Dallas Cowboys - The Boys Are Back - The Story Of 2003

The Boys Are Back

The 2003 Dallas Cowboys returned to the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1999. Dallas rolled to a 10 and 6 regular season mark and finished second in the NFC East. In his 16th year as head coach and first with the Cowboys, Bill Parcels became the first ever to lead 4 different teams to the playoffs.

Offensively, the Cowboys were paced by Quincy Carter who became only the fifth quarterback in club history to pass for over 3,000 yards in a season. Troy Hambrick fueled the running game by bashing his way to 972 yards while Ritchie Anderson led the team in catches with 69. Wide receivers Terry Glenn, Joey Galloway and Antonio Bryant each caught passes for over 550 yards.

The key to the resurgence of the Cowboys was their punishing defense which ranked first in the entire NFL. This new "Doomsday" unit allowed the fewest yards per game and the second fewest points in the league. Dat Nguyen topped the team with 140 tackles while La´Roi Glover, Dexter Coakley and hitman Roy Williams were all named to the Pro Bowl.