Record 4–12 Playoff finish did not qualify Head coach Marty Schottenheimer Owner Alex Spanos | Division place 3rd AFC West General manager A.J. Smith Start date 2003 Home field Qualcomm Stadium | |
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The 2003 San Diego Chargers season began with the team trying to improve on their 8–8 record in 2002. They finished the campaign last in their division with only four wins and earned the #1 pick in the 2004 NFL draft. They played one “home” game during the season, against the Miami Dolphins, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona where the Arizona Cardinals played, due to the Cedar Fire. The team declined from the previous season, as the Chargers won four games and surrendered the second most points per game (27.6), trailing only the Arizona Cardinals during the season.
Oddly, this season marked the first time that the Chargers played the Jacksonville Jaguars, despite that team existing since 1995. This is largely due to old NFL scheduling formulas in place prior to 2002, whereby teams would not necessarily play all members of other divisions within their conference, but played them according to position within a season’s table. The Chargers played the Tennessee Titans only once during this period (in 1998) but played the Bengals five times during these years.
In preceding years, even longer gaps between two teams playing each other had occurred. For instance the Jets never opposed the Cardinals between 1979 and 1995 inclusive.