2003 Arizona Cardinals season
The Arizona Cardinals season was the franchise's 105th season, 84th season in the National Football League and the 16th in Arizona. The team was unable to improve upon their previous output of 5–11, instead winning only four games, although this was not considered a disaster as before their win over the Packers there was talk the 2003 Cardinals would become the first NFL team to go 0–16. For the fifth consecutive season, the franchise failed to reach the playoffs, and based on point differential had the worst record in the only NFL season where every team won at least four games. This resulted in the Cardinals firing head coach Dave McGinnis and replacing him with Dennis Green. In his NFL debut, Anquan Boldin had 217 receiving yards.
The team recorded a notable highlight in the last game of the season. Instead of choosing to tank and secure the number 1 draft pick, the Cardinals chose to play spoiler, rallying from an 11-point deficit with minutes left in the fourth quarter and defeating the Vikings on a touchdown pass by Josh McCown to Nate Poole with zeroes on the clock to knock the Vikings out of the playoffs. The win is considered to have had a huge impact on NFL history; on top of giving the Packers the NFC North crown, it had a significant effect on the draft next year, as the win knocked the Cardinals down to the number 3 spot and gave the first pick to the Chargers. The Chargers would select Eli Manning with that pick and trade him to the Giants for fourth overall pick Phillip Rivers, while the Cardinals would select Larry Fitzgerald, who became one of the greatest players in franchise history.