The Chicago Bears season was the franchise's 84th season in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved to a 7–9 record over its 4–12 record from 2002 under head coach Dick Jauron. The team was once again in a quarterbacking carousel with quarterbacks Kordell Stewart, Chris Chandler, and rookie Rex Grossman. In the end, head coach Dick Jauron was fired after the conclusion of the season.
Offseason Additions SubtractionsQB Kordell Stewart (Steelers) QB Jim Miller (Colts)T Aaron Gibson (Cowboys) WR Marcus Robinson (Ravens)TE Desmond Clark (Dolphins) LB Rosevelt Colvin (Patriots) G Kevin Dogins (Falcons) LB Mike Caldwell (Panthers) DT Ted Washington (Patriots)
Draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 2003 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeBrooks BarnardPunterMarylandJulius CurrySafetyMichiganJason GrossCornerbackTCUJerry SchumacherLinebackerIllinois
Stadium changes and new mascot During this season, the team returns to its original home, Soldier Field, after a year of renovations and rebuilding during the previous season; in which the home games were temporary held at Memorial Stadium in the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign. The first 2 preseason games were held at Memorial Stadium, August 9 against the Indianapolis Colts and on August 16 against the Denver Broncos. The first home game held at the newly renovated Soldier Field was the primetime game against Green Bay Packers on September 29, 2003, televised on ABC's Monday Night Football.
Also introducing this season is the team's brand new mascot Staley Da Bear. Staley was introduced during the team's home game on September 29, 2003 against the Green Bay Packers. Prior to the start of this season, Don Wachter says that he will no longer wear the team's unofficial mascot "Bearman," but he continued to appear in the team's 2004 and 2005 seasons. Staley was officially selected as a mascot for the 2004 Pro Bowl.
Broadcasting changes Beginning this season, the television broadcasts of the Bears preseason games were moved back to NBC Owned-and-operated station WMAQ-TV as part of a five-year broadcast partnership with the station and the team, these marked the return of the Bears preseason games on the station for the first time since the 1993 season and the return of the NFL games on the station for the first time since the 1997 season after the NBC network lost the rights of the American Football Conference to CBS (locally thru WBBM-TV) beginning with the 1998 season; ending its 9-year relationship with the team and WBBM-TV. the Pre-game show Bears Gameday Live and the Post-game show Bears Gamenight were also premiered on the station at the start of the regular season. Telemundo Owned-and-operated station WSNS-TV provided the spanish language broadcasts of the preseason games following the purchase of the station and the network by NBC. WBBM-AM regained their radio rights for the third season.
Staff
Roster
Schedule
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue 1 August 9 Indianapolis Colts W 20–18 1–0 Memorial Stadium 2 August 16 Denver Broncos L 10–15 1–1 Memorial Stadium 3 August 22 at Arizona Cardinals L 17–27 1–2 Sun Devil Stadium 4 August 27 at New England Patriots L 23–38 1–3 Gillette Stadium
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue 1 September 7 at San Francisco 49ers L 7–49 0–1 Candlestick Park 2 September 14 at Minnesota Vikings L 13–24 0–2 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 3 Bye 4 September 29 Green Bay Packers L 23–38 0–3 Soldier Field 5 October 5 Oakland Raiders W 24–21 1–3 Soldier Field 6 October 12 at New Orleans Saints L 13–20 1–4 Louisiana Superdome 7 October 19 at Seattle Seahawks L 17–24 1–5 Seahawks Stadium 8 October 26 Detroit Lions W 24–16 2–5 Soldier Field 9 November 2 San Diego Chargers W 20–7 3–5 Soldier Field 10 November 9 at Detroit Lions L 10–12 3–6 Ford Field 11 November 16 St. Louis Rams L 21–23 3–7 Soldier Field 12 November 23 at Denver Broncos W 19–10 4–7 Invesco Field at Mile High 13 November 30 Arizona Cardinals W 28–3 5–7 Soldier Field 14 December 7 at Green Bay Packers L 21–34 5–8 Lambeau Field 15 December 14 Minnesota Vikings W 13–10 6–8 Soldier Field 16 December 21 Washington Redskins W 27–24 7–8 Soldier Field 17 December 28 at Kansas City Chiefs L 3–31 7–9 Arrowhead Stadium
Game summaries
Week 1: at San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park in San Francisco
Scoring summary
Q1 – SF – 7:51 – Jeff Chandler 22 yd FG (SF 3–0)
Q1 – SF – 3:23 – 12 yd TD pass from Jeff Garcia to Garrison Hearst (Chandler kick) (SF 10–0)
Q2 – CHI – 12:05 – 3 yd TD pass from Kordell Stewart to Desmond Clark (Paul Edinger kick) (SF 10–7)
Q2 – SF – 6:01 – Jeff Garcia 3 yd TD run (Chandler kick) (SF 17–7)
Q2 – SF – 3:18 – 16 yd TD pass from Jeff Garcia to Tai Streets (kick failed) (SF 23–7)
Q2 – SF – 0:44 – Ahmed Plummer 68 yd interception return TD (Chandler kick) (SF 30–7)
Q2 – SF – 0:00 – Jeff Chandler 29 yd FG (SF 33–7)
Q3 – SF – 7:29 – Jeff Chandler 28 yd FG (SF 36–7)
Q3 – SF – 2:37 – Jeff Chandler 24 yd FG (SF 39–7)
Q4 – SF – 14:05 – Jeff Chandler 26 yd FG (SF 42–7)
Q4 – SF – 12:16 – Garrison Hearst 1 yd TD run (Chandler kick) (SF 49–7)
Attendance – 67,554
Week 2: at Minnesota Vikings at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Scoring summary
Q1 – MIN – 13:57 – Moe Williams 1 yd TD run (Aaron Elling kick) (MIN 7–0)
Q1 – CHI – 10:35 – Paul Edinger 42 yd FG (MIN 7–3)
Q2 – MIN – 11:18 – Aaron Elling 23 yd FG (MIN 10–3)
Q2 – MIN – 1:55 – 3 yd TD pass from Daunte Culpepper to Jim Kleinsasser (Elling kick) (MIN 17–3)
Q2 – CHI – 0:39 – 14 yd TD pass from Kordell Stewart to David Terrell (Edinger kick) (MIN 17–10)
Q3 – CHI – 4:43 – Paul Edinger 43 yd FG (MIN 17–13)
Q4 – MIN – 2:56 – 11 yd TD pass from Daunte Culpepper to Jim Kleinsasser (Elling kick) (MIN 24–13)
Attendance – 64,144
Week 3: Bye
Week 4: vs Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field in Chicago
Scoring summary
Q1 – GB – 11:55 – Ahman Green 60 yd TD run (Ryan Longwell kick) (GB 7–0)
Q1 – GB – 2:32 – Ryan Longwell 34 yd FG (GB 10–0)
Q1 – GB – 0:19 – Ahman Green 6 yd TD run (Longwell kick) (GB 17–0)
Q2 – CHI – 9:07 – Paul Edinger 31 yd FG (GB 17–3)
Q2 – GB – 3:51 – 14 yd TD pass from Brett Favre to William Henderson (Longwell kick) (GB 24–3)
Q2 – CHI – 0:48 – Paul Edinger 38 yd FG (GB 24–6)
Q3 – CHI – 0:02 – Paul Edinger 41 yd FG (GB 24–9)
Q4 – CHI – 12:36 – Anthony Thomas 67 yd TD run (Edinger kick) (GB 24–16)
Q4 – GB – 8:51 – 9 yd TD pass from Brett Favre to Javon Walker (Longwell kick) (GB 31–16)
Q4 – GB – 4:21 – 1 yd TD pass from Brett Favre to Bubba Franks (Longwell kick) (GB 38–16)
Q4 – CHI – 1:28 – Kordell Stewart 1 yd TD run (Edinger kick) (GB 38–23)
Attendance – 61,500
Week 5: vs Oakland Raiders at Soldier Field in Chicago
Scoring summary
Q1 – OAK – 6:10 – Zack Crockett 1 yd TD run (kick failed) (OAK 6–0)
Q2 – CHI – 11:05 – Paul Edinger 35 yd FG (OAK 6–3)
Q2 – OAK – 7:35 – Sebastian Janikowski 36 yd FG (OAK 9–3)
Q2 – OAK – 6:19 – Sebastian Janikowski 39 yd FG (OAK 12–3)
Q2 – OAK – 1:51 – Sebastian Janikowski 32 yd FG (OAK 15–3)
Q2 – OAK – 0:00 – Sebastian Janikowski 33 yd FG (OAK 18–3)
Q3 – CHI – 5:37 – Paul Edinger 50 yd FG (OAK 18–6)
Q4 – CHI – 14:53 – 14 yd TD pass from Kordell Stewart to Marty Booker (Edinger kick) (OAK 18–13)
Q4 – CHI – 6:58 – Stanley Pritchett 8 yd TD run (Kordell Stewart 2 pt conversion run) (CHI 21–18)
Q4 – OAK – 3:30 – Sebastian Janikowski 49 yd FG (21–21)
Q4 – CHI – 0:00 – Paul Edinger 48 yd FG (CHI 24–21)
Attendance – 61,500
Week 6: at New Orleans Saints at Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana
Scoring summary
Q1 – NO – 7:53 – John Carney 50 yd FG (NO 3-0)
Q2 – CHI – 7:35 – Paul Edinger 28 yd FG (3–3)
Q2 – NO – 0:00 – John Carney 30 yd FG (NO 6-3)
Q3 – NO – 12:01 – 9 yd TD pass from Aaron Brooks to Ernie Conwell (Carney kick) (NO 13-3)
Q4 – CHI – 13:18 – Paul Edinger 31 yd FG (NO 13-6)
Q4 – NO – 7:18 – 6 yd TD pass from Aaron Brooks to Joe Horn (Carney kick) (NO 20-6)
Q4 – CHI – 2:10 – 4 yd TD pass from Kordell Stewart to Dez White (Edinger kick) (NO 20-13)
Attendance – 68,390
Week 7: at Seattle Seahawks at Seahawks Stadium in Seattle
Scoring summary
Q1 – CHI – 3:08 – Paul Edinger 50 yd FG (CHI 3–0)
Q2 – SEA – 12:41 – Shaun Alexander 1 yd TD run (Josh Brown kick) (SEA 7–3)
Q2 – SEA – 8:47 – 25 yd TD pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Bobby Engram (Brown kick) (SEA 14–3)
Q2 – CHI – 1:49 – Paul Edinger 35 yd FG (SEA 14–6)
Q3 – SEA – 5:37 – Josh Brown 45 yd FG (SEA 17–6)
Q4 – CHI – 13:28 – Paul Edinger 40 yd FG (SEA 17–9)
Q4 – CHI – 4:12 – Stanley Pritchett 1 yd TD run (Chris Chandler 2 pt conversion run) (17–17)
Q4 – SEA – 0:58 – Shaun Alexander 25 yd TD run (Brown kick) (SEA 24–17)
Attendance – 65,671
Week 8: vs Detroit Lions at Soldier Field in Chicago
Scoring summary
Q2 – CHI – 7:22 – 22 yd TD pass from Chris Chandler to Justin Gage (Paul Edinger kick) (CHI 7–0)
Q2 – CHI – 0:00 – Paul Edinger 37 yd FG (CHI 10–0)
Q3 – CHI – 14:46 – Jerry Azumah 89 yd kickoff return TD (Edinger kick) (CHI 17–0)
Q3 – CHI – 5:23 – Brock Forsey 8 yd TD run (Edinger kick) (CHI 24–0)
Q3 – DET – 5:10 – Reggie Swinton 96 yd kickoff return TD (2 pt conversion pass from Joey Harrington to Az-Zahir Hakim) (CHI 24–8)
Q4 – DET – 0:53 – 3 yd TD pass from Joey Harrington to Mikhael Ricks (2 pt conversion pass from Joey Harrington to Scotty Anderson) (CHI 24–16)
Attendance – 61,428
Week 9: vs San Diego Chargers at Soldier Field in Chicago
Scoring summary
Q1 – CHI – 8:33 – Paul Edinger 38 yd FG (CHI 3–0)
Q2 – CHI – 9:27 – Anthony Thomas 1 yd TD run (Edinger kick) CHI 10–0)
Q3 – CHI – 4:27 – Paul Edinger 22 yd FG (CHI 13–0)
Q4 – SD – 9:13 – LaDainian Tomlinson 3 yd TD run (Steve Christie kick) (CHI 13–7)
Q4 – CHI – 0:21 – Anthony Thomas 1 yd TD run (Edinger kick) (CHI 20–7)
Attendance – 61,500
Week 10: at Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan
Scoring summary
Q1 – DET – 1:53 – Jason Hanson 24 yd FG (DET 3–0)
Q2 – CHI – 11:28 – Paul Edinger 43 yd FG (3–3)
Q2 – DET – 2:40 – Jason Hanson 25 yd FG (DET 6–3)
Q3 – CHI – 7:52 – 12 yd TD pass from Chris Chandler to Desmond Clark (Edinger kick) (CHI 10–6)
Q3 – DET – 2:49 – Jason Hanson 30 yd FG (CHI 10–9)
Q4 – DET – 0:39 – Jason Hanson 48 yd FG (DET 12–10)
Attendance – 61,492
Week 11: vs St. Louis Rams at Soldier Field in Chicago
Scoring summary
Q1 – STL – 1:14 – Jeff Wilkins 41 yd FG (STL 3–0)
Q2 – CHI – 10:25 – R. W. McQuarters 60 yd punt return TD (Paul Edinger kick (CHI 7–3)
Q2 – CHI – 3:04 – Anthony Thomas 1 yd TD run (Edinger kick) (CHI 14–3)
Q3 – STL – 3:48 – 4 yd TD pass from Marc Bulger to Torry Holt (Wilkins kick) (CHI 14–10)
Q4 – STL – 12:46 – 4 yd TD pass from Marc Bulger to Brandon Manumaleuna (Wilkins kick) (STL 17–14)
Q4 – STL – 7:21 – Jeff Wilkins 44 yd FG (STL 20–14)
Q4 – CHI – 5:58 – 11 yd TD pass from Chris Chandler to Dez White (Edinger kick) (CHI 21–20)
Q4 – STL – 0:38 – Jeff Wilkins 31 yd FG (STL 23–21)
Attendance – 61,820
Week 12: at Denver Broncos at INVESCO Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado
Scoring summary
Q1 – DEN – 3:59 – 1 yd TD pass from Jake Plummer to Rod Smith (Jason Elam kick) (DEN 7–0)
Q1 – CHI – 1:31 – Paul Edinger 33 yd FG (DEN 7–3)
Q2 – CHI – 1:57 – Paul Edinger 23 yd FG (DEN 7–6)
Q2 – CHI – 0:03 – Paul Edinger 54 yd FG (CHI 9–7)
Q3 – DEN – 11:41 – Jason Elam 25 yd FG (DEN 10–9)
Q4 – CHI – 12:45 – Kordell Stewart 1 yd TD run (Edinger kick) (CHI 16–10)
Q4 – CHI – 8:46 – Paul Edinger 47 yd FG (CHI 19–10)
Attendance – 75,540
Week 13: vs Arizona Cardinals at Soldier Field in Chicago
Scoring summary Q1 – CHI – 8:50 – 2 yd TD pass from Kordell Stewart to Marty Booker (Paul Edinger kick) (CHI 7–0)
Q1 – ARZ – 2:37 – Neil Rackers 32 yd FG (CHI 7–3)
Q4 – CHI – 13:55 – 10 yd TD pass from Kordell Stewart to Dez White (Edinger kick) (CHI 14–3)
Q4 – CHI – 7:46 – Kordell Stewart 8 yd TD run (Edinger kick) (CHI 21–3)
Q4 – CHI – 3:33 – Brock Forsey 9 yd TD run (Edinger kick) (CHI 28–3)