2004 Detroit Lions season

2004 Detroit Lions season
Head Coach	Steve Mariucci
General Manager	Matt Millen
Home Field	Ford Field
Results
Record	6–10
Place	3rd NFC North
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Uniform
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
2003	2005

The 2004 Detroit Lions season was the franchise's 75th season in the National Football League.

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 weeks following, the Lions played disastrous football, 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.

Offseason

Draft

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 St
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

Staff

2004 Detroit Lions staff
	Front office Owner and Chairman – William Clay Ford, Sr. Vice Chairman – William Clay Ford, Jr. President and Chief Executive Officer – Matt Millen Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Tom Lewand Senior Vice President of Football Administration/Legal Affairs – Martin Mayhew Director of Pro Personnel – Sheldon White Director of College Scouting – Scott McEwen Assistant Director of Pro Personnel – Charlie Sanders College Scouting Coordinator – Russ Bolinger Head coaches Head Coach – Steve Mariucci Assistant to the Head Coach – Kevin Lartigue Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Sherman Lewis Quarterbacks – Greg Olson Running Backs – Tom Rathman Wide Receivers – Kevin Higgins Tight Ends – Andy Sugarman Offensive Line – Pat Morris Assistant Offensive Line/Tight Ends – Sean Kugler			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Dick Jauron Defensive Line – Larry Brooks Linebackers – Richard Smith Defensive Backs – George Catavolos Defensive Assistant – Johnny Holland Defensive Assistant – Don Clemons Special teams coaches Special Teams Coordinator – Chuck Priefer Assistant Special Teams – Stan Kwan Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Jason Arapoff Strength and Conditioning – Malcolm Blacken Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Mondray Gee

Final roster

2004 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks 3 Joey Harrington 8 Mike McMahon 5 Rick Mirer Running Backs 24 Shawn Bryson 34 Kevin Jones R 21 Artose Pinner 30 Cory Schlesinger FB 27 Stephen Trejo FB Wide Receivers 81 Az-Zahir Hakim KR/PR 87 David Kircus 84 Tai Streets 88 Reggie Swinton KR/PR 10 Scottie Vines UR 11 Roy Williams Tight Ends 86 Stephen Alexander 82 Casey FitzSimmons		Offensive Linemen 76 Jeff Backus T 70 Sean Bubin T T UR 79 Kelly Butler T R 68 Tyrone Hopson C 75 Matt Joyce G 62 David Loverne G 73 Stockar McDougle T 51 Dominic Raiola C 71 Victor Rogers T 65 Damien Woody G Defensive Linemen 94 Marcus Bell DT 95 Jared DeVries DE 98 Kalimba Edwards DE 96 James Hall DE 93 Kelvin Pritchett DT 78 Cory Redding DE 92 Shaun Rogers DT 72 Dan Wilkinson DT		Linebackers 55 Donté Curry OLB 52 James Davis OLB 50 Earl Holmes MLB 54 Teddy Lehman OLB R 59 Alex Lewis OLB R 58 Wali Rainer MLB Defensive Backs 32 Dré Bly CB 25 Fernando Bryant CB 29 Chris Cash CB 39 Mike Echols CB 36 Vernon Fox SS 35 André Goodman CB 42 Terrence Holt FS 31 Brock Marion FS 38 Keith Smith CB R 28 Bracy Walker SS Special Teams 4 Jason Hanson K 2 Nick Harris P 67 Don Muhlbach LS UR		Reserve Lists 26 Rod Babers CB (IR) 18 Eddie Drummond WR (IR) 57 Jody Littleton LS (IR) 80 Charles Rogers WR (IR) 47 Dainon Sidney CB (IR) 27 Paul Smith RB (IR) 45 Brian Walker FS (IR) Practice Squad 53 Andrew Battle LB (IR) UR 23 Avon Cobourne RB 41 Kentrell Curry RB UR 48 Scott Genord LB 66 Matt McCoy T 61 Andrew Shull DE 49 Leonard Stephens TE 16 Tim VanZant WR UR Notations R: 2004 Rookie UR: 2004 Undrafted Rookie Italicized players are not on the 53-man roster.

Regular season

Schedule

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, who had finished fourth in the NFC South in 2003, and the Arizona Cardinals, who had finished fourth in the NFC West in 2003.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 12, 2004	at Chicago Bears	W 20–16	61,535
2	September 19, 2004	Houston Texans	W 28–16	61,465
3	September 26, 2004	Philadelphia Eagles	L 30–13	62,472
4	Bye
5	October 10, 2004	at Atlanta Falcons	W 17–10	70,434
6	October 17, 2004	Green Bay Packers	L 38–10	62,938
7	October 24, 2004	at New York Giants	W 28–13	78,841
8	October 31, 2004	at Dallas Cowboys	L 31–21	63,616
9	November 7, 2004	Washington Redskins	L 17–10	62,657
10	November 14, 2004	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 23–17 OT	66,431
11	November 21, 2004	at Minnesota Vikings	L 22–19	64,156
12	November 25, 2004	Indianapolis Colts	L 41–9	63,107
13	December 5, 2004	Arizona Cardinals	W 26–12	62,262
14	December 12, 2004	at Green Bay Packers	L 16–13	70,497
15	December 19, 2004	Minnesota Vikings	L 28–27	62,337
16	December 26, 2004	Chicago Bears	W 19–13	61,924
17	January 2, 2005	at Tennessee Titans	L 24–19	68,809

Game summaries

Week 1

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total • Lions 0 3 10 7 20 Bears 7 0 0 9 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 Scoring summary Q1 7:38 CHI Jones 2 yard run (Edinger kick) CHI 7–0 Q2 :16 DET Hanson 27 yard field goal CHI 7–3 Q3 12:17 DET Walker 92 yard blocked field goal return (Hanson kick) DET 10–7 Q3 7:37 DET Hanson 21 yard field goal DET 13–7 Q4 12:40 CHI Jones 2 yard run (Edinger kick) CHI 14–13 Q4 9:54 DET Hakim 4 yard pass from Harrington (Hanson kick) DET 20–14 Q4 1:53 CHI Safety DET 20–16

Standings

NFC North
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	10	6	0	.625	5–1	9–3	424	380	W2
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

External links

• 2004 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com