2004 Buffalo Bills season

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2004 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerRalph Wilson
Head coachMike Mularkey
General managerTom Donahoe
Home fieldRalph Wilson Stadium
Results
Record9–7
Division place3rd AFC East
Playoff finishDid 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[]

Free Agency[]

The Bills failed to re-sign guard Ruben Brown and cornerback Antoine Winfield Sr.. Both would end up signing with NFC North teams, with Brown signing with the Chicago Bears and Winfield signing with the Minnesota Vikings.

To replace the departed players, the Bills signed former Chicago Bears guard Chris Villarrial and former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Troy Vincent.

NFL Draft[]

Main article: 2004 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

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

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 10–13 CBS 1:00pm 72,389 0–1
2 September 19, 2004 at Oakland Raiders L 10–13 CBS 4:15pm 53,610 0–2
3 Bye
4 October 3, 2004 New England Patriots L 17–31 CBS 1:00pm 72,698 0–3
5 October 10, 2004 at New York Jets L 14–16 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 6–20 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 6–29 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 24–29 CBS 1:00pm 73,414 9–7

Game summaries[]

Week 1[]

1 234Total
• Jaguars 0 337 13
Bills 7 003 10
  • Date: September 12
  • Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium • Orchard Park, New York
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 72,389
  • Game weather: 66 °F • Wind 9
  • Referee: Ron Winter
  • TV announcers (CBS): Don Criqui and Steve Tasker

[4]

Standings[]

AFC East
  • view
  • talk
 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[]

  1. ^ 2004 Buffalo Bills
  2. ^ Football Outsiders – FO Mailbag: Best DVOA to Miss the Playoffs
  3. ^ Last Winless Team in Each NFL season
  4. ^ "Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills - September 12th, 2004". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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