LB Derrick Brooks (2nd team) DE Simeon Rice (2nd team)
Team MVP
WR Keenan McCardell
← 2002
Buccaneers seasons
2004 →
The 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 28th season in the National Football League (NFL), the 6th playing their home games at Raymond James Stadium, and the 2nd under head coach Jon Gruden. The season began with the team trying to defend its Super Bowl XXXVII title of 2002. Despite high expectations, several last-minute losses led to locker room tension and front-office struggles. The Buccaneers finished 7–9, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1998 and finished with a losing record for the first time since 1996.
The season started out on a positive note, as the Buccaneers defeated their bitter rival from the three previous postseasons, the Philadelphia Eagles. It was the first game in Lincoln Financial Field, and with a 17–0 shutout victory, it appeared Tampa Bay had picked up right where they had left off the season before. Their home opener against the Carolina Panthers in week 2 was a disappointment, however, as special teams woes thwarted what would have been a game-winning touchdown as time expired. The go-ahead extra point was blocked, and Tampa Bay lost in overtime. The worst was yet to come, however, in week 5. The team blew a 35–14 lead in the final four minutes and lost to the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football, the night that former coach Tony Dungy returned to Tampa Bay. The team began to unravel, both on the field and off the field, with injuries piling up, and locker room tensions mounting.[1]
Combined with the Oakland Raiders' dismal 4–12 performance, neither Super Bowl team reached the playoffs that year. This situation would not happen again until the 2016 season when both the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers, the two Super Bowl participants for the 2015 season, would miss the playoffs. This was the most recent season that a Super Bowl champion had a losing record following the Super Bowl until the Los Angeles Rams in 2022.
^"Two Good Years". www.buccaneers.com. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
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