2004 Miami Dolphins season

2004 Miami Dolphins season
OwnerWayne Huizenga
Head coachDave Wannstedt (resigned November 9; 1–8 record)
Jim Bates (3-4 record, interim)
Offensive coordinatorChris Foerster
Defensive coordinatorJim Bates
Home stadiumPro Player Stadium
Results
Record4–12
Division place4th AFC East
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro BowlersDE Jason Taylor
CB Patrick Surtain

The 2004 Miami Dolphins season was the team's 39th overall, 35th as a member of the National Football League (NFL), and the fifth and final under head coach Dave Wannstedt, who resigned after 9 games. Defensive coordinator Jim Bates served as interim head coach for the final 7 games. The Dolphins were unable to improve upon their previous season's output of 10–6, instead only going 4–12 after starting the season 0–6.[1] The team was adversely affected by the premature retirement of their star running back, Ricky Williams, and the trade of holdout defensive end Adewale Ogunleye for wide receiver Marty Booker, as well as career ending injuries to fullback Rob Konrad and defensive tackle Tim Bowens. With this season record below .500 the team would have their first losing season since 1988. Two of their games were postponed due to Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Jeanne.

Despite the disappointing season, the Dolphins, at 2–11 were able to upset the defending and eventual Super Bowl champion 12–1 New England Patriots, a memorable game of the Dolphins-Patriots rivalry known as "The Night That Courage Wore Orange", and handed the Patriots their second loss of the season.[2] During Week 6, their match with the Buffalo Bills is the only time in the NFL since 1968 that the last two winless teams have met each other.[3]

Staff

2004 Miami Dolphins staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – John Gamble
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Eric Fears

Roster

2004 Miami Dolphins 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 (ST)

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 16 reserve, 6 practice squad

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 11Tennessee TitansL 7–170–1Pro Player Stadium69,987
2September 19at Cincinnati BengalsL 13–160–2Paul Brown Stadium65,705
3September 26Pittsburgh SteelersL 3–130–3Pro Player Stadium72,225
4October 3New York JetsL 9–170–4Pro Player Stadium73,157
5October 10at New England PatriotsL 10–240–5Gillette Stadium68,756
6October 17at Buffalo BillsL 13–200–6Ralph Wilson Stadium72,214
7October 24St. Louis RamsW 31–141–6Pro Player Stadium72,945
8November 1at New York JetsL 14–411–7Giants Stadium78,216
9November 7Arizona CardinalsL 23–241–8Pro Player Stadium72,612
10Bye
11November 21at Seattle SeahawksL 17–241–9Qwest Field66,644
12November 28at San Francisco 49ersW 24–172–9Monster Park66,156
13December 5Buffalo BillsL 32–422–10Pro Player Stadium73,084
14December 12at Denver BroncosL 17–202–11Invesco Field at Mile High75,027
15December 20New England PatriotsW 29–283–11Pro Player Stadium73,629
16December 26Cleveland BrownsW 10–74–11Pro Player Stadium73,169
17January 2at Baltimore RavensL 23–304–12M&T Bank Stadium69,843
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text

Season summary

Week 2

Team1234Total
Dolphins0301013
• Bengals0013316
Scoring summary
Q212:39MIAMare 43 yard field goalMIA 3–0
Q312:01CINSimmons 50 yard interception return (Graham kick)CIN 7–3
Q35:11CINGraham 48 yard field goalCIN 10–3
Q30:13CINGraham 36 yard field goalCIN 13–3
Q43:39MIAChambers 4 yard pass from Feeley (Mare kick)CIN 13–10
Q41:53MIAMare 47 yard field goalTie 13–13
Q40:02CINGraham 39 yard field goalCIN 16–13

[4]

The loss ended the Dolphins' nine-game winning streak against the Bengals, losing to them for the first time since the 1977 season.[5]

"The Night That Courage Wore Orange"

On December 20, the 2–11 Dolphins upset the 12–1 defending and eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots on Monday Night Football by a score of 29–28. Late in the game, A. J. Feeley threw a game-winning touchdown to Derrius Thompson on 4th down and 10. Bleacher Report writer Thomas Galicia nicknamed the game "The Night That Courage Wore Orange".[6]

Images

  • Miami at the Jets in the 2004 season, week 8
    Miami at the Jets in the 2004 season, week 8
  • Dolphins defense is called into action, week 8
    Dolphins defense is called into action, week 8

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
(2) New England Patriots1420.8755–110–2437260W2
(5) New York Jets1060.6253–37–5333261L2
Buffalo Bills970.5633–35–7395284L1
Miami Dolphins4120.2501–52–10275354L1
AFC[7]
#TeamDivisionWLTPCTDIVCONFSOSSOVSTK
Division leaders
1Pittsburgh SteelersNorth1510.9385–111–1.484.479W14
2New England PatriotsEast1420.8755–110–2.492.478W2
3[a]Indianapolis ColtsSouth1240.7505–18–4.500.458L1
4[a]San Diego ChargersWest1240.7505–19–3.477.411W1
Wild cards
5[b]New York JetsEast1060.6253–37–5.523.406L2
6[b]Denver BroncosWest1060.6253–37–5.484.450W2
Did not qualify for the postseason
7[c][d]Jacksonville JaguarsSouth970.5632–46–6.527.479W1
8[c][d]Baltimore RavensNorth970.5633–36–6.551.472W1
9[c]Buffalo BillsEast970.5633–35–7.512.382L1
10Cincinnati BengalsNorth880.5002–44–8.543.453W2
11[e]Houston TexansSouth790.4384–26–6.504.402L1
12[e]Kansas City ChiefsWest790.4383–36–6.551.509L1
13[f]Oakland RaidersWest5110.3131–53–9.570.450L2
14[f]Tennessee TitansSouth5110.3131–53–9.512.463W1
15[g]Miami DolphinsEast4120.2501–52–10.555.438L1
16[g]Cleveland BrownsNorth4120.2501–53–9.590.469W1
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 Miami Dolphins
  2. ^ Galicia, Thomas. "Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots: Greatest Games In The Series". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  3. ^ Last Winless Team in Each NFL season
  4. ^ "Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals — September 19th, 2004". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  5. ^ "Miami Dolphins vs. Cincinnati Bengals". The Football Database.
  6. ^ Galicia, Thomas (October 4, 2010). "Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots: Greatest Games In The Series". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  7. ^ "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
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