2004 St. Louis Rams season

2004 St. Louis Rams season
OwnerGeorgia Frontiere
Head coachMike Martz
Home stadiumEdward Jones Dome
Results
Record8–8
Division place2nd NFC West
PlayoffsWon Wild Card Playoffs
(at Seahawks) 27–20
Lost Divisional Playoffs
(at Falcons) 17–47
Pro BowlersWR Torry Holt
T Orlando Pace

The 2004 season was the St. Louis Rams' 67th in the National Football League and their tenth in St. Louis. For the first time since 1997 Kurt Warner was not on the opening day roster.

Although the Rams’ record was good enough to qualify for the postseason, they did so without posting a winning record. Statistics site Football Outsiders calculates that the 2004 Rams were, play-for-play, the worst team to make the playoffs in the site's rating history.[1] This was also the last time the Rams made the playoffs in St. Louis; as the team would next make the playoffs in 2017, in second season after the franchise returned to Los Angeles.

The season is memorable for the Rams drafting running back Steven Jackson with the 24th pick of the 2004 NFL Draft. During the season, the Rams relied less on Marshall Faulk, who was slowed by age and injuries, forcing Jackson to garner a bulk of the carries. He finished the season with 673 rushing yards despite seeing limited action.

The Rams, in the playoffs, defeated their rival Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round, but their 10th season in St. Louis ended in a 47–17 blowout to the Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional round. The Rams would not make the playoffs again until 2017 when they moved back to Los Angeles.

For the first time this season, the Rams completed a 2–0 regular season sweep of the rival Seahawks. They would not accomplish this again until 2015.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 2004 NFL draft
2004 St. Louis Rams draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 24 Steven Jackson  RB Oregon State
3 91 Tony Hargrove  DE Georgia Tech
4 130 Brandon Chillar  LB North Texas
5 158 Jason Shivers  LB Arizona State
6 201 Jeff Smoker  QB Michigan State
7 237 Erik Jensen  TE Iowa
7 238 Larry Turner  OT Eastern Kentucky
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Roster

2004 St. Louis Rams 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, 7 reserve, 8 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 12 Arizona Cardinals W 17–10 1–0 Edward Jones Dome 65,538
2 September 19 at Atlanta Falcons L 17–34 1–1 Georgia Dome 70,882
3 September 26 New Orleans Saints L 25–28 (OT) 1–2 Edward Jones Dome 65,856
4 October 3 at San Francisco 49ers W 24–14 2–2 3Com Park 66,696
5 October 10 at Seattle Seahawks W 33–27 (OT) 3–2 Qwest Field 66,940
6 October 18 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 28–21 4–2 Edward Jones Dome 66,040
7 October 24 at Miami Dolphins L 14–31 4–3 Pro Player Stadium 72,945
8 Bye
9 November 7 New England Patriots L 22–40 4–4 Edward Jones Dome 66,107
10 November 14 Seattle Seahawks W 23–12 5–4 Edward Jones Dome 66,044
11 November 21 at Buffalo Bills L 17–37 5–5 Ralph Wilson Stadium 72,393
12 November 28 at Green Bay Packers L 17–45 5–6 Lambeau Field 70,385
13 December 5 San Francisco 49ers W 16–6 6–6 Edward Jones Dome 65,793
14 December 12 at Carolina Panthers L 7–20 6–7 Bank of America Stadium 73,306
15 December 19 at Arizona Cardinals L 7–31 6–8 Sun Devil Stadium 40,070
16 December 27 Philadelphia Eagles W 20–7 7–8 Edward Jones Dome 66,129
17 January 2 New York Jets W 32–29 (OT) 8–8 Edward Jones Dome 65,877
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1

Team 1 234Total
Cardinals 0 370 10
• Rams 0 638 17
Scoring summary
Q211:21STLWilkins 50 yard field goalSTL 3–0
Q28:10ARIRackers 22 yard field goalTie 3–3
Q22:39STLWilkins 28 yard field goalSTL 6–3
Q35:50STLWilkins 22 yard field goalSTL 9–3
Q30:57ARISmith 11 yard run (Rackers kick)ARI 10–9
Q414:27STLBruce 8 yard pass from Bulger (Faulk run)STL 17–10

[3]

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(4) Seattle Seahawks 9 7 0 .563 3–3 8–4 371 373 W2
(5) 8 8 0 .500 5–1 7–5 319 392 W2
Arizona Cardinals 6 10 0 .375 2–4 5–7 284 322 W1
San Francisco 49ers 2 14 0 .125 2–4 2–10 259 452 L3
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] 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.


Playoffs

Main article: 2004–05 NFL playoffs
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance
Wildcard January 8 at Seattle Seahawks (4) W 27–20 1–0 Qwest Field 65,397
Divisional January 15 at Atlanta Falcons (2) L 17–47 1–1 Georgia Dome 70,709

Wild Card

Team 1 234Total
• Rams 7 7310 27
Seahawks 3 737 20
Scoring summary
Q111:33STLHolt 15 yard pass from Bulger (Wilkins kick)STL 7–0
Q12:05SEABrown 47 yard field goalSTL 7–3
Q213:32STLFaulk 1 yard run (Wilkins kick)STL 14–3
Q26:28SEAEngram 19 yard pass from Hasselbeck (Brown kick)STL 14–10
Q38:02SEABrown 30 yard field goalSTL 14–13
Q32:35STLWilkins 38 yard field goalSTL 17–13
Q413:43SEAJackson 23 yard pass from Hasselbeck (Brown kick)SEA 20–17
Q48:07STLWilkins 27 yard field goalTie 20–20
Q42:11STLCleeland 17 yard pass from Bulger (Wilkins kick)STL 27–20

[5]

References

  1. ^ Football Outsiders: Final 2010 DVOA Ratings “The [2010] Seahawks were so good in their final win ... [it] puts them ahead of the 2004 Rams...”
  2. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-27.
  3. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-27.
  4. ^ "2004 Conference Standings". National Football League. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  5. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-27.
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