2003 Tennessee Titans season
At 12–4[1] the Titans posted the 15th season with at least ten wins in the franchise's history dating to their Houston Oilers days.
Mike Vanderjagt kicked four field goals and Nick Harper snatched a Steve McNair INT and ran it back 75 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
Two Titans field goals (by Craig Hentrich and Gary Anderson) in the first were followed by a 58-yard Tom Brady touchdown to Troy Brown.
Adam Vinatieri missed two field goal tries while Anderson also missed, leaving the halftime score 13–7 Tennessee, but from the start of the second half the two teams erupted as the Patriots behind 153 rushing yards by Antowain Smith and reserve back Mike Cloud scored on all five second-half possessions.
Jacksonville was limited to a Seth Marler field goal in the fourth as Byron Leftwich was sacked six times and threw two picks.
In their first trip to the Georgia Dome since Super Bowl XXXIV the Titans surrendered 21 first-quarter points on an Allen Rossum punt return, a T. J. Duckett rushing score, and a Doug Johnson throw caught by Warrick Dunn at the Falcons 20 and run in for an 86-yard touchdown.
But in the second the Falcons dropped a punt at their five-yard line and the Titans recovered; McNair then rifled a touchdown to Frank Wycheck, but had to leave the game with a strained calf.
Five Mike Vanderjagt field goals helped the Colts build a 29–13 fourth-quarter lead, but the Titans stormed back with McNair touchdowns to Robert Holcombe and Derrick Mason; Mason's score came with 2:52 to go in regulation, but a two-point conversion was stopped when the Colts swatted down a McNair throw.
Drew Bledsoe led the Bills down the field and threw a six-yard touchdown strike to Mark Campbell with 24 seconds to go in regulation, but the two-point try was dropped in the endzone, and the ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Titans, ending a 28–26 Tennessee win.
McNair's final start of the regular season turned into a hard-fought back-and-forth affair as the Texans strove for their first win over the team that left Houston after 1996.
The Titans limited Jamal Lewis to 35 rushing yards (the entire Ravens squad managed just 54) and built a 17–10 fourth quarter lead before Wright tied the game with a 35-yard score to Todd Heap with 4:30 left in regulation.
A 41-yard Tom Brady touchdown to Bethel Johnson was answered with a Titans drive ending in a 5-yard Chris Brown rushing score.
at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland In a defensive struggle, Gary Anderson kicked the winning 46-yard field goal for the Titans with 29 seconds left.
The winning kick was set up after a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Ravens offensive lineman Orlando Brown Sr. forced Baltimore to punt and enabled Tennessee to start its final drive from its own 37-yard line.
Meanwhile, the Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, the league's regular season rushing leader, was limited to 35 yards on 14 carries.
The Ravens were forced to punt on their ensuing drive, but three plays later, safety Ed Reed tipped a pass from McNair into the arms of cornerback Will Demps, who returned it 56 yards for a touchdown.
Early in the second quarter, a 15-yard punt return from Titans receiver Derrick Mason gave his team the ball at the Ravens 35-yard line.
After an exchange of punts, Ravens quarterback Anthony Wright completed four passes for 56 yards and rushed for 11, setting up a 43-yard field goal by Matt Stover giving Baltimore a 10–7 halftime lead.
Then in the fourth quarter, Tennessee defense back Samari Rolle intercepted a pass from Wright at the Ravens 30-yard line, setting up a 45-yard field goal from Anderson.
