The 2003 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 43rd in the National Football League. They finished second in the NFC North with a 9–7 record, but missed the playoffs for a third straight year. Despite gaining 6,294 yards of offense over their 16 games, by far the most in the league, the team managed just 416 points, the sixth-most in the NFL. The Vikings won their first six games of the 2003 season, then lost their next four games, after which they alternated wins and losses for the remainder of the season. Despite their 9–7 record, they finished second in the division behind the 10–6 Green Bay Packers. The Vikings were officially eliminated from postseason contention with a loss to the Arizona Cardinals on the last play of their final game.
Wide receiver Randy Moss led the NFL with 17 touchdown receptions, the third time in his career that he led the league in that category. After two seasons of inconsistency, rejuvenated quarterback Daunte Culpepper was voted to play in the second Pro Bowl of his career at the end of the season.
^[a] While attempting to agree a trade, the Vikings' time elapsed, allowing the Jacksonville Jaguars to move up and select QB Byron Leftwich. The Carolina Panthers were also able to select OT Jordan Gross before the Vikings ultimately selected DT Kevin Williams.[1] Williams went on to become a mainstay in the Vikings team, missing only four games in his first 10 seasons in the NFL and making six Pro Bowls.
^[b] The Vikings traded their fifth-round selection (142nd overall) to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Cleveland's 2002 seventh-round selection and defensive lineman Stalin Colinet.
^[c] The Vikings traded quarterback Todd Bouman to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for New Orleans' sixth-round selection (190th overall).
