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2004 Buffalo Bills season
Owner Ralph Wilson
General manager Tom Donahoe
Head coach Mike Mularkey
Home field Ralph Wilson Stadium
Results
Record9–7
Division place3rd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersDT Sam Adams
OLB Takeo Spikes
CB Nate Clements
KR Terrence McGee

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 consecutive 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 were 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

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 53 active, 5 inactive, 8 practice squad

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result TV Time Attendance Record
1 September 12 Jacksonville Jaguars L 10–13 CBS 1:00pm 72,389 0–1
2 September 19 at Oakland Raiders L 10–13 CBS 4:15pm 53,610 0–2
3 Bye
4 October 3 New England Patriots L 17–31 CBS 1:00pm 72,698 0–3
5 October 10 at New York Jets L 14–16 CBS 4:05pm 77,976 0–4
6 October 17 Miami Dolphins W 20–13 CBS 1:00pm 72,714 1–4
7 October 24 at Baltimore Ravens L 6–20 CBS 1:00pm 69,809 1–5
8 October 31 Arizona Cardinals W 38–14 FOX 1:00pm 65,887 2–5
9 November 7 New York Jets W 22–17 CBS 1:00pm 72,574 3–5
10 November 14 at New England Patriots L 6–29 ESPN 8:30pm 68,756 3–6
11 November 21 St. Louis Rams W 37–17 FOX 1:00pm 72,393 4–6
12 November 28 at Seattle Seahawks W 38–9 CBS 4:15pm 66,271 5–6
13 December 5 at Miami Dolphins W 42–32 CBS 1:00pm 73,084 6–6
14 December 12 Cleveland Browns W 37–7 CBS 1:00pm 72,330 7–6
15 December 19 at Cincinnati Bengals W 33–17 CBS 1:00pm 65,378 8–6
16 December 26 at San Francisco 49ers W 41–7 CBS 4:05pm 63,248 9–6
17 January 2 Pittsburgh Steelers L 24–29 CBS 1:00pm 73,414 9–7
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 234Total
• Jaguars 0 337 13
Bills 7 003 10
Scoring summary
1BUF Eric Moulds 17 yard pass from Drew Bledsoe ( Rian Lindell kick)Bills 7–0
2JAC Josh Scobee 25 yard field goalBills 7–3
3JACJosh Scobee 27 yard field goalBills 7–6
4BUFRian Lindell 25 yard field goalBills 10–6
4JAC Ernest Wilford 7 yard pass from Byron Leftwich (Josh Scobee kick)Jaguars 13–10

[4]

Standings

AFC East
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
AFC [5]
# Team Division W L T PCT DIV CONF SOS SOV STK
Division leaders
1 Pittsburgh Steelers North 15 1 0 .938 5–1 11–1 .484 .479 W14
2 New England Patriots East 14 2 0 .875 5–1 10–2 .492 .478 W2
3 [a] Indianapolis Colts South 12 4 0 .750 5–1 8–4 .500 .458 L1
4 [a] San Diego Chargers West 12 4 0 .750 5–1 9–3 .477 .411 W1
Wild cards
5 [b] New York Jets East 10 6 0 .625 3–3 7–5 .523 .406 L2
6 [b] Denver Broncos West 10 6 0 .625 3–3 7–5 .484 .450 W2
Did not qualify for the postseason
7 [c] [d] Jacksonville Jaguars South 9 7 0 .563 2–4 6–6 .527 .479 W1
8 [c] [d] Baltimore Ravens North 9 7 0 .563 3–3 6–6 .551 .472 W1
9 [c] Buffalo Bills East 9 7 0 .563 3–3 5–7 .512 .382 L1
10 Cincinnati Bengals North 8 8 0 .500 2–4 4–8 .543 .453 W2
11 [e] Houston Texans South 7 9 0 .438 4–2 6–6 .504 .402 L1
12 [e] Kansas City Chiefs West 7 9 0 .438 3–3 6–6 .551 .509 L1
13 [f] Oakland Raiders West 5 11 0 .313 1–5 3–9 .570 .450 L2
14 [f] Tennessee Titans South 5 11 0 .313 1–5 3–9 .512 .463 W1
15 [g] Miami Dolphins East 4 12 0 .250 1–5 2–10 .555 .438 L1
16 [g] Cleveland Browns North 4 12 0 .250 1–5 3–9 .590 .469 W1
Tiebreakers [h]
  1. ^ a b Indianapolis clinched the AFC #3 seed instead of San Diego based upon head-to-head victory.
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c Jacksonville and Baltimore finished ahead of Buffalo because they each defeated Buffalo head-to-head.
  4. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Houston finished ahead of Kansas City based upon head-to-head victory.
  6. ^ a b Oakland finished ahead of Tennessee based upon head-to-head victory.
  7. ^ a b 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 Buffalo Bills". Pro Football Reference.
  2. ^ "Best DVOA to Miss the Playoffs". FO Mailbag. Football Outsiders.
  3. ^ "Last Winless Team in Each NFL season". Football Geography.
  4. ^ "Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills — September 12th, 2004". Pro Football Reference.
  5. ^ "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
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