2003 New York Giants season
The 2003 season was the New York Giants' 79th season in the National Football League 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. Jim Fassel was fired after the 2003 season and was replaced by Tom Coughlin in 2004.
Offseason
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
| Player | Position | College |
| Jeff Roehl | Tackle | Northwestern |
Roster
Preseason
Regular season
Schedule
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. St. Louis Rams
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
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.