2004 Miami Dolphins season

2004 Miami Dolphins season
Owner	Wayne Huizenga
Head coach	Dave Wannstedt (resigned November 9; 1–8 record) Jim Bates (3-4 record, interim)
Home field	Pro Player Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	DE Jason Taylor CB Patrick Surtain

The 2004 Miami Dolphins season was the team's 39th overall, and 35th as a member of the National Football League (NFL). 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 Owner/chairman of the board – Wayne Huizenga President – Eddie Jones Executive vice president/chief operating officer – Bryan Wiedmeier General manager – Rick Spielman Head coaches Head coach – Dave Wannstedt (Games 1-9) Assistant head coach/quarterbacks – Marc Trestman Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Chris Foerster Running backs – Joel Collier Wide receivers – Jerry Sullivan Tight ends – Bernie Parmalee Offensive line – Tony Wise Offensive quality control/receivers – Judd Garrett Fellowship coach-offense/special teams – Jeff Dellenbach

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Jim Bates (Interim Head Coach Games 10-16) Defensive line – Clarence Brooks Assistant defensive line – Glenn Pires Linebackers – Bob Sanders (Defensive Coordinator Games 10-16) Secondary – Mel Phillips Defensive nickel package – Bill Lewis Special teams coaches Special teams – Keith Armstrong Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – John Gamble Assistant strength and conditioning – Eric Fears

Roster

2004 Miami Dolphins roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 A. J. Feeley 17 Jason Garrett 18 Sage Rosenfels Running backs (RB) 43 Brock Forsey 33 Vick King 42 James Lynch FB 32 Jamar Martin FB 28 Travis Minor 31 Sammy Morris Wide receivers (WR) 15 Ronald Bellamy 86 Marty Booker 84 Chris Chambers 82 Bryan Gilmore KR 16 Maurice Mann 88 Derrius Thompson 83 Wes Welker KR/PR Tight ends (TE) 85 Donald Lee 81 Randy McMichael

Offensive linemen (OL) 72 Vernon Carey T 66 Rex Hadnot G 78 Jeno James G 60 Greg Jerman G 77 Damion McIntosh T 68 Seth McKinney C 74 Wade Smith T 70 John St. Clair T 69 Taylor Whitley G Defensive linemen (DL) 96 David Bowens DE 93 Mario Monds DT 98 Bryan Robinson DT 94 Dario Romero DT 75 Josh Shaw DT 99 Jason Taylor DE 91 Jay Williams DE 90 Jeff Zgonina DT

Linebackers (LB) 50 Brendon Ayanbadejo OLB 52 Morlon Greenwood OLB 57 Corey Jenkins OLB 56 Derrick Pope MLB 59 Billy Strother MLB 54 Zach Thomas MLB Defensive backs (DB) 21 Deandre' Eiland SS 20 Arturo Freeman FS 25 Reggie Howard CB 24 Sammy Knight SS 29 Sam Madison CB 27 Will Poole CB 23 Patrick Surtain CB 38 Quintin Williams FS 35 Jimmy Wyrick CB Special teams 10 Olindo Mare K 89 Ed Perry LS  1 Matt Turk P

Practice squad 79 Ronald Flemons DE 26 Leonard Henry RB 71 Tony Pape T 49 Ricky Sharpe S 61 Jamil Soriano G 87 J. R. Tolver WR Reserve 36 Chris Akins S (IR) 37 Yeremiah Bell S (IR) 80 David Boston WR (IR) 95 Tim Bowens DT (IR) 51 Tony Bua LB (IR) 64 Larry Chester DT (IR)  9 Jay Fiedler QB (IR) 30 Lamar Gordon RB (IR) 44 Rob Konrad FB (IR) 58 Eddie Moore LB (IR) 14 Kendall Newson WR (IR) 45 Alphonso Roundtree CB (IR) 55 Junior Seau LB (IR) 53 Renauld Williams LB (IR) 62 Eric Wilson DT (IR) 22 Shawn Wooden S (PUP) Rookies in italics 53 active, 16 reserve, 6 practice squad

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 11	Tennessee Titans	L 7–17	0–1	Pro Player Stadium	69,987
2	September 19	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 13–16	0–2	Paul Brown Stadium	65,705
3	September 26	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–13	0–3	Pro Player Stadium	72,225
4	October 3	New York Jets	L 9–17	0–4	Pro Player Stadium	73,157
5	October 10	at New England Patriots	L 10–24	0–5	Gillette Stadium	68,756
6	October 17	at Buffalo Bills	L 13–20	0–6	Ralph Wilson Stadium	72,214
7	October 24	St. Louis Rams	W 31–14	1–6	Pro Player Stadium	72,945
8	November 1	at New York Jets	L 14–41	1–7	Giants Stadium	78,216
9	November 7	Arizona Cardinals	L 23–24	1–8	Pro Player Stadium	72,612
10	Bye
11	November 21	at Seattle Seahawks	L 17–24	1–9	Qwest Field	66,644
12	November 28	at San Francisco 49ers	W 24–17	2–9	Monster Park	66,156
13	December 5	Buffalo Bills	L 32–42	2–10	Pro Player Stadium	73,084
14	December 12	at Denver Broncos	L 17–20	2–11	Invesco Field at Mile High	75,027
15	December 20	New England Patriots	W 29–28	3–11	Pro Player Stadium	73,629
16	December 26	Cleveland Browns	W 10–7	4–11	Pro Player Stadium	73,169
17	January 2	at Baltimore Ravens	L 23–30	4–12	M&T Bank Stadium	69,843
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text

"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".^[4]

Images

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

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
^(2) New England Patriots	14	2	0	.875	5–1	10–2	437	260	W2
^(5) New York Jets	10	6	0	.625	3–3	7–5	333	261	L2
Buffalo Bills	9	7	0	.563	3–3	5–7	395	284	L1
Miami Dolphins	4	12	0	.250	1–5	2–10	275	354	L1

AFC[5] view talk edit
#	Team	Division	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	SOS	SOV	STK
Division leaders
1	Pittsburgh Steelers	North	15	1	0	.938	5–1	11–1	.484	.479	W14
2	New England Patriots	East	14	2	0	.875	5–1	10–2	.492	.478	W2
3[a]	Indianapolis Colts	South	12	4	0	.750	5–1	8–4	.500	.458	L1
4[a]	San Diego Chargers	West	12	4	0	.750	5–1	9–3	.477	.411	W1
Wild cards
5[b]	New York Jets	East	10	6	0	.625	3–3	7–5	.523	.406	L2
6[b]	Denver Broncos	West	10	6	0	.625	3–3	7–5	.484	.450	W2
Did not qualify for the postseason
7[c][d]	Jacksonville Jaguars	South	9	7	0	.563	2–4	6–6	.527	.479	W1
8[c][d]	Baltimore Ravens	North	9	7	0	.563	3–3	6–6	.551	.472	W1
9[c]	Buffalo Bills	East	9	7	0	.563	3–3	5–7	.512	.382	L1
10	Cincinnati Bengals	North	8	8	0	.500	2–4	4–8	.543	.453	W2
11[e]	Houston Texans	South	7	9	0	.438	4–2	6–6	.504	.402	L1
12[e]	Kansas City Chiefs	West	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	.551	.509	L1
13[f]	Oakland Raiders	West	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	.570	.450	L2
14[f]	Tennessee Titans	South	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	.512	.463	W1
15[g]	Miami Dolphins	East	4	12	0	.250	1–5	2–10	.555	.438	L1
16[g]	Cleveland Browns	North	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	.590	.469	W1
Tiebreakers[h]
Indianapolis clinched the AFC #3 seed instead of San Diego based upon head-to-head victory. 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). Jacksonville and Baltimore finished ahead of Buffalo because they each defeated Buffalo head-to-head. 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). Houston finished ahead of Kansas City based upon head-to-head victory. Oakland finished ahead of Tennessee based upon head-to-head victory. Miami finished ahead of Cleveland 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

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. Galicia, Thomas (October 4, 2010). "Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots: Greatest Games In The Series". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
5. "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.