2004 Carolina Panthers season

2004 Carolina Panthers season
2004 Carolina Panthers season
Owner	Jerry Richardson
General manager	Marty Hurney
Head coach	John Fox
Home field	Bank of America Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	3rd NFC South
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	WR Muhsin Muhammad; DE Julius Peppers; LB Mark Fields; LB Dan Morgan
	← 2003; Panthers seasons; 2005 →;

The 2004 Carolina Panthers season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League and the 3rd under head coach John Fox. It was also the team's 8th season at Bank of America Stadium. They failed to improve upon their record in 2003, a year when they finished the regular season 11–5 and ultimately fell 29–32 in Super Bowl XXXVIII to the New England Patriots and they finished 7–9. Their collapse to a 1–7 record start was because of key injuries to their starters including wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., through the first eight games. Despite their late-season rally, they failed to make the playoffs since 2002. They would suffer another collapse in 2016 to a 6–10 record that year after appearing in Super Bowl 50 the previous season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
2004 Carolina Panthers draft
1	28	Chris Gamble	Cornerback	Ohio State
2	62	Keary Colbert	Wide receiver	USC
3	94	Travelle Wharton	Offensive tackle	South Carolina
5	163	Drew Carter	Wide receiver	Ohio State
6	196	Sean Tufts	Linebacker	Colorado
7	232	Michael Gaines	Tight end	Central Florida
Made roster

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Personnel

Staff

**2004 Carolina Panthers staff**
	Front office Owner/founder – Jerry Richardson President – Mark Richardson General manager – Marty Hurney Head coaches Head coach – John Fox Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Dan Henning Running backs – Jim Skipper Wide receivers – Richard Williamson Tight ends – Dave Magazu Offensive line – Mike Maser Offensive assistant/quarterbacks – Mike McCoy			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Mike Trgovac Defensive line – Sal Sunseri Linebackers – Ken Flajole Linebackers – Sam Mills Secondary – Rod Perry Defensive assistant/safeties – Mike Gillhamer Special teams coaches Assistant head coach/special teams – Scott O'Brien Special teams assistant – Danny Crossman Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Jerry Simmons

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Roster

**2004 Carolina Panthers roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Jake Delhomme 9 Rodney Peete 12 Rod Rutherford 16 Chris Weinke Running backs (RB) 36 Brandon Bennett KR 49 Casey Cramer 37 Nick Goings 45 Brad Hoover FB 22 Jamal Robertson Wide receivers (WR) 83 Keary Colbert 88 Karl Hankton 87 Muhsin Muhammad 81 Ricky Proehl 11 Micah Ross Tight ends (TE) 84 Michael Gaines 86 Kris Mangum 82 Mike Seidman		Offensive linemen (OL) 63 Bill Ferrario G 78 Todd Fordham T 69 Jordan Gross T 61 Dave Kadela T 60 Jeff Mitchell C 76 Tutan Reyes G 65 Rich Tylski G 70 Travelle Wharton G 71 Matt Willig T Defensive linemen (DL) 99 Brentson Buckner DT 67 Jordan Carstens DT 91 Omari Jordan DT 94 Kindal Moorehead DT 90 Julius Peppers DE 62 Cleveland Pinkney DT 97 Kemp Rasmussen DE 93 Mike Rucker DE 96 Al Wallace DE		Linebackers (LB) 52 Brian Allen OLB 50 Vinny Ciurciu MLB 58 Mark Fields OLB 55 Dan Morgan MLB 53 Brandon Short OLB 57 Sean Tufts OLB 54 Will Witherspoon OLB Defensive backs (DB) 28 Colin Branch FS 23 Curtis Fuller FS 20 Chris Gamble CB 27 Artrell Hawkins CB 34 Eddie Jackson CB 24 Ricky Manning CB 30 Mike Minter SS 21 Dante Wesley CB Special teams 4 John Kasay K 56 Jason Kyle LS 10 Todd Sauerbrun P				Rookies in italics 53 active, 14 reserve, 8 practice squad

Schedule

Regular season

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 13	Green Bay Packers	L 14–24	0–1	Bank of America Stadium	Recap
2	September 19	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 28–17	1–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
3	Bye
4	October 3	Atlanta Falcons	L 10–27	1–2	Bank of America Stadium	Recap
5	October 10	at Denver Broncos	L 17–20	1–3	Invesco Field at Mile High	Recap
6	October 17	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 8–30	1–4	Lincoln Financial Field	Recap
7	October 24	San Diego Chargers	L 6–17	1–5	Bank of America Stadium	Recap
8	October 31	at Seattle Seahawks	L 17–23	1–6	Qwest Field	Recap
9	November 7	Oakland Raiders	L 24–27	1–7	Bank of America Stadium	Recap
10	November 14	at San Francisco 49ers	W 37–27	2–7	Monster Park	Recap
11	November 21	Arizona Cardinals	W 35–10	3–7	Bank of America Stadium	Recap
12	November 28	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 21–14	4–7	Bank of America Stadium	Recap
13	December 5	at New Orleans Saints	W 32–21	5–7	Louisiana Superdome	Recap
14	December 12	St. Louis Rams	W 20–7	6–7	Bank of America Stadium	Recap
15	December 18	at Atlanta Falcons	L 31–34 (OT)	6–8	Georgia Dome	Recap
16	December 26	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 37–20	7–8	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
17	January 2	New Orleans Saints	L 18–21	7–9	Bank of America Stadium	Recap

Standings

NFC South
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽²⁾ Atlanta Falcons	11	5	0	.688	4–2	8–4	340	337	L2
New Orleans Saints	8	8	0	.500	3–3	6–6	348	405	W4
Carolina Panthers	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	355	339	L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	11	0	.313	2–4	4–8	301	304	L4

NFC^[3] 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

^ "2004 Carolina Panthers Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
^ "Assistant Coaches". Panthers.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
^ "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.

[8–8a-4] 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-5] Minnesota clinched the NFC #6 seed instead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory.

[6–10a-6] 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-7] 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-8] Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep.

[5–11-9] Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago based upon head-to-head victory.

[10] 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] "2004 Carolina Panthers Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2014.

[2] "Assistant Coaches". Panthers.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2014.

[standings-conf-NFL-3] "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.

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v t e Carolina Panthers
Founded in 1995 Based and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina
Franchise	Franchise Team history Seasons Coaches All-time roster Expansion draft First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Records and statistics Broadcasters
Stadiums	Memorial Stadium Bank of America Stadium
Culture and lore	David Tepper Jerry Richardson Sir Purr Carolina Topcats Cardiac Cats Justine Lindsay "Sweet Caroline"
Rivalries	Atlanta Falcons New Orleans Saints Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Hall of Honor	Jake Delhomme Jordan Gross Mike McCormack Sam Mills Muhsin Muhammad Julius Peppers PSL Owners Steve Smith Sr. Wesley Walls
Wild card berths (2)	2005 2017
Division championships (6)	1996 2003 2008 2013 2014 2015
Conference championships (2)	2003 2015
Retired numbers	51
Media	Broadcasters Anish Shroff Mick Mixon Eugene Robinson Bill Rosinski TV: WCCB Radio: WBT
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: South Division