2004 St. Louis Rams season

Last updated

2004 St. Louis Rams season
Owner Georgia Frontiere
Head coach Mike Martz
Home stadium Edward Jones Dome
Results
Record8–8
Division place2nd NFC West
PlayoffsWon Wild Card Playoffs
(at Seahawks) 27–20
Lost Divisional Playoffs
(at Falcons) 17–47
Pro Bowlers WR Torry Holt
T Orlando Pace

The 2004 season was the St. Louis Rams' 67th in the National Football League and their tenth in St. Louis. For the first time since 1997 Kurt Warner was not on the opening day roster.

Contents

Although the Rams’ record was good enough to qualify for the postseason, they did so without posting a winning record. Statistics site Football Outsiders calculates that the 2004 Rams were, play-for-play, the worst team to make the playoffs in the site's rating history. [1] This was also the last time the Rams made the playoffs in St. Louis; as the team would next make the playoffs in 2017, in second season after the franchise returned to Los Angeles.

The season is memorable for the Rams drafting running back Steven Jackson with the 24th pick of the 2004 NFL Draft. During the season, the Rams relied less on Marshall Faulk, who was slowed by age and injuries, forcing Jackson to garner a bulk of the carries. He finished the season with 673 rushing yards despite seeing limited action.

The Rams, in the playoffs, defeated their rival Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round, but their 10th season in St. Louis ended in a 47–17 blowout to the Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional round. The Rams would not make the playoffs again until 2017 when they moved back to Los Angeles.

For the first time this season, the Rams completed a 2–0 regular season sweep of the rival Seahawks. They would not accomplish this again until 2015.

Offseason

Draft

2004 St. Louis Rams draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
124 Steven Jackson   RB Oregon State
391 Tony Hargrove   DE Georgia Tech
4130 Brandon Chillar   LB North Texas
5158 Jason Shivers  LB Arizona State
6201 Jeff Smoker   QB Michigan State
7237 Erik Jensen   TE Iowa
7238 Larry Turner   OT Eastern Kentucky
      Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Roster

2004 St. Louis Rams 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, 7 reserve, 8 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 12 Arizona Cardinals W 17–101–0 Edward Jones Dome 65,538
2September 19at Atlanta Falcons L 17–341–1 Georgia Dome 70,882
3September 26 New Orleans Saints L 25–28 (OT)1–2Edward Jones Dome65,856
4October 3at San Francisco 49ers W 24–142–2 3Com Park 66,696
5October 10at Seattle Seahawks W 33–27 (OT)3–2 Qwest Field 66,940
6October 18 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 28–214–2Edward Jones Dome66,040
7October 24at Miami Dolphins L 14–314–3 Pro Player Stadium 72,945
8 Bye
9November 7 New England Patriots L 22–404–4Edward Jones Dome66,107
10November 14 Seattle Seahawks W 23–125–4Edward Jones Dome66,044
11November 21at Buffalo Bills L 17–375–5 Ralph Wilson Stadium 72,393
12November 28at Green Bay Packers L 17–455–6 Lambeau Field 70,385
13December 5 San Francisco 49ers W 16–66–6Edward Jones Dome65,793
14December 12at Carolina Panthers L 7–206–7 Bank of America Stadium 73,306
15December 19at Arizona Cardinals L 7–316–8 Sun Devil Stadium 40,070
16December 27 Philadelphia Eagles W 20–77–8Edward Jones Dome66,129
17January 2 New York Jets W 32–29 (OT)8–8Edward Jones Dome65,877
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1

Team1234Total
Cardinals037010
• Rams063817
Scoring summary
Q211:21STL Wilkins 50 yard field goalSTL 3–0
Q28:10ARI Rackers 22 yard field goalTie 3–3
Q22:39STLWilkins 28 yard field goalSTL 6–3
Q35:50STLWilkins 22 yard field goalSTL 9–3
Q30:57ARI Smith 11 yard run (Rackers kick)ARI 10–9
Q414:27STL Bruce 8 yard pass from Bulger (Faulk run)STL 17–10

[3]

Standings

NFC West
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
(4) Seattle Seahawks 970.5633–38–4371373W2
(5) St. Louis Rams 880.5005–17–5319392W2
Arizona Cardinals 6100.3752–45–7284322W1
San Francisco 49ers 2140.1252–42–10259452L3
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 [a] St. Louis Rams West880.5005–17–5.488.438W2
6 [a] [b] Minnesota Vikings North880.5003–35–7.480.406L2
Did not qualify for the postseason
7 [a] [b] New Orleans Saints South880.5003–36–6.465.427W4
8 Carolina Panthers South790.4383–36–6.496.366L1
9 [c] Detroit Lions North6100.3752–45–7.496.417L2
10 [c] Arizona Cardinals West6100.3752–45–7.461.417W1
11 [c] [d] New York Giants East6100.3753–35–7.516.417W1
12 [c] [d] [e] Dallas Cowboys East6100.3752–45–7.516.375L1
13 [c] [d] [e] Washington Redskins East6100.3751–56–6.477.333W1
14 [f] Tampa Bay Buccaneers South5110.3132–44–8.477.413L4
15 [f] Chicago Bears North5110.3132–44–8.465.388L4
16 San Francisco 49ers West2140.1252–42–10.488.375L3
Tiebreakers [g]
  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.

Playoffs

RoundDateOpponent (seed)ResultRecordVenueAttendance
WildcardJanuary 8at Seattle Seahawks (4)W 27–201–0 Qwest Field 65,397
DivisionalJanuary 15at Atlanta Falcons (2)L 17–471–1 Georgia Dome 70,709

Wild Card

Team1234Total
• Rams7731027
Seahawks373720
Scoring summary
Q111:33STL Holt 15 yard pass from Bulger (Wilkins kick)STL 7–0
Q12:05SEA Brown 47 yard field goalSTL 7–3
Q213:32STL Faulk 1 yard run (Wilkins kick)STL 14–3
Q26:28SEA Engram 19 yard pass from Hasselbeck (Brown kick)STL 14–10
Q38:02SEABrown 30 yard field goalSTL 14–13
Q32:35STLWilkins 38 yard field goalSTL 17–13
Q413:43SEA Jackson 23 yard pass from Hasselbeck (Brown kick)SEA 20–17
Q48:07STLWilkins 27 yard field goalTie 20–20
Q42:11STL Cleeland 17 yard pass from Bulger (Wilkins kick)STL 27–20

[5]

References

  1. ↑ Football Outsiders: Final 2010 DVOA Ratings “The [2010] Seahawks were so good in their final win ... [it] puts them ahead of the 2004 Rams...”
  2. ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-27.
  3. ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-27.
  4. ↑ "2004 Conference Standings". National Football League . Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  5. ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-27.
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