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2003 NFL season
Regular season
Duration	September 4 – December 28, 2003
Playoffs
Start date	January 3, 2004
AFC Champions	New England Patriots
NFC Champions	Carolina Panthers
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Date	February 1, 2004
Site	Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas
Champions	New England Patriots
Pro Bowl
Date	February 8, 2004
Site	Aloha Stadium
	← 2002; NFL seasons; 2004 →;

Patriots

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Bengals

Ravens

Steelers

Browns

Colts

Titans

Jaguars

Texans

Broncos

Chiefs

Raiders

Chargers

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AFC teams: West, North, South, East

Cowboys

Giants

Eagles

Redskins

Bears

Lions

Packers

Vikings

Falcons

Panthers

Saints

Buccaneers

Cardinals

Rams

Seahawks

49ers

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NFC teams: West, North, South, East

The 2003 NFL season was the 84th regular season of the National Football League (NFL).

Regular-season play was held from September 4, 2003, to December 28, 2003. Due to damage caused by the Cedar Fire, Qualcomm Stadium was used as an emergency shelter, and thus the Miami Dolphins–San Diego Chargers regular-season match on October 27 was instead played at Sun Devil Stadium, the home field of the Arizona Cardinals. This was the first season in NFL history where every team won at least 4 games.

The playoffs began on January 3, 2004. The NFL title was won by the New England Patriots when they defeated the Carolina Panthers, in Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, on February 1.

Draft

The 2003 NFL draft was held from April 26 to 27, 2003, at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, the Cincinnati Bengals selected quarterback Carson Palmer from the University of Southern California.

Referee changes

Dick Hantak and Bob McElwee retired in the 2003 off-season. Hantak joined the league as a back judge (the position title was changed to field judge in 1998) in 1978, and was assigned Super Bowl XVII in that position. He was promoted to referee in 1986, working Super Bowl XXVII. McElwee joined the NFL in 1976 as a line judge, and became a referee in 1980. He was the referee for three Super Bowls: XXII, XXVIII, and XXXIV. Walt Anderson and Pete Morelli were promoted to referee to replace Hantak and McElwee.

Major rule changes

If an onside kick inside the final five minutes of the game does not go 10 yards, goes out of bounds, or is touched illegally, the receiving team will have the option of accepting the penalty and getting the ball immediately. Previously, the kicking team was penalized, but had another chance to kick again from five yards back.
League officials encouraged networks to immediately cut to a commercial break if an instant replay challenge review was initiated. Previously networks were generally not permitted to utilize those game stoppages for their prescribed commercial periods.^[1]

2003 deaths

John Butler: A former General Manager with the Buffalo Bills, whose team qualified for Super Bowl XXVIII and the San Diego Chargers,^[2] he died of lymphoma on April 11, 2003.
David Woodley: Having played for the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII, Woodley died from complications due to kidney and liver failure on May 4, 2003.^[3] Twenty years after Super Bowl XVII, he became the youngest Super Bowl starting quarterback to die, until the death of Super Bowl XXXIV starter Steve McNair at age 36 in 2009. Woodley was buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Shreveport, alongside his parents.

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Sid Gillman: A former head coach and general manager with the San Diego Chargers, Gillman died in his sleep on January 3, 2003, at the age of 91.^[4] He was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Final regular season standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽¹⁾ New England Patriots	14	2	0	.875	5–1	11–1	348	238	W12
Miami Dolphins	10	6	0	.625	4–2	7–5	311	261	W2
Buffalo Bills	6	10	0	.375	2–4	4–8	243	279	L3
New York Jets	6	10	0	.375	1–5	6–6	283	299	L2

AFC North
view talk edit	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

AFC South
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽³⁾ Indianapolis Colts	12	4	0	.750	5–1	9–3	447	336	W1
⁽⁵⁾ Tennessee Titans	12	4	0	.750	4–2	8–4	435	324	W3
Jacksonville Jaguars	5	11	0	.313	2–4	3–9	276	331	L1
Houston Texans	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	255	380	L4

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽²⁾ Kansas City Chiefs	13	3	0	.813	5–1	10–2	484	332	W1
⁽⁶⁾ Denver Broncos	10	6	0	.625	5–1	9–3	381	301	L1
Oakland Raiders	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	270	379	L2
San Diego Chargers	4	12	0	.250	1–5	2–10	313	441	W1

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽¹⁾ Philadelphia Eagles	12	4	0	.750	5–1	9–3	374	287	W1
⁽⁶⁾ Dallas Cowboys	10	6	0	.625	5–1	8–4	289	260	L1
Washington Redskins	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	287	372	L3
New York Giants	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	243	387	L8

NFC North
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽⁴⁾ Green Bay Packers	10	6	0	.625	4–2	7–5	442	307	W4
Minnesota Vikings	9	7	0	.563	4–2	7–5	416	353	L1
Chicago Bears	7	9	0	.438	2–4	4–8	283	346	L1
Detroit Lions	5	11	0	.313	2–4	4–8	270	379	W1

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

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽²⁾ St. Louis Rams	12	4	0	.750	4–2	8–4	447	328	L1
⁽⁵⁾ Seattle Seahawks	10	6	0	.625	5–1	8–4	404	327	W2
San Francisco 49ers	7	9	0	.438	2–4	6–6	384	337	L1
Arizona Cardinals	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	225	452	W1

Conference standings

AFC^[5] view talk edit
#	Team	Division	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	SOS	SOV	STK
Division leaders
1	New England Patriots	East	14	2	0	.875	5–1	11–1	.484	.492	W12
2	Kansas City Chiefs	West	13	3	0	.813	5–1	10–2	.418	.385	W1
3^[a]	Indianapolis Colts	South	12	4	0	.750	5–1	9–3	.492	.448	W1
4	Baltimore Ravens	North	10	6	0	.625	4–2	7–5	.457	.400	W2
Wild cards
5^[a]	Tennessee Titans	South	12	4	0	.750	4–2	8–4	.473	.401	W3
6^[b]	Denver Broncos	West	10	6	0	.625	5–1	9–3	.500	.406	L1
Did not qualify for the postseason
7^[b]	Miami Dolphins	East	10	6	0	.625	4–2	7–5	.512	.388	W2
8	Cincinnati Bengals	North	8	8	0	.500	3–3	6–6	.457	.469	L2
9^[c]	Pittsburgh Steelers	North	6	10	0	.375	3–3	5–7	.500	.365	L1
10^[c]^[d]	Buffalo Bills	East	6	10	0	.375	2–4	4–8	.570	.438	L3
11^[d]	New York Jets	East	6	10	0	.375	1–5	6–6	.527	.396	L2
12^[e]^[f]	Jacksonville Jaguars	South	5	11	0	.313	2–4	3–9	.543	.453	L1
13^[e]^[g]	Cleveland Browns	North	5	11	0	.313	2–4	3–9	.539	.363	W1
14^[f]^[g]	Houston Texans	South	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	.570	.463	L4
15^[h]	Oakland Raiders	West	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	.516	.484	L2
16	San Diego Chargers	West	4	12	0	.250	1–5	2–10	.504	.359	W1
Tiebreakers^[i]
^ ^a ^b Indianapolis finished ahead of Tennessee based upon head-to-head sweep. ^ ^a ^b Denver finished as the second Wild Card instead of Miami based upon better conference record. ^ ^a ^b Pittsburgh finished ahead of Buffalo based upon conference win percentage. Division tiebreak was initially used to eliminate New York Jets. ^ ^a ^b Buffalo finished ahead of New York Jets based upon better division record. ^ ^a ^b Jacksonville finished ahead of Cleveland based upon better record against common opponents (Jacksonville was 2–3 against Cleveland’s 0–5 versus New England, Indianapolis, Baltimore and San Diego). Division tiebreaker was initially used to eliminate Houston. ^ ^a ^b Jacksonville finished ahead of Houston based upon better conference record. ^ ^a ^b Cleveland finished ahead of Houston based upon better record against common opponents (Cleveland was 1–4 against Houston‘s 0–5 versus New England, Kansas City, Indianapolis and Cincinnati.) ^ Oakland finished ahead of San Diego based upon conference record ^ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.

NFC^[5] view talk edit
#	Team	Division	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	SOS	SOV	STK
Division leaders
1^[a]	Philadelphia Eagles	East	12	4	0	.750	5–1	9–3	.477	.438	W1
2^[a]	St. Louis Rams	West	12	4	0	.750	4–2	8–4	.434	.443	L1
3	Carolina Panthers	South	11	5	0	.688	5–1	9–3	.445	.398	W3
4	Green Bay Packers	North	10	6	0	.625	4–2	7–5	.488	.438	W4
Wild cards
5^[b]	Seattle Seahawks	West	10	6	0	.625	5–1	8–4	.465	.406	W2
6^[b]	Dallas Cowboys	East	10	6	0	.625	5–1	8–4	.461	.388	L1
Did not qualify for the postseason
7	Minnesota Vikings	North	9	7	0	.563	4–2	7–5	.457	.500	L1
8	New Orleans Saints	South	8	8	0	.500	3–3	7–5	.500	.375	W1
9^[c]^[d]	San Francisco 49ers	West	7	9	0	.438	2–4	6–6	.512	.473	L1
10^[c]^[d]	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	South	7	9	0	.438	2–4	6–6	.508	.438	L2
11^[d]	Chicago Bears	North	7	9	0	.438	2–4	4–8	.488	.366	L1
12^[e]^[f]	Atlanta Falcons	South	5	11	0	.313	2–4	4–8	.539	.463	W2
13^[e]^[f]	Detroit Lions	North	5	11	0	.313	2–4	4–8	.535	.463	W1
14^[f]	Washington Redskins	East	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	.531	.488	L3
15^[g]	New York Giants	East	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	.555	.500	L8
16^[g]	Arizona Cardinals	West	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	.543	.531	W1
Tiebreakers^[h]
^ ^a ^b Philadelphia was #1 NFC seed ahead of St. Louis based upon better conference record. ^ ^a ^b Seattle was #5 NFC seed ahead of Dallas based upon strength of victory. ^ ^a ^b San Francisco finished ahead of Tampa Bay based upon head-to-head victory. Conference record tiebreak was used to eliminate Chicago. ^ ^a ^b ^c San Francisco and Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago by virtue of better conference record. ^ ^a ^b Atlanta finished ahead of Detroit based upon better win percentage against common opponents (Atlanta were 2–3 against Detroit’s 1–4 versus St. Louis, Carolina, Dallas and Minnesota). Conference record tiebreak was used to eliminate Washington. ^ ^a ^b ^c Atlanta and Detroit finished ahead of Washington by virtue of better conference record. ^ ^a ^b New York Giants finished ahead of Arizona based upon better win percentage against common opponents (New York Giants were 2–3 against Arizona’s 1–4 versus St. Louis, Carolina, Dallas and Minnesota). ^ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.

Playoffs

Within each conference, the four division winners and the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5–6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth-seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference received a first-round bye. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst-surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5). The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.^[6]

Seed	AFC	NFC
Playoff seeds
1	New England Patriots (East winner)	Philadelphia Eagles (East winner)
2	Kansas City Chiefs (West winner)	St. Louis Rams (West winner)
3	Indianapolis Colts (South winner)	Carolina Panthers (South winner)
4	Baltimore Ravens (North winner)	Green Bay Packers (North winner)
5	Tennessee Titans (wild card)	Seattle Seahawks (wild card)
6	Denver Broncos (wild card)	Dallas Cowboys (wild card)

Bracket


Jan 3 – Bank of America Stadium			Jan 10 – Edward Jones Dome
6	Dallas	10
			3	Carolina	29**
3	Carolina	29				Jan 18 – Lincoln Financial Field
			2	St. Louis	23

			NFC
Jan 4 – Lambeau Field						3	Carolina	14
			Jan 11 – Lincoln Financial Field
						1	Philadelphia	3

5	Seattle	27				NFC Championship
			4	Green Bay	17
4	Green Bay	33*							Feb 1 – Reliant Stadium
			1	Philadelphia	20*
Wild Card playoffs
			Divisional playoffs
Jan 4 – RCA Dome									N3	Carolina	29
			Jan 11 – Arrowhead Stadium
									A1	New England	32

6	Denver	10							Super Bowl XXXVIII
			3	Indianapolis	38
3	Indianapolis	41				Jan 18 – Gillette Stadium
			2	Kansas City	31

			AFC
Jan 3 – M&T Bank Stadium						3	Indianapolis	14
			Jan 10 – Gillette Stadium
						1	New England	24

5	Tennessee	20				AFC Championship
			5	Tennessee	14
4	Baltimore	17
			1	New England	17

* Indicates OT victory

** Indicates 2OT victory

Milestones

The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:

Record	Player or team	Date/opponent	Previous record holder^[7]
Most touchdowns, season	Priest Holmes, Kansas City (27)	December 28, vs. Chicago	Marshall Faulk, St. Louis, 2000 (26)
Most rushing yards gained, game	Jamal Lewis, Baltimore (295)	September 14, vs. Cleveland	Corey Dillon, Cincinnati vs. Denver, October 22, 2000 (278)
Most consecutive field goals	Mike Vanderjagt, Indianapolis	December 28, at Houston	Gary Anderson, 1997–98 (40)
Most consecutive road games lost	Detroit Lions	December 21, vs. Carolina	Houston Oilers, 1981–84 (23)
Most consecutive games with a sack	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (69)	November 9, 2003	Dallas Cowboys (68)

Statistical leaders

Team

Points scored	Kansas City Chiefs (484)
Total yards gained	Minnesota Vikings (6,294)
Yards rushing	Baltimore Ravens (2,674)
Yards passing	Indianapolis Colts (4,179)
Fewest points allowed	New England Patriots (238)
Fewest total yards allowed	Dallas Cowboys (4,056)
Fewest rushing yards allowed	Tennessee Titans (1,295)
Fewest passing yards allowed	Dallas Cowboys (2,631)

Individual

Scoring	Jeff Wilkins, St. Louis (163 points)
Touchdowns	Priest Holmes, Kansas City (27 TDs)
Most field goals made	Jeff Wilkins, St. Louis (39 FGs)
Rushing	Jamal Lewis, Baltimore (2,066 yards)
Passing	Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (4,267 yards)
Passing touchdowns	Brett Favre, Green Bay (32 TDs)
Pass receiving	Torry Holt, St. Louis (117 catches)
Pass receiving yards	Torry Holt, St. Louis (1,696)
Pass receiving touchdowns	Randy Moss, Minnesota (17 touchdowns)
Punt returns	Dante Hall, Kansas City (16.3 average yards)
Kickoff returns	Jerry Azumah, Chicago (29.0 average yards)
Interceptions	Brian Russell, Minnesota and Tony Parrish, San Francisco (9)
Punting	Shane Lechler, Oakland (46.9 average yards)
Sacks	Michael Strahan, New York Giants (18.5)

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Peyton Manning, quarterback, Indianapolis and Steve McNair, quarterback, Tennessee Titans (As of 2022, this is the most recent season without a consensus MVP)
Coach of the Year	Bill Belichick, New England
Offensive Player of the Year	Jamal Lewis, running back, Baltimore
Defensive Player of the Year	Ray Lewis, linebacker, Baltimore
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Anquan Boldin, wide receiver, Arizona
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Terrell Suggs, linebacker, Baltimore
NFL Comeback Player of the Year	Jon Kitna, quarterback, Cincinnati
Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year	Will Shields, guard, Kansas City
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player	Tom Brady, quarterback, New England

Head coach/front office changes

Head coach

Cincinnati Bengals – Marvin Lewis replaced Dick LeBeau who was fired following the 2002 season.
Dallas Cowboys – Bill Parcells replaced Dave Campo who was fired following the 2002 season.
Detroit Lions – Steve Mariucci replaced Marty Mornhinweg who was fired following the 2002 season.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Jack Del Rio replaced Tom Coughlin who was fired following the 2002 season.
San Francisco 49ers – Dennis Erickson replaced Steve Mariucci who was fired following the 2002 season.

Front office

Arizona Cardinals – Rod Graves replaced Bob Ferguson, who was fired following the 2002 season.
Jacksonville Jaguars – James "Shack" Harris replaced former head coach Tom Coughlin, who was fired following the 2002 season.
Seattle Seahawks – Bob Ferguson replaced head coach Mike Holmgren, who agreed to step down as general manager to focus on coaching the team.
San Diego Chargers – A. J. Smith replaced John Butler, who died of lymphoma on April 11, 2003.
Atlanta Falcons – Rich McKay replaced Harold Richardson, who resigned on May 9, 2002. McKay left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to become president and general manager of the Atlanta Falcons on December 15th, 2003.

Stadium changes

Baltimore Ravens: Ravens Stadium was renamed M&T Bank Stadium after M&T Bank acquired the naming rights
Chicago Bears: The Bears moved back to a newly renovated Soldier Field after temporarily playing in 2002 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois
Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles moved from Veterans Stadium to Lincoln Financial Field, with Lincoln Financial Group acquiring the naming rights
San Francisco 49ers: After the naming rights deal with 3Com expired, the stadium was officially renamed San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point instead of its original Candlestick Park name

In addition, new turf was installed for the following teams:

Atlanta Falcons: New FieldTurf surface
Buffalo Bills: New AstroPlay home turf
New Orleans Saints: New AstroPlay home turf by mid-season
New York Giants, New York Jets: New FieldTurf surface replacing natural grass.

New uniforms

The Atlanta Falcons unveiled a new uniform design featuring red trim down the sides of both the jerseys and pants. The pants were switched from gray to white, and black pants were also introduced for selected games. Black remained the primary jersey color while a red alternate jersey was also introduced. The falcons helmet logo was redesigned to be more aggressive and closely resemble a capital "F".
The Cincinnati Bengals added new alternate black pants with their black jerseys for select home games.
The Cleveland Browns added new alternate orange pants last worn during the 1970s-early 1980s Kardiac Kids era of coach Sam Rutigliano.
The Denver Broncos introduced blue pants with orange streaks to match with their blue jerseys.
The Detroit Lions introduced a new design that added black trim to their logo and jerseys, and changed their face masks from blue to black.
The Houston Texans added red third alternate uniforms.
The Miami Dolphins added orange third alternate uniforms.
The New England Patriots added silver third alternate uniforms.
The New Orleans Saints wore gold pants full time, discontinuing using black pants with their white jerseys.
The Philadelphia Eagles added silver trim to the jersey numbers on uniforms, and black third alternate uniforms.
The San Diego Chargers wore white pants instead of blue with their white jerseys. They wore blue pants with their blue jerseys for the game vs. the Dolphins which had to be moved from San Diego to Arizona due to wildfires in southern California.
The Tennessee Titans added powder blue third alternate uniforms.

Television

This was the sixth year under the league's eight-year broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, Fox, and ESPN to televise Monday Night Football, the AFC package, the NFC package, and Sunday Night Football, respectively.

At Fox, Tony Siragusa joined Dick Stockton and Daryl Johnston on the network's #2 broadcast team in a sideline analyst role instead of the traditional sideline reporter.

Notes

^ Gaughan, Mark (March 27, 2003). "Execs Plan Only Minor Procedures". The Buffalo News. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
^ "John Butler (1946-2003)". Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
^ Bikoff, Ken (May 7, 2003). "Woodley's death sad but powerful". Pro Football Weekly. Archived from the original on July 2, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
^ Martin, Susan (January 4, 2003). "Legendary Gillman dies at 91". Buffalo News. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "2003 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
^ "NFL Playoff Procedures and Tiebreakers". Yahoo! Sports. December 31, 2006. Archived from the original on January 1, 2010.
^ "Records". 2005 NFL Record and Fact Book. NFL. 2005. ISBN 978-1-932994-36-0.

References

NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
NFL History 2001– (Last accessed October 17, 2005)
Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)

External links

[12–4-6] Indianapolis finished ahead of Tennessee based upon head-to-head sweep.

[10–6-7] Denver finished as the second Wild Card instead of Miami based upon better conference record.

[6–10a-8] Pittsburgh finished ahead of Buffalo based upon conference win percentage. Division tiebreak was initially used to eliminate New York Jets.

[6–10b-9] Buffalo finished ahead of New York Jets based upon better division record.

[5–11a-10] Jacksonville finished ahead of Cleveland based upon better record against common opponents (Jacksonville was 2–3 against Cleveland’s 0–5 versus New England, Indianapolis, Baltimore and San Diego). Division tiebreaker was initially used to eliminate Houston.

[5–11b-11] Jacksonville finished ahead of Houston based upon better conference record.

[5–11c-12] Cleveland finished ahead of Houston based upon better record against common opponents (Cleveland was 1–4 against Houston‘s 0–5 versus New England, Kansas City, Indianapolis and Cincinnati.)

[4–12-13] Oakland finished ahead of San Diego based upon conference record

[14] When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.

[12–4-15] Philadelphia was #1 NFC seed ahead of St. Louis based upon better conference record.

[10–6-16] Seattle was #5 NFC seed ahead of Dallas based upon strength of victory.

[7–9a-17] San Francisco finished ahead of Tampa Bay based upon head-to-head victory. Conference record tiebreak was used to eliminate Chicago.

[7–9b-18] San Francisco and Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago by virtue of better conference record.

[5–11a-19] Atlanta finished ahead of Detroit based upon better win percentage against common opponents (Atlanta were 2–3 against Detroit’s 1–4 versus St. Louis, Carolina, Dallas and Minnesota). Conference record tiebreak was used to eliminate Washington.

[5–11b-20] Atlanta and Detroit finished ahead of Washington by virtue of better conference record.

[4–12-21] New York Giants finished ahead of Arizona based upon better win percentage against common opponents (New York Giants were 2–3 against Arizona’s 1–4 versus St. Louis, Carolina, Dallas and Minnesota).

[22] When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.

[1] Gaughan, Mark (March 27, 2003). "Execs Plan Only Minor Procedures". The Buffalo News. Retrieved March 24, 2017.

[memorial-2] "John Butler (1946-2003)". Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2021.

[3] Bikoff, Ken (May 7, 2003). "Woodley's death sad but powerful". Pro Football Weekly. Archived from the original on July 2, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2007.

[Legendary-4] Martin, Susan (January 4, 2003). "Legendary Gillman dies at 91". Buffalo News. Retrieved January 15, 2021.

[standings-conf-NFL-5] "2003 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 13, 2024.

[yahoo-23] "NFL Playoff Procedures and Tiebreakers". Yahoo! Sports. December 31, 2006. Archived from the original on January 1, 2010.

[24] "Records". 2005 NFL Record and Fact Book. NFL. 2005. ISBN 978-1-932994-36-0.

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2003 NFL season