2003 New York Giants season

2003 New York Giants season
OwnerWellington Mara
General managerErnie Accorsi
Head coachJim Fassel
Home stadiumGiants Stadium
Results
Record4–12
Division place4th NFC East
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
Uniform

The 2003 season was the New York Giants' 79th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their seventh and final under head coach Jim Fassel. The team failed to duplicate their 2002 season's playoff appearance, instead only winning four games and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2001, finishing the season on an eight-game losing streak.[1] Jim Fassel was fired after the 2003 season and was replaced by Tom Coughlin in 2004.

Offseason

Additions Subtractions
FB Jim Finn (Colts) FB Charles Stackhouse (Vikings)
P Jeff Feagles (Seahawks) TE Dan Campbell (Cowboys)
RB Dorsey Levens (Eagles) CB Jason Sehorn (Rams)
RB Brian Mitchell (Eagles) G Jason Whittle (Buccaneers)
DE Keith Washington (Broncos) T Mike Rosenthal (Vikings)

NFL draft

2003 New York Giants draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 25 William Joseph  DT Miami (Fla.)
2 56 Osi Umenyiora *  DE Troy
3 91 Visanthe Shiancoe  TE Morgan State
4 123 Rod Babers  CB Texas
5 160 David Diehl *  T Illinois
6 199 Willie Ponder  WR Southeast Missouri State
6 207 Frank Walker  CB Tuskegee
6 211 David Tyree *  WR Syracuse
7 240 Charles Drake  S Michigan
7 249 Wayne Lucier  C Colorado
7 255 Kevin Walter  WR Eastern Michigan
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Undrafted free agents

2003 undrafted free agents of note
Player Position College
Jeff Roehl Tackle Northwestern

Roster

2003 New York Giants roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 13 reserve, 5 practice squad

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 August 7 at New England Patriots L 6–26 0–1 Gillette Stadium Recap
2 August 15 Carolina Panthers L 10–20 0–2 Giants Stadium Recap
3 August 23 New York Jets L 14–15 0–3 Giants Stadium Recap
4 August 28 at Baltimore Ravens W 30–24 1–3 M&T Bank Stadium Recap

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 7 St. Louis Rams W 23–13 1–0 Giants Stadium Recap
2 September 15 Dallas Cowboys L 32–35 (OT) 1–1 Giants Stadium Recap
3 September 21 at Washington Redskins W 24–21 (OT) 2–1 FedExField Recap
4 Bye
5 October 5 Miami Dolphins L 10–23 2–2 Giants Stadium Recap
6 October 12 at New England Patriots L 6–17 2–3 Gillette Stadium Recap
7 October 19 Philadelphia Eagles L 10–14 2–4 Giants Stadium Recap
8 October 26 at Minnesota Vikings W 29–17 3–4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Recap
9 November 2 at New York Jets W 31–28 (OT) 4–4 Giants Stadium Recap
10 November 9 Atlanta Falcons L 7–27 4–5 Giants Stadium Recap
11 November 16 at Philadelphia Eagles L 10–28 4–6 Lincoln Financial Field Recap
12 November 24 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 13–19 4–7 Raymond James Stadium Recap
13 November 30 Buffalo Bills L 7–24 4–8 Giants Stadium Recap
14 December 7 Washington Redskins L 7–20 4–9 Giants Stadium Recap
15 December 14 at New Orleans Saints L 7–45 4–10 Louisiana Superdome Recap
16 December 21 at Dallas Cowboys L 3–19 4–11 Texas Stadium Recap
17 December 28 Carolina Panthers L 24–37 4–12 Giants Stadium Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. St. Louis Rams

Week 1: St. Louis Rams at New York Giants – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Rams 3 3 0713
Giants 7 3 13023

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

After a 2002 season that saw the Giants defy expectations, they entered 2003 as bona fide playoff contenders, with a revamped special teams unit and a much healthier defense. The latter played a big role in their Week 1 win over the Rams, sacking two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner six times and forcing four turnovers.

It wasn't an auspicious start, as they had consecutive first-quarter drives halted on fumbles by Tiki Barber and Ike Hilliard, which led to St. Louis taking an early lead on a 39-yard Jeff Wilkins field goal. But after a 53-yard punt by Jeff Feagles pinned the Rams at their own 6-yard line, Warner had the ball stripped as he was sacked by rookie William Joseph in the end zone, and it was recovered by Kenny Holmes for a touchdown to give New York a 7–3 lead.

Warner responded by completing 5-of-6 passes on the ensuing drive, while the Rams also converted on a fake field goal pass from Dane Looker to Brandon Manumaleuna, as they drove down to New York's 5. But on second down, Warner mishandled the snap from center and fumbled it away again to Holmes. Kerry Collins then unleashed a deep pass to Amani Toomer for a 77-yard gain, which led to a short Matt Bryant field goal. Trailing 10–3, Warner's day got worse, as another drive across midfield ended with a sack and forced fumble; Collins, however, gave the ball back to the Rams with a fumble of his own, and a pair of completions to Isaac Bruce led to another Wilkins field goal, making the score 10–6 at halftime.

Midway through the third quarter, New York led 13–6 when Barber ripped off runs of 15 and 22 yards, with Brian Mitchell cashing in from the 1. Two plays later, Warner's pass was intercepted and returned 34 yards by Omar Stoutmire, which led to Bryant's third field goal that put the Giants up 23–6.

Even as Barber rushed for 110 yards in the second half, Warner tried to rally St. Louis with a 37-yard pass to Torry Holt early in the fourth quarter, and then completed seven straight passes on the Rams' next drive. But on 4th-and-12 from New York's 30-yard line, Warner's pass to Marshall Faulk was stopped short of a first down by Will Allen, and his last fourth-down attempt was batted away at the line of scrimmage by Keith Hamilton, making a triumphant return after missing the last 10 games of the previous season with a torn right Achilles tendon, as well as an offseason arrest for drug possession.

Barber paced the Giants with 146 rushing yards, while the defense averted a fourth-quarter collapse that plagued them in the 2002 playoffs by harassing the woozy Warner into fumbling six times. He would be diagnosed with a "mild to moderate" concussion that apparently happened on a hard first-quarter sack by Michael Strahan.

Week 2: vs. Dallas Cowboys

Week 2: Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Cowboys 7 13 66335
Giants 7 0 718032

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

Off to a 1–0 start, the Giants—7.5-point favorites—hosted the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, which was also a homecoming for head coach Bill Parcells, who led them to championships in Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV during his eight-year tenure but was now coaching a hated division rival.

Both teams exchanged punts to begin the game before Quincy Carter began Dallas's second drive by throwing an interception to Ralph Brown, who dashed 29 yards for a touchdown and an early 7–0 lead.

However, it was all Cowboys for the rest of the first half, as a 20-yard pass to Terry Glenn and the running of Troy Hambrick led to Carter scrambling for an 8-yard touchdown; four plays later, Tiki Barber lost a fumble, which led to a 37-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff. With three rookies starting on the offensive line, Kerry Collins was frequently under duress, as the Giants failed to cross midfield on their first six possessions. Trailing 13–7, Collins was pressured and intercepted by Alshermond Singleton, who returned it 41 yards for his own pick-six.

Late in the second quarter, New York finally crossed midfield with a 40-yard pass to a diving Amani Toomer; but on 3rd-and-20 from Dallas's 42-yard line, Collins threw into double coverage and was picked off again, this time by rookie Terence Newman. In a two-minute drill, Carter hit Glenn for a 27-yard gain to put Dallas in field goal range; but after Larry Allen lost 10 yards on a holding penalty, Cundiff's 52-yard kick drifted wide left, keeping their halftime lead at 20–7.

However, Matt Bryant's opening kickoff of the second half went out of bounds, and Carter hit downfield passes to Antonio Bryant and rookie Jason Witten to put the Cowboys in the red zone. In wet conditions, Carter had the ball slip out of his hand on his next dropback, but he got on top of it to save the possession, leading to another Cundiff field goal.

Then the Giants offense finally struck paydirt when a deep pass from Collins to Toomer on a gadget play drew a pass interference on Roy Williams in the end zone; Barber lost four yards on the next play, but Collins then found Ike Hilliard for a touchdown. On the next two drives, however, Will Allen and Shaun Williams gave up their own long pass interference plays, which led to two more Cundiff field goals as the game slid into the fourth quarter.

Now down 29–14, New York was aided by Dallas penalties on consecutive plays that extended their drive, before Collins completed passes to Toomer and Tim Carter, then hit Jeremy Shockey for a 1-yard touchdown. The defense forced a punt, and a 38-yard pass to Hilliard led to a 20-yard touchdown toss from Collins to Toomer. The Giants then had a pair of two-point conversion fails nullified by pass interferences before Barber carried it in, tying the game at 29 with just over six minutes left.

After a punt exchange, the Giants took over at their own 48-yard line with three minutes remaining. Barber and Toomer picked up first downs to put them in field goal range; then on second down with 14 seconds to go, Jim Fassel sent out Matt Bryant for a 30-yard field goal. Eight months earlier, New York's season ended in part because of a bad snap on a potential game-winning field goal; this time, the snap, hold and kick were all good, putting the Giants up 32–29.

However, for the second time on the night, Bryant's bouncing squib kick rolled out of bounds just before the goal line, giving the Cowboys the ball on their own 40 with still 11 seconds left; Carter then found Antonio Bryant in between Williams and William Peterson for a 26-yard gain and out of bounds. Cundiff then blasted a 52-yard field goal good, tying the game at 32 and leaving the Giants Stadium crowd in stunned silence.

In overtime, Dallas neared field goal range before tackles for loss by Cornelius Griffin and Kenny Holmes forced them to punt; but the Giants went three-and-out, and after Allen dropped a potential interception, a 23-yard completion from Carter to former Giant Dan Campbell led to Cundiff converting his seventh kick of the night, resulting in a devastating 35–32 New York loss.

Cundiff earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors, while the Giants saw a stirring 15-point fourth-quarter comeback collapse due to late defensive and special teams blunders, problems that had plagued them in 2002 and would persist in the coming weeks.

Week 3: at Washington Redskins

Week 3: New York Giants at Washington Redskins – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Giants 7 14 00324
Redskins 3 0 711021

at FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland

  • Date: September 21
  • Game time: 4:05 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 77 °F (25 °C)
  • Game attendance: 84,856
  • Referee: Johnny Grier
  • TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton and Daryl Johnston
Game information

Week 5: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week 5: Miami Dolphins at New York Giants – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Dolphins 0 13 01023
Giants 0 10 0010

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

Week 6: at New England Patriots

Week 6: New York Giants at New England Patriots – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Giants 3 0 036
Patriots 7 0 10017

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

  • Date: October 12
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Light rain, 55 °F (13 °C)
  • Game attendance: 68,436
  • Referee: Bill Carollo
  • TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa
Game information

Week 7: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 7: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Eagles 7 0 0714
Giants 0 3 7010

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: October 19
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Mostly cloudy, 54 °F (12 °C)
  • Game attendance: 78,883
  • Referee: Tom White
  • TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton, Cris Collinsworth, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver
Game information

Week 8: at Minnesota Vikings

Week 8: New York Giants at Minnesota Vikings – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Giants 7 6 31329
Vikings 3 7 7017

at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • Date: October 26
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: None (indoor stadium)
  • Game attendance: 64,114
  • Referee: Tony Corrente
  • TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton, Cris Collinsworth, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver
Game information

Week 9: at New York Jets

Week 9: New York Giants at New York Jets – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Giants 0 13 78331
Jets 7 0 714028

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: November 2
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Scattered clouds, 56 °F (13 °C)
  • Game attendance: 78,132
  • Referee: Johnny Grier
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kenny Albert and Brian Baldinger
Game information

Week 10: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Week 10: Atlanta Falcons at New York Giants – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Falcons 7 0 13727
Giants 0 7 007

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

Week 11: at Philadelphia Eagles

Week 11: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Giants 3 0 0710
Eagles 7 7 7728

at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Date: November 16
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Mostly cloudy, 53 °F (12 °C)
  • Game attendance: 67,867
  • Referee: Bernie Kukar
  • TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa
Game information

Week 12: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 12: New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Giants 0 3 3713
Buccaneers 0 14 3219

at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

  • Date: November 24
  • Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 70 °F (21 °C)
  • Game attendance: 65,648
  • Referee: Terry McAulay
  • TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, John Madden and Lisa Guerrero
Game information

Week 13: vs. Buffalo Bills

Week 13: Buffalo Bills at New York Giants – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 0 17 7024
Giants 0 7 007

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: November 30
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Sunny, 46 °F (8 °C)
  • Game attendance: 78,481
  • Referee: Bill Carollo
  • TV announcers (CBS): Gus Johnson and Brent Jones
Game information

Week 14: vs. Washington Redskins

Week 14: Washington Redskins at New York Giants – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Redskins 3 7 7320
Giants 7 0 007

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: December 7
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 28 °F (−2 °C)
  • Game attendance: 78,217
  • Referee: Walt Coleman
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kenny Albert, Brian Baldinger and Lou Holder
Game information

Week 15: at New Orleans Saints

Week 15: New York Giants at New Orleans Saints – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Giants 0 7 007
Saints 10 14 14745

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Game information

Week 16: at Dallas Cowboys

Week 16: New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Giants 3 0 003
Cowboys 10 3 3319

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

  • Date: December 21
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: Mostly cloudy, 63 °F (17 °C)
  • Game attendance: 64,118
  • Referee: Mike Carey
  • TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa
Game information

Week 17: vs. Carolina Panthers

Week 17: Carolina Panthers at New York Giants – game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Panthers 17 13 7037
Giants 0 10 7724

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: December 28
  • Game time: 4:05 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Clear, 48 °F (9 °C)
  • Game attendance: 78,130
  • Referee: Bernie Kukar
  • TV announcers (Fox): Curt Menefee, Tim Green and Brian Kilmeade
Game information

Standings

NFC East
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

See also

References

  1. ^ 2003 New York Giants
  2. ^ "New York Giants All-Time Draft History".