The 2003 Cleveland Browns season was the franchise's 55th season as a professional sports franchise and its 51st season as a member of the National Football League. The Browns were unable to replicate the success from the previous season, and they ended up winning only five games. They failed to return to the playoffs. This season would begin a stretch, which was unbroken until the 2020 season, in which the Browns would not make it to the playoffs in any capacity. Defensive Coordinator Foge Fazio was let go following their wild card loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Dave Campo was hired as Butch Davis had called Campo the day he was fired from the Dallas Cowboys as the two had previously served on Jimmy Johnson’s staff.
Offseason 2003 NFL draft
Draft order Player name Position College Round Pick 1 21 Jeff Faine Center Notre Dame 2 52 Chaun Thompson Linebacker West Texas A&M 3 84 Chris Crocker Safety Marshall 4 115 Lee Suggs Running back Virginia Tech 5 142 Ryan Pontbriand Long snapper Rice 5 152 Michael Lehan Cornerback Minnesota 6 195 Antonio Garay Defensive end Boston College
Undrafted free agents
+ 2003 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeLeigh BoddenCornerbackDuquesneEnoch DeMarGuardIndianaNate HyblQuarterbackOklahomaIsrael IdonijeDefensive endManitoba
Personnel
Roster
Regular season Schedule Apart from their AFC North division games, the Browns played against the AFC West and NFC West according to the NFL’s conference rotation, and played the Colts and Patriots based on 2002 standings in their respective AFC divisions.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance Venue Recap 1 September 7 Indianapolis Colts L 6–9 0–1 73,358 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 2 September 14 at Baltimore Ravens L 13–33 0–2 69,473 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 3 September 21 at San Francisco 49ers W 13–12 1–2 67,412 3Com Park Recap 4 September 28 Cincinnati Bengals L 14–21 1–3 73,428 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 5 October 5 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 33–13 2–3 64,595 Heinz Field Recap 6 October 12 Oakland Raiders W 13–7 3–3 73,318 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 7 October 19 San Diego Chargers L 20–26 3–4 73,238 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 8 October 26 at New England Patriots L 3–9 3–5 68,436 Gillette Stadium Recap 9 Bye 10 November 9 at Kansas City Chiefs L 20–41 3–6 78,560 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 11 November 16 Arizona Cardinals W 44–6 4–6 72,908 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 12 November 23 Pittsburgh Steelers L 6–13 4–7 73,658 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 13 November 30 at Seattle Seahawks L 7–34 4–8 64,680 Seahawks Stadium Recap 14 St. Louis Rams L 20–26 4–9 73,108 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 15 December 14 at Denver Broncos L 20–23 4–10 75,358 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 16 December 21 Baltimore Ravens L 0–35 4–11 72,548 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 17 December 28 at Cincinnati Bengals W 22–14 5–11 65,362 Paul Brown Stadium Recap Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.
Standings
Game summaries Week 2: at Baltimore
Browns linebacker Andra Davis telephoned Ravens running back Jamal Lewis before the game and stated he wanted Lewis to carry the ball at least thirty times in their upcoming matchup. “If that happens, it's going to be a career day’, Lewis replied. Lewis then erupted to 295 rushing yards, breaking the record previously held by Corey Dillon in 2000 as the Browns fell 33–13.
Week 11: vs. Arizona
References
External links 2003 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference (Profootballreference.com) 2003 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com 2003 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com at DatabaseFootball.com