 December 7 Oakland Raiders W 27–7 5–8 Heinz FieldSummary 15 December 14 at New York Jets L 0–6 5–9 Giants StadiumSummary 16 December 21 San Diego Chargers W 40–24 6–9 Heinz FieldSummary 17 December 28 at Baltimore Ravens L 10–13 (OT) 6–10 M&T Bank StadiumSummary Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 1 2003 Baltimore Ravens season Ravens–Steelers rivalry Pittsburgh Steelers 2003 2; text-align:center collapsed Week One: Baltimore Ravens (0–0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (0–0) September 7 1:00 p.m. EDT Ravens 0 0 7 8 Steelers 6 7 14 7 Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 63,157 Mostly cloudy • 75 F C • Wind 3 mph km/h knot Ron Winter CBS Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots Pro-Football-Reference.com Ravens Kyle Boller22/43, 152 Yds, TD, INT Jamal Lewis15 Rush, 69 Yds Todd Heap6 Rec, 55 Yds Steelers Tommy Maddox21/29, 260 Yds, 3 TD Amos Zereoue15 Rush, 56 Yds, TD Plaxico Burress6 Rec, 116 Yds Pittsburgh won their season opener for the first time since 1999.https://archive.today/20130629092950/http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=230907023 ESPN.com. Retrieved April 23, 2013. BAL PIT collapsed 1 10:19 Steelers 10 69 4:41 FG 29 Jeff Reed 0 3 1 4:01 Steelers 8 15 3:21 FG 31 Jeff Reed 0 6 2 2:57 Steelers 8 90 4:08 RecTD Hines Ward Tommy Maddox 4 good Jeff Reed run/pass good/failed/incomplete 0 13 3 9:49 Steelers 8 60 3:23 RecTD Jay Riemersma Tommy Maddox 20 good Jeff Reed run/pass good/failed/incomplete 0 20 3 3:54 Steelers 1 28 0:07 RecTD Hines Ward Tommy Maddox 28 good Jeff Reed run/pass good/failed/incomplete 0 27 3 1:56 Ravens 3 80 1:58 RushTD Jamal Lewis 14 good Matt Stover run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 27 4 9:01 Steelers 9 48 3:59 RushTD Amos Zereoue 8 good Jeff Reed run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 34 4 4:22 Ravens 3 2 1:02 RecTD Travis Taylor Kyle Boller 5 pass good 15 34 15 34 Week 2 Steelers 17 3 0 0 Chiefs 7 20 7 7 September 14 Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri 1:00 p.m. EST 78,416 Larry Nemmers Kevin Harlan and Randy Cross CBS Week 3 Steelers 0 7 7 3 Bengals 0 0 3 7 September 21 Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati 1:00 p.m. EST 64,596 Walt Coleman Gus Johnson and Brent Jones CBS Week 4 Titans 0 16 7 7 Steelers 3 10 0 0 September 28 Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1:00 p.m. EST 63,244 55 F (Cloudy) Walt Anderson Gus Johnson and Brent Jones CBS Week 5 Browns 10 13 7 3 Steelers 0 10 3 0 October 5 Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 8:30 p.m. EST 64,595 46 F (Clear) Gerald Austin Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire & Suzy Kolber ESPN This was Pittsburgh's last loss at home against Cleveland until 2020. As of 2025, this is the Steelers last regular season loss at home to Cleveland. Week 6 Steelers 3 3 0 8 Broncos 0 7 0 10 October 12 Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado 4:15 p.m. EST 75,974 Mike Carey Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms, and Armen Keteyian CBS Week 8 Rams 7 10 10 6 Steelers 7 7 7 0 October 26 Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1:00 p.m. EST 62,665 59 F (Light Rain) Johnny Grier Sam Rosen & Bill Maas Fox This was the 1,000th game in Steelers history. Week 9 Steelers 0 3 3 10 Seahawks 3 3 3 14 November 2 Seahawks Stadium, Seattle 4:05 p.m. EST 66,507 Bill Leavy Dick Enberg, Dan Dierdorf, and Bonnie Bernstein CBS Week 10 Cardinals 0 3 6 6 Steelers 0 7 21 0 November 9 Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1:00 p.m. EST 59,520 41 F (Sunny) Jeff Triplette Ron Pitts & Tim Ryan, and Alby Oxenreiter Fox Week 11 Steelers 0 0 7 7 49ers 7 3 14 6 November 17 San Francisco Stadium, San Francisco 9:00 p.m. EST 67,877 Ed Hochuli Al Michaels, John Madden & Lisa Guerrero ABC Week 12 Steelers 0 10 0 3 Browns 3 3 0 0 November 23 Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio 1:00 p.m. EST 73,658 Walt Coleman Ian Eagle & Solomon Wilcots CBS 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 km from Pittsburgh.Cowher says NFL scheduling puts team in bad spot for next 2 weeks https://old.post-gazette.com/steelers/steele1112p2.asp https://web.archive.org/web/20121011223536/http://old.post-gazette.com/steelers/steele1112p2.asp dead October 11, 2012 2022-05-14 old.post-gazette.com Week 13 Bengals 7 7 0 10 Steelers 0 3 7 10 November 30 Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1:00 p.m. EST 58,797 46 F (Sunny) Bernie Kukar Don Criqui & Steve Tasker CBS Week 14 Raiders 7 0 0 0 Steelers 0 17 7 3 December 7 Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1:00 p.m. EST 53,079 30 F (Partly Cloudy) Johnny Grier Gus Johnson & Brent Jones CBS Week 15 Steelers 0 0 0 0 Jets 3 3 0 0 December 14 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1:00 p.m. EST 77,900 Terry McAulay Gus Johnson & Brent Jones CBS With the loss, the Steelers would be eliminated from playoff contention at 5-9, their first and only losing season since 1999. Week 16 Chargers 0 10 7 7 Steelers 14 7 7 12 December 21 Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 4:05 p.m. EST 52,527 37 F (Sunny) Bill Carollo Don Criqui & Steve Tasker CBS Week 17 Steelers 0 0 10 0 0 Ravens 7 0 0 3 3 December 28 M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland 8:30 p.m. EST 70,001 Walt Anderson Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire & Suzy Kolber ESPN With the loss the Steelers would finish their season at 6-10, their most recent losing season as of 2025. Standings References 30em External links 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers season at Pro Football Reference 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers season statistics at jt-sw.com Category:Pittsburgh Steelers seasons Pittsburgh Steelers Pitts