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2004 Detroit Lions season

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2004 Detroit Lions season
OwnerWilliam Clay Ford Sr.
General managerMatt Millen
Head coachSteve Mariucci
Home fieldFord Field
Results
Record6–10
Division place3rd NFC North
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersDT Shaun Rogers
CB Dre' Bly
KR Eddie Drummond
Uniform

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

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During the offseason, the Lions signed former New England Patriots guard Damien Woody and former Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Fernando Bryant.

Draft

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2004 Detroit Lions draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
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

[1]

Staff

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2004 Detroit Lions staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning


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Final roster

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2004 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Rookies in italics
53 active, 9 reserve, 7 practice squad

Regular season

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Schedule

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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

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Week 1

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1 234Total
• Lions 0 3107 20
Bears 7 009 16
  • Date: September 12
  • Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. 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
Scoring summary
Q17:38CHIJones 2 yard run (Edinger kick)CHI 7–0
Q2:16DETHanson 27 yard field goalCHI 7–3
Q312:17DETWalker 92 yard blocked field goal return (Hanson kick)DET 10–7
Q37:37DETHanson 21 yard field goalDET 13–7
Q412:40CHIJones 2 yard run (Edinger kick)CHI 14–13
Q49:54DETHakim 4 yard pass from Harrington (Hanson kick)DET 20–14
Q41:53CHISafetyDET 20–16

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Standings

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NFC North
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]
# 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]
  1. ^ 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).
  2. ^ a b Minnesota clinched the NFC #6 seed instead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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).
  5. ^ a b Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep.
  6. ^ a b Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago based upon head-to-head victory.
  7. ^ 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

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  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.
  4. ^ "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
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