2004 Detroit Lions season

2004 Detroit Lions season
2004 Detroit Lions season
Owner	Dre' Bly; KR Eddie Drummond
Uniform
	← 2003; Lions seasons; 2005 →;

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

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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
2004 Detroit Lions draft
1	7	Roy Williams *	WR	Texas
1	30	Kevin Jones	RB	Virginia Tech
2	37	Teddy Lehman	LB	Oklahoma
3	73	Keith Smith	CB	McNeese State
5	140	Alex Lewis	LB	Wisconsin
6	172	Kelly Butler	OT	Purdue
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Staff

**2004 Detroit Lions staff**
	Front office Owner and chairman – William Clay Ford Sr. Vice chairman – William Clay Ford Jr. President and chief executive officer – Matt Millen Executive vice president and chief operating officer – Tom Lewand Senior vice president of football administration/legal affairs – Martin Mayhew Director of pro personnel – Sheldon White Director of college scouting – Scott McEwen Assistant director of pro personnel – Charlie Sanders College scouting coordinator – Russ Bolinger Head coaches Head coach – Steve Mariucci Assistant to the head coach – Kevin Lartigue Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Sherman Lewis Quarterbacks – Greg Olson Running backs – Tom Rathman Wide receivers – Kevin Higgins Tight ends – Andy Sugarman Offensive line – Pat Morris Assistant offensive line/tight ends – Sean Kugler			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Dick Jauron Defensive line – Larry Brooks Linebackers – Richard Smith Defensive backs – George Catavolos Defensive assistant – Johnny Holland Defensive assistant – Don Clemons Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Chuck Priefer Assistant special teams – Stan Kwan Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Jason Arapoff Strength and conditioning – Malcolm Blacken Assistant strength and conditioning – Mondray Gee

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Final roster

**2004 Detroit Lions final roster**

	Quarterbacks 3 Joey Harrington 8 Mike McMahon 5 Rick Mirer Running backs 24 Shawn Bryson 34 Kevin Jones 21 Artose Pinner 30 Cory Schlesinger FB 33 Stephen Trejo FB Wide receivers 81 Az-Zahir Hakim 87 David Kircus 84 Tai Streets 88 Reggie Swinton KR/PR 10 Scottie Vines 11 Roy Williams Tight ends 86 Stephen Alexander 82 Casey FitzSimmons		Offensive linemen 76 Jeff Backus T 70 Sean Bubin T 79 Kelly Butler T 68 Tyrone Hopson C/G 75 Matt Joyce G/T 62 David Loverne G 73 Stockar McDougle T 51 Dominic Raiola C 71 Victor Rogers T 65 Damien Woody G Defensive linemen 94 Marcus Bell DT 95 Jared DeVries DE 98 Kalimba Edwards DE 96 James Hall DE 93 Kelvin Pritchett DT 78 Cory Redding DE 92 Shaun Rogers DT 72 Dan Wilkinson DT		Linebackers 55 Donté Curry MLB 52 James Davis OLB 50 Earl Holmes MLB 54 Teddy Lehman OLB 59 Alex Lewis OLB 58 Wali Rainer OLB Defensive backs 32 Dré Bly CB 25 Fernando Bryant CB 29 Chris Cash CB 39 Mike Echols CB 36 Vernon Fox SS 35 André Goodman CB 42 Terrence Holt FS 31 Brock Marion FS 38 Keith Smith CB 28 Bracy Walker SS Special teams 4 Jason Hanson K 2 Nick Harris P 67 Don Muhlbach LS		Reserve lists 26 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 97 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 18 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 57 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 80 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 47 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 27 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 45 IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad 53 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 23 Avon Cobourne RB 41 Kentrell Curry S 48 Scott Genord LB 77 Matt McCoy T 61 Andrew Shull DE 49 Leonard Stephens TE 16 Tim Van Zant WR 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.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 12	at Chicago Bears	W 20–16	1–0	61,535
2	September 19	Houston Texans	W 28–16	2–0	61,465
3	September 26	Philadelphia Eagles	L 13–30	2–1	62,472
4	Bye
5	October 10	at Atlanta Falcons	W 17–10	3–1	70,434
6	October 17	Green Bay Packers	L 10–38	3–2	62,938
7	October 24	at New York Giants	W 28–13	4–2	78,841
8	October 31	at Dallas Cowboys	L 21–31	4–3	63,616
9	November 7	Washington Redskins	L 10–17	4–4	62,657
10	November 14	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 17–23 (OT)	4–5	66,431
11	November 21	at Minnesota Vikings	L 19–22	4–6	64,156
12	November 25	Indianapolis Colts	L 9–41	4–7	63,107
13	December 5	Arizona Cardinals	W 26–12	5–7	62,262
14	December 12	at Green Bay Packers	L 13–16	5–8	70,497
15	December 19	Minnesota Vikings	L 27–28	5–9	62,337
16	December 26	Chicago Bears	W 19–13	6–9	61,924
17	January 2	at Tennessee Titans	L 19–24	6–10	68,809
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Lions	0	3	10	7	20
Bears	7	0	0	9	16

Date: September 12
Location:
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

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Standings

NFC North
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽³⁾ Green Bay Packers	10	6	0	.625	5–1	9–3	424	380	W2
⁽⁶⁾ Minnesota Vikings	8	8	0	.500	3–3	5–7	405	395	L2
Detroit Lions	6	10	0	.375	2–4	5–7	296	350	L1
Chicago Bears	5	11	0	.313	2–4	4–8	231	331	L4

NFC^[4] view talk edit
#	Team	Division	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	SOS	SOV	STK
Division leaders
1	Philadelphia Eagles	East	13	3	0	.813	6–0	11–1	.453	.409	L2
2	Atlanta Falcons	South	11	5	0	.688	4–2	8–4	.420	.432	L2
3	Green Bay Packers	North	10	6	0	.625	5–1	9–3	.457	.419	W2
4	Seattle Seahawks	West	9	7	0	.563	3–3	8–4	.445	.368	W2
Wild cards
5^[a]	St. Louis Rams	West	8	8	0	.500	5–1	7–5	.488	.438	W2
6^[a]^[b]	Minnesota Vikings	North	8	8	0	.500	3–3	5–7	.480	.406	L2
Did not qualify for the postseason
7^[a]^[b]	New Orleans Saints	South	8	8	0	.500	3–3	6–6	.465	.427	W4
8	Carolina Panthers	South	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	.496	.366	L1
9^[c]	Detroit Lions	North	6	10	0	.375	2–4	5–7	.496	.417	L2
10^[c]	Arizona Cardinals	West	6	10	0	.375	2–4	5–7	.461	.417	W1
11^[c]^[d]	New York Giants	East	6	10	0	.375	3–3	5–7	.516	.417	W1
12^[c]^[d]^[e]	Dallas Cowboys	East	6	10	0	.375	2–4	5–7	.516	.375	L1
13^[c]^[d]^[e]	Washington Redskins	East	6	10	0	.375	1–5	6–6	.477	.333	W1
14^[f]	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	South	5	11	0	.313	2–4	4–8	.477	.413	L4
15^[f]	Chicago Bears	North	5	11	0	.313	2–4	4–8	.465	.388	L4
16	San Francisco 49ers	West	2	14	0	.125	2–4	2–10	.488	.375	L3
Tiebreakers^[g]
^ ^a ^b ^c 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). ^ ^a ^b Minnesota clinched the NFC #6 seed instead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory. ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e 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. ^ ^a ^b ^c 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). ^ ^a ^b Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep. ^ ^a ^b Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago based upon head-to-head victory. ^ 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

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

External links

2004 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com

[8–8a-5] 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).

[8–8b-6] Minnesota clinched the NFC #6 seed instead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory.

[6–10a-7] 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.

[6–10b-8] 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).

[6–10c-9] Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep.

[5–11-10] Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago based upon head-to-head victory.

[11] 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.

[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.

[standings-conf-NFL-4] "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.

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v t e Detroit Lions
Founded in 1928 Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1928–1933) Based in Detroit, Michigan Headquartered in Allen Park, Michigan
Franchise	Ownership: William Clay Martha Firestone Ford Sheila Ford Hamp Franchise overview Team history in Portsmouth, Ohio
Records	Coaches First-round draft picks Players Pride of the Lions Pro Football Hall of Famers Retired numbers 7 20 20 20 22 37 56 85 Seasons Starting quarterbacks
Stadiums	Universal Stadium University of Detroit Stadium Tiger Stadium Pontiac Silverdome Ford Field
Culture	NFL on Thanksgiving Day Paper Lion (film) "What's Going On" (Marvin Gaye song) Home Improvement Beverly Hills Cop Cheerleaders
Lore	1932 NFL Playoff Game Curse of Bobby Layne 0–16 Miracle in Motown
Rivalries	Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings
Division championships (9)	1935 1952 1953 1954 1957 1983 1991 1993 2023
League championships (4)	1935 1952 1953 1957
Media	Broadcasters Radio: Radio network Dan Miller Lomas Brown WXYT-FM TV: Television network WJBK Bally Sports Detroit
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1930–present) Conference: National Football Conference (1970–present) Division: North Division (2002–present)