2004 Buffalo Bills season

Buffalo Bills
2004 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Mike Mularkey
General manager	Tom Donahoe
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Ralph Wilson Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	3rd AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 2004 Buffalo Bills season was their 45th in the National Football League. The team improved upon their previous season's output of 6–10, finishing 9–7.[1] However, this was the fifth straight season in which the team missed the playoffs.

Buffalo needed a win in the final game of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers to qualify for the playoffs. However, despite the Steelers playing their third-stringers (which, notably, included Willie Parker, who would have his breakout performance in the game), Buffalo lost and subsequently missed the playoffs. It was the only winning season that Buffalo had in the 2000s (2000–2009) and would be the Bills' last winning season until 2014.

According to Football Outsiders, who has tracked every play in the NFL since the early 1990s, the 2004 Bills are statistically the best NFL team (in their record-keeping history) to have failed to qualify for the playoffs.[2]

The Bills set an NFL record by returning six kickoffs for touchdowns in 2004.

Their match with the Miami Dolphins in Week 6 is the only time in the NFL since 1968 that the last two winless teams have met each other.[3]

Offseason

NFL Draft

The Bills drafted future starters Lee Evans from Wisconsin and J. P. Losman from Tulane in the first round of the 2004 Draft. Buffalo also signed undrafted tight end Jason Peters from Arkansas and converted him into a Pro Bowl offensive tackle. Buffalo traded their 2004 second round pick and 2005 first round pick to move into position to draft Losman.

Round	Pick #	Player	Position	College
1	13	Lee Evans	Wide Receiver	Wisconsin
1	22	J. P. Losman	Quarterback	Tulane
3	74	Tim Anderson	Defensive Tackle	Ohio State
4	109	Tim Euhus	Tight End	Oregon State
7	207	Dylan McFarland	Offensive Tackle	Montana
7	214	Jonathan Smith	Wide Receiver	Georgia Tech

Roster

**2004 Buffalo Bills final roster**

	Quarterbacks 11 Drew Bledsoe 7 J. P. Losman 6 Shane Matthews Running backs 35 Joe Burns 20 Travis Henry 21 Willis McGahee 31 Daimon Shelton FB 40 Shaud Williams Wide receivers 89 Sam Aiken 83 Lee Evans 80 Eric Moulds 82 Josh Reed 81 Bobby Shaw 19 Jonathan Smith Tight ends 84 Mark Campbell 87 Tim Euhus 88 Ryan Neufeld		Offensive linemen 75 Jonas Jennings T 79 Dylan McFarland T 71 Jason Peters T 61 Mike Pucillo G 72 Lawrence Smith G 70 Trey Teague C 65 Ross Tucker G 58 Chris Villarrial G 68 Mike Williams T Defensive linemen 69 Tim Anderson DT 95 Sam Adams DT 97 Justin Bannan DE 92 Ryan Denney DT 98 Ron Edwards DT 90 Chris Kelsay DE 94 Aaron Schobel DE		Linebackers 55 Angelo Crowell MLB 59 London Fletcher MLB 53 Mario Haggan OLB 96 Jeff Posey OLB 51 Takeo Spikes OLB 57 Josh Stamer OLB Defensive backs 26 Rashad Baker FS 22 Nate Clements CB 33 Jabari Greer CB 24 Terrence McGee CB 36 Lawyer Milloy SS 25 Pierson Prioleau SS 43 Izell Reese FS 28 Kevin Thomas CB 23 Troy Vincent FS 37 George Wilson SS 27 Coy Wire SS Special teams 54 Jon Dorenbos LS 9 Rian Lindell K 8 Brian Moorman P		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics 53 active, 0 inactive, 0 practice squad

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	Attendance	Record
1	September 12, 2004	Jacksonville Jaguars	L 13–10	CBS 1:00pm	72,389	0–1
2	September 19, 2004	at Oakland Raiders	L 13–10	CBS 4:15pm	53,610	0–2
3	Bye
4	October 3, 2004	New England Patriots	L 31–17	CBS 1:00pm	72,698	0–3
5	October 10, 2004	at New York Jets	L 16–14	CBS 4:05pm	77,976	0–4
6	October 17, 2004	Miami Dolphins	W 20–13	CBS 1:00pm	72,714	1–4
7	October 24, 2004	at Baltimore Ravens	L 20–6	CBS 1:00pm	69,809	1–5
8	October 31, 2004	Arizona Cardinals	W 38–14	FOX 1:00pm	65,887	2–5
9	November 7, 2004	New York Jets	W 22–17	CBS 1:00pm	72,574	3–5
10	November 14, 2004	at New England Patriots	L 29–6	ESPN 8:30pm	68,756	3–6
11	November 21, 2004	St. Louis Rams	W 37–17	FOX 1:00pm	72,393	4–6
12	November 28, 2004	at Seattle Seahawks	W 38–9	CBS 4:15pm	66,271	5–6
13	December 5, 2004	at Miami Dolphins	W 42–32	CBS 1:00pm	73,084	6–6
14	December 12, 2004	Cleveland Browns	W 37–7	CBS 1:00pm	72,330	7–6
15	December 19, 2004	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 33–17	CBS 1:00pm	65,378	8–6
16	December 26, 2004	at San Francisco 49ers	W 41–7	CBS 4:05pm	63,248	9–6
17	January 2, 2005	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 29–24	CBS 1:00pm	73,414	9–7

Game summaries

Week 1

[4]

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽²⁾ New England Patriots	14	2	0	.875	5–1	10–2	437	260	W2
⁽⁵⁾ New York Jets	10	6	0	.625	3–3	7–5	333	261	L2
Buffalo Bills	9	7	0	.563	3–3	5–7	395	284	L1
Miami Dolphins	4	12	0	.250	1–5	2–10	275	354	L1

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] 2004 Buffalo Bills

[2] Football Outsiders – FO Mailbag: Best DVOA to Miss the Playoffs

[3] Last Winless Team in Each NFL season

Buffalo Bills
Founded in 1960 Based and headquartered in Orchard Park, New York
Franchise	Franchise History Players Seasons Pro Bowl selections First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Coaches Logos and uniforms NFL in Toronto Bills series
Stadiums	War Memorial Stadium New Era Field Rogers Centre (Bills Toronto Series) New Era Field II (proposed)
Culture	Buffalo sports curse Ralph Wilson Billy Buffalo Buffalo Jills Ken "Pinto Ron" Johnson Buffalo '66 Second String Flutie Flakes "Shout" (The Isley Brothers song) "3 Acts of God" Four Falls of Buffalo
Lore	AAFC Buffalo Bills Electric Company Wide Right The Comeback Music City Miracle Snow Bowl
Rivalries	Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Jets
Division championships (10)	1964 1965 1966 1980 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995
Conference championships (4)	1990 1991 1992 1993
League championships (2)	1964 1965
Wall of Fame	Simpson Kemp McGroder Sestak Shaw Wilson 12th Man Dubenion Stratton Ferguson Levy DeLamielleure James Abramoski Kalsu Saimes Kelly Smerlas Hull Talley Ritcher Thomas Reed Tasker Smith Edgerson Hansen Polian Miller Saban Gilchrist
Media	Broadcasters Radio Radio Network WGR 550 Television MSG Western New York Personalities: John Murphy Van Miller Eric Wood Steve Tasker
Owners	Wilson Pegula family Terry Kim
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: East Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)
Seasons (60)	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Championship seasons in bold Category Commons