2004 St. Louis Rams season

2004 St. Louis Rams season
Owner	Georgia Frontiere
Head coach	Mike Martz
Home field	Edward Jones Dome
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Seahawks) 27–20 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Falcons) 17–47
Pro Bowlers	WR Torry Holt T Orlando Pace
← 2003 Rams seasons 2005 →

The 2004 season was the St. Louis Rams' 67th in the National Football League and their 10th in St. Louis.

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 second-worst team to make the playoffs in the site's rating history (behind the 2010 Seattle Seahawks.^[1] This was also the last time the Rams made the playoffs until 2017, when the franchise returned to Los Angeles; thus, this was the team’s final playoff appearance in St. Louis.

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.

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
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	24	Steven Jackson	RB	Oregon St
3	91	Tony Hargrove	DE	Georgia Tech
4	130	Brandon Chillar	LB	North Texas
5	158	Jason Shivers	LB	Arizona St
6	201	Jeff Smoker	QB	Michigan St
7	237	Erik Jensen	TE	Iowa
7	238	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 final roster

	Quarterbacks 10 Marc Bulger 11 Jamie Martin 12 Chris Chandler 9 Jeff Smoker Running backs 27 Aveion Cason 28 Marshall Faulk 44 Joey Goodspeed FB 33 Arlen Harris 39 Steven Jackson Wide receivers 80 Isaac Bruce 83 Kevin Curtis 82 Mike Furrey 81 Torry Holt 89 Dane Looker 84 Shaun McDonald Tight ends 86 Brandon Manumaleuna 87 Cam Cleeland		Offensive linemen 72 Darnell Alford G 67 Andy McCollum C 61 Tom Nütten G 76 Orlando Pace T 60 Blaine Saipaia T 62 Adam Timmerman G 64 Larry Turner C 72 Grant Williams T Defensive linemen 94 Bryce Fisher DE 96 Erik Flowers DE 95 Anthony Hargrove DT 98 Brian Howard DE 97 Tyoka Jackson DE 73 Jimmy Kennedy DT 92 Damione Lewis DT 91 Leonard Little DE 79 Ryan Pickett DT		Linebackers 54 Brandon Chillar 57 Trev Faulk 52 Tommy Polley OLB 55 Robert Thomas OLB 50 Pisa Tinoisamoa OLB 58 Drew Wahlroos Defensive backs 20 Dwight Anderson 31 Adam Archuleta SS 23 Jerametrius Butler CB 25 Rich Coady S 42 Antuan Edwards FS 22 Travis Fisher CB 21 Kevin Garrett CB 24 DeJuan Groce CB Special teams 5 Sean Landeta P 45 Chris Massey LS 2 Kevin Stemke P 14 Jeff Wilkins K		Reserve lists 37 Zack Bronson FS (IR) 66 Chris Dishman G (IR) 49 Erik Jensen RB (IR) 56 Jeremy Loyd LB (IR) 63 Scott Tercero T (IR) 68 Kyle Turley T (IR) 35 Aeneas Williams CB (IR) Practice squad 47 TE 47 Nick Burley TE 65 88 WR 36 RB 19 Brandon Middleton WR 71 Matt Morgan T Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	Arizona Cardinals	W 17–10	1–0	Edward Jones Dome	65,538
2	September 19	at Atlanta Falcons	L 17–34	1–1	Georgia Dome	70,882
3	September 26	New Orleans Saints	L 25–28 (OT)	1–2	Edward Jones Dome	65,856
4	October 3	at San Francisco 49ers	W 24–14	2–2	3Com Park	66,696
5	October 10	at Seattle Seahawks	W 33–27 (OT)	3–2	Qwest Field	66,940
6	October 18	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 28–21	4–2	Edward Jones Dome	66,040
7	October 24	at Miami Dolphins	L 14–31	4–3	Pro Player Stadium	72,945
8	Bye
9	November 7	New England Patriots	L 22–40	4–4	Edward Jones Dome	66,107
10	November 14	Seattle Seahawks	W 23–12	5–4	Edward Jones Dome	66,044
11	November 21	at Buffalo Bills	L 17–37	5–5	Ralph Wilson Stadium	72,393
12	November 28	at Green Bay Packers	L 17–45	5–6	Lambeau Field	70,385
13	December 5	San Francisco 49ers	W 16–6	6–6	Edward Jones Dome	65,793
14	December 12	at Carolina Panthers	L 7–20	6–7	Bank of America Stadium	73,306
15	December 19	at Arizona Cardinals	L 7–31	6–8	Sun Devil Stadium	40,070
16	December 27	Philadelphia Eagles	W 20–7	7–8	Edward Jones Dome	66,129
17	January 2, 2005	New York Jets	W 32–29 (OT)	8–8	Edward Jones Dome	65,877

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1[]

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 0 3 7 0 10 • Rams 0 6 3 8 17 Date: September 12 Location: Edward Jones Dome Game attendance: 65,538 Game weather: Indoors (dome) TV announcers (FOX): Dan Miller, JC Pearson

Scoring summary Q2 11:21 STL Wilkins 50 yard field goal STL 3–0 Q2 8:10 ARI Rackers 22 yard field goal Tie 3–3 Q2 2:39 STL Wilkins 28 yard field goal STL 6–3 Q3 5:50 STL Wilkins 22 yard field goal STL 9–3 Q3 0:57 ARI Smith 11 yard run (Rackers kick) ARI 10–9 Q4 14:27 STL Bruce 8 yard pass from Bulger (Faulk run) STL 17–10

• Marshall Faulk 22 Rush, 128 Yds
• Isaac Bruce 9 Rec, 112 Yds

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Standings[]

NFC West
view talk	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(4) Seattle Seahawks	9	7	0	.563	3–3	8–4	371	373	W2
(5) St. Louis Rams	8	8	0	.500	5–1	7–5	319	392	W2
Arizona Cardinals	6	10	0	.375	2–4	5–7	284	322	W1
San Francisco 49ers	2	14	0	.125	2–4	2–10	259	452	L3

Playoffs[]

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Wildcard	January 8, 2005	at Seattle Seahawks (4)	W 27–20	1–0	Qwest Field	65,397
Divisional	January 15, 2005	at Atlanta Falcons (2)	L 17–47	1–1	Georgia Dome	70,709

Wild Card[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Rams 7 7 3 10 27 Seahawks 3 7 3 7 20 Date: January 8 Location: Qwest Field Game attendance: 65,397

Scoring summary Q1 11:33 STL Holt 15 yard pass from Bulger (Wilkins kick) STL 7–0 Q1 2:05 SEA Brown 47 yard field goal STL 7–3 Q2 13:32 STL Faulk 1 yard run (Wilkins kick) STL 14–3 Q2 6:28 SEA Engram 19 yard pass from Hasselbeck (Brown kick) STL 14–10 Q3 8:02 SEA Brown 30 yard field goal STL 14–13 Q3 2:35 STL Wilkins 38 yard field goal STL 17–13 Q4 13:43 SEA Jackson 23 yard pass from Hasselbeck (Brown kick) SEA 20–17 Q4 8:07 STL Wilkins 27 yard field goal Tie 20–20 Q4 2:11 STL Cleeland 17 yard pass from Bulger (Wilkins kick) STL 27–20

• Marc Bulger 18/32, 313 Yds
• Torry Holt 6 Rec, 108 Yds
• Kevin Curtis 4 Rec, 107 Yds

^[4]

References[]