2004 Miami Dolphins season

Last updated

2004 Miami Dolphins season
Owner Wayne Huizenga
Head coach Dave Wannstedt (resigned November 9; 1–8 record)
Jim Bates (3-4 record, interim)
Home stadium Pro Player Stadium
Results
Record4–12
Division place4th AFC East
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers DE Jason Taylor
CB Patrick Surtain

The 2004 Miami Dolphins season was the team's 39th overall, 35th as a member of the National Football League (NFL), and the fifth and final under head coach Dave Wannstedt, who resigned after 9 games. Defensive coordinator Jim Bates served as interim head coach for the final 7 games. The Dolphins were unable to improve upon their previous season's output of 10–6, instead only going 4–12 after starting the season 0–6. [1] The team was adversely affected by the premature retirement of their star running back, Ricky Williams, and the trade of holdout defensive end Adewale Ogunleye for wide receiver Marty Booker, as well as career ending injuries to fullback Rob Konrad and defensive tackle Tim Bowens. With this season record below .500 the team would have their first losing season since 1988. Two of their games were postponed due to Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Jeanne.

Contents

Despite the disappointing season, the Dolphins, at 2–11 were able to upset the defending and eventual Super Bowl champion 12–1 New England Patriots, a memorable game of the Dolphins-Patriots rivalry known as "The Night That Courage Wore Orange", and handed the Patriots their second loss of the season. [2] During Week 6, their match with the Buffalo Bills is the only time in the NFL since 1968 that the last two winless teams have met each other. [3]

Staff

2004 Miami Dolphins staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

Roster

2004 Miami Dolphins roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

 Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 16 reserve, 6 practice squad

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 11 Tennessee Titans L 7–170–1 Pro Player Stadium 69,987
2September 19at Cincinnati Bengals L 13–160–2 Paul Brown Stadium 65,705
3September 26 Pittsburgh Steelers L 3–130–3Pro Player Stadium72,225
4October 3 New York Jets L 9–170–4Pro Player Stadium73,157
5October 10at New England Patriots L 10–240–5 Gillette Stadium 68,756
6October 17at Buffalo Bills L 13–200–6 Ralph Wilson Stadium 72,214
7October 24 St. Louis Rams W 31–141–6Pro Player Stadium72,945
8November 1at New York Jets L 14–411–7 Giants Stadium 78,216
9November 7 Arizona Cardinals L 23–241–8Pro Player Stadium72,612
10Bye
11November 21at Seattle Seahawks L 17–241–9 Qwest Field 66,644
12November 28at San Francisco 49ers W 24–172–9 Monster Park 66,156
13December 5 Buffalo Bills L 32–422–10Pro Player Stadium73,084
14December 12at Denver Broncos L 17–202–11 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,027
15December 20 New England Patriots W 29–283–11Pro Player Stadium73,629
16December 26 Cleveland Browns W 10–74–11Pro Player Stadium73,169
17January 2at Baltimore Ravens L 23–304–12 M&T Bank Stadium 69,843
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text

"The Night That Courage Wore Orange"

On December 20, the 2–11 Dolphins upset the 12–1 defending and eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots on Monday Night Football by a score of 29–28. Late in the game, A. J. Feeley threw a game-winning touchdown to Derrius Thompson on 4th down and 10. Bleacher Report writer Thomas Galicia nicknamed the game "The Night That Courage Wore Orange". [4]

Images

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
(2) New England Patriots 1420.8755–110–2437260W2
(5) New York Jets 1060.6253–37–5333261L2
Buffalo Bills 970.5633–35–7395284L1
Miami Dolphins 4120.2501–52–10275354L1
AFC [5]
#TeamDivisionWLTPCTDIVCONFSOSSOVSTK
Division leaders
1 Pittsburgh Steelers North1510.9385–111–1.484.479W14
2 New England Patriots East1420.8755–110–2.492.478W2
3 [a] Indianapolis Colts South1240.7505–18–4.500.458L1
4 [a] San Diego Chargers West1240.7505–19–3.477.411W1
Wild cards
5 [b] New York Jets East1060.6253–37–5.523.406L2
6 [b] Denver Broncos West1060.6253–37–5.484.450W2
Did not qualify for the postseason
7 [c] [d] Jacksonville Jaguars South970.5632–46–6.527.479W1
8 [c] [d] Baltimore Ravens North970.5633–36–6.551.472W1
9 [c] Buffalo Bills East970.5633–35–7.512.382L1
10 Cincinnati Bengals North880.5002–44–8.543.453W2
11 [e] Houston Texans South790.4384–26–6.504.402L1
12 [e] Kansas City Chiefs West790.4383–36–6.551.509L1
13 [f] Oakland Raiders West5110.3131–53–9.570.450L2
14 [f] Tennessee Titans South5110.3131–53–9.512.463W1
15 [g] Miami Dolphins East4120.2501–52–10.555.438L1
16 [g] Cleveland Browns North4120.2501–53–9.590.469W1
Tiebreakers [h]
  1. 1 2 Indianapolis clinched the AFC #3 seed instead of San Diego based upon head-to-head victory.
  2. 1 2 New York Jets clinched the AFC #5 seed instead of Denver based upon better record against common opponents (New York Jets were 5–0 to Denver’s 3–2 against San Diego, Cincinnati, Houston, and Miami).
  3. 1 2 3 Jacksonville and Baltimore finished ahead of Buffalo because they each defeated Buffalo head-to-head.
  4. 1 2 Jacksonville finished ahead of Baltimore based upon better record against common opponents (Jacksonville were 3–2 against Baltimore’s 2–3 versus Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Buffalo and Kansas City).
  5. 1 2 Houston finished ahead of Kansas City based upon head-to-head victory.
  6. 1 2 Oakland finished ahead of Tennessee based upon head-to-head victory.
  7. 1 2 Miami finished ahead of Cleveland based upon head-to-head victory.
  8. ↑ 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.

References

  1. ↑ 2004 Miami Dolphins
  2. ↑ Galicia, Thomas. "Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots: Greatest Games In The Series". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  3. ↑ Last Winless Team in Each NFL season
  4. ↑ Galicia, Thomas (October 4, 2010). "Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots: Greatest Games In The Series". Bleacher Report . Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  5. ↑ "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
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