2004 Detroit Lions season

Last updated

2004 Detroit Lions season
Owner William Clay Ford Sr.
General manager Matt Millen
Head coach Steve Mariucci
Home field Ford Field
Results
Record6–10
Division place3rd NFC North
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers DT Shaun Rogers
CB Dre' Bly
KR Eddie Drummond
Uniform
NFCN-2003-2004-Uniform-DET.PNG

The 2004 Detroit Lions season was the franchise's 75th season in the National Football League (NFL).

Contents

The team began attempting to improve on their 5–11 record from 2003, they improved to 6–10 that season but, the Lions couldn't make the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season. In week 1, the Lions defeated the Chicago Bears in Chicago, 20–16, to snap a 24-game road losing streak, which was the longest road losing streak in franchise history. It was the first road win for the Lions under Matt Millen. The Lions would defeat the Houston Texans the next week, 28–16, to start the season 2–0. In week 7, the Lions defeated the New York Giants 28–13 on the road to begin the season 4–2, while going 3–0 on the road during that span.

However, in the following weeks, the Lions played poorly, as they would lose 5 straight games to sit at 4–7. The Lions would then defeat the Arizona Cardinals 26–12 the following week. However, the week after that, the Lions were eliminated from the playoffs after they lost to the Packers 16–13 in Green Bay. The Lions would only win 1 more game the rest of the season, as they defeated the Bears in week 16, 19–13 at home. The Lions sweep over the Bears during the season would be one of 2 times during the Matt Millen era that saw the Lions sweep a divisional opponent. They also did this against the Bears in 2007. The Lions had a non-last place finish in the NFC North for the first time since the division was founded.

Offseason

During the offseason, the Lions signed former New England Patriots guard Damien Woody and former Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Fernando Bryant.

Draft

2004 Detroit Lions draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
17 Roy Williams  *  WR Texas
130 Kevin Jones   RB Virginia Tech
237 Teddy Lehman   LB Oklahoma
373 Keith Smith   CB McNeese State
5140 Alex Lewis  LB Wisconsin
6172 Kelly Butler   OT Purdue
      Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Staff

2004 Detroit Lions staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

[2]

Final roster

2004 Detroit Lions final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
53 active, 9 inactive, 7 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

In addition to their regular games with NFC North divisional rivals, the Lions played teams from the NFC East and AFC South according to the NFL's schedule rotation, and also played games against the Atlanta Falcons and the Arizona Cardinals, who had finished fourth in their respective divisions in 2003.

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordAttendance
1September 12at Chicago Bears W 20–161–061,535
2September 19 Houston Texans W 28–162–061,465
3September 26 Philadelphia Eagles L 13–302–162,472
4 Bye
5October 10at Atlanta Falcons W 17–103–170,434
6October 17 Green Bay Packers L 10–383–262,938
7October 24at New York Giants W 28–134–278,841
8October 31at Dallas Cowboys L 21–314–363,616
9November 7 Washington Redskins L 10–174–462,657
10November 14at Jacksonville Jaguars L 17–23 (OT)4–566,431
11November 21at Minnesota Vikings L 19–224–664,156
12 November 25 Indianapolis Colts L 9–414–763,107
13December 5 Arizona Cardinals W 26–125–762,262
14December 12at Green Bay Packers L 13–165–870,497
15December 19 Minnesota Vikings L 27–285–962,337
16December 26 Chicago Bears W 19–136–961,924
17January 2at Tennessee Titans L 19–246–1068,809
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.


Game summaries

Week 1

1234Total
• Lions0310720
Bears700916
  • Date: September 12
  • Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 61,535
  • Game weather: 71 °F (21.7 °C); wind 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn)
  • Referee: Larry Nemmers
  • Television network: Fox
Scoring summary
Q17:38CHI Jones 2 yard run (Edinger kick)CHI 7–0
Q2:16DET Hanson 27 yard field goalCHI 7–3
Q312:17DET Walker 92 yard blocked field goal return (Hanson kick)DET 10–7
Q37:37DETHanson 21 yard field goalDET 13–7
Q412:40CHIJones 2 yard run (Edinger kick)CHI 14–13
Q49:54DET Hakim 4 yard pass from Harrington (Hanson kick)DET 20–14
Q41:53CHISafetyDET 20–16

[3]

Standings

NFC North
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
(3) Green Bay Packers 1060.6255–19–3424380W2
(6) Minnesota Vikings 880.5003–35–7405395L2
Detroit Lions 6100.3752–45–7296350L1
Chicago Bears 5110.3132–44–8231331L4
NFC [4]
#TeamDivisionWLTPCTDIVCONFSOSSOVSTK
Division leaders
1 Philadelphia Eagles East1330.8136–011–1.453.409L2
2 Atlanta Falcons South1150.6884–28–4.420.432L2
3 Green Bay Packers North1060.6255–19–3.457.419W2
4 Seattle Seahawks West970.5633–38–4.445.368W2
Wild cards
5 [lower-alpha 1] St. Louis Rams West880.5005–17–5.488.438W2
6 [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] Minnesota Vikings North880.5003–35–7.480.406L2
Did not qualify for the postseason
7 [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] New Orleans Saints South880.5003–36–6.465.427W4
8 Carolina Panthers South790.4383–36–6.496.366L1
9 [lower-alpha 3] Detroit Lions North6100.3752–45–7.496.417L2
10 [lower-alpha 3] Arizona Cardinals West6100.3752–45–7.461.417W1
11 [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4] New York Giants East6100.3753–35–7.516.417W1
12 [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4] [lower-alpha 5] Dallas Cowboys East6100.3752–45–7.516.375L1
13 [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4] [lower-alpha 5] Washington Redskins East6100.3751–56–6.477.333W1
14 [lower-alpha 6] Tampa Bay Buccaneers South5110.3132–44–8.477.413L4
15 [lower-alpha 6] Chicago Bears North5110.3132–44–8.465.388L4
16 San Francisco 49ers West2140.1252–42–10.488.375L3
Tiebreakers [lower-alpha 7]
  1. 1 2 3 St. Louis clinched the NFC #5 seed instead of Minnesota or New Orleans based on better conference record (7–5 to Minnesota’s 5–7 to New Orleans’ 6–6).
  2. 1 2 Minnesota clinched the NFC #6 seed instead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Detroit finished ahead of Arizona and New York Giants based upon head-to-head record (2–0 versus Arizona’s 1–1 and New York Giants’ 0–2). Division tiebreak was initially used to eliminate Dallas and Washington.
  4. 1 2 3 New York Giants finished ahead of Dallas and Washington in the NFC East based on better head-to-head record (3–1 to Dallas‘ 2–2 to Washington’s 1–3).
  5. 1 2 Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep.
  6. 1 2 Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago based upon head-to-head victory.
  7. ↑ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.

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References

  1. ↑ Detroit Lions Official Site - Draft History Archived 2014-10-17 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 2014-Oct-09.
  2. ↑ "Administration and Coaches". 2004 Detroit Lions Media Guide. pp. 4–29.
  3. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-09.
  4. ↑ "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
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