2004 Washington Redskins season

2004 Washington Redskins season
Owner	Daniel Snyder
General manager	Vinny Cerrato
President	Joe Gibbs
Head coach	Joe Gibbs
Offensive coordinator	Joe Bugel
Defensive coordinator	Gregg Williams
Home field	FedExField
Results
Record	6–10
Division place	4th NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	LB Marcus Washington
AP All-Pros	CB Shawn Springs (2nd team)

The 2004 season was the Washington Redskins' 73rd in the National Football League (NFL). Although they improved on their 5–11 record from 2003 to 6–10, they finished bottom of their division and missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year. The season saw Joe Gibbs come out of retirement to return as head coach. The team acquired running back Clinton Portis in a trade that sent Champ Bailey to the Denver Broncos in the 2004 offseason. Week 8 marked the first time since 1932 that the U.S. presidential election went against the Redskins Rule.

Offseason

Free agency

Player Former team Marcus Washington Indianapolis Colts Shawn Springs Seattle Seahawks Cornelius Griffin New York Giants Phillip Daniels Chicago Bears

Player New team Lional Dalton Kansas City Chiefs Jeremiah Trotter Philadelphia Eagles Peppi Zellner Arizona Cardinals Regan Upshaw New York Giants

Trades

March 4, 2004

To Washington Redskins Clinton Portis

To Denver Broncos Champ Bailey 2nd Rd. Draft Pick (2004) (Tatum Bell)

Staff

2004 Washington Redskins staff

Front office Owner – Daniel Snyder Vice president of football operations – Joe Mendes Vice president of football operations – Pepper Rodgers Director of player personnel – Vinny Cerrato Head coaches Head coach – Joe Gibbs Assistant head coach/offense – Joe Bugel Assistant head coach/defense – Gregg Williams Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Don Breaux Quarterbacks – Jack Burns Running backs – Earnest Byner Wide receivers – Stan Hixon Tight ends – Rennie Simmons Offensive consultant – Ernie Zampese Offensive assistant – Bill Lazor Quality control – Coy Gibbs

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/defensive line – Greg Blache Linebackers – Dale Lindsey Secondary/corners – DeWayne Walker Safeties/third downs – Steve Jackson Special teams coaches Special teams – Danny Smith Quality control special teams/defensive assistant – Kirk Olivadotti Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – John Dunn Assistant strength and conditioning – John Hastings Assistant strength and conditioning – Bobby Crumpler

NFL Draft

Main article: 2004 NFL Draft

2004 Washington Redskins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	5	Sean Taylor *	S	Miami (FL)
3	81	Chris Cooley *	TE	Utah State
5	151	Mark Wilson	OT	California
6	180	Jim Molinaro	OT	Notre Dame
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Final roster

2004 Washington Redskins roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  8 Mark Brunell  4 Tim Hasselbeck 11 Patrick Ramsey Running backs (RB) 46 Ladell Betts KR 40 Rock Cartwright 30 Dahrran Diedrick 45 Mike Sellers FB Wide receivers (WR) 86 Antonio Brown PR 80 Laveranues Coles 87 Rod Gardner 84 Taylor Jacobs 85 Darnerien McCants 83 James Thrash Tight ends (TE) 47 Chris Cooley 48 Kori Dickerson 82 Brian Kozlowski 88 Robert Royal

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Ray Brown T 66 Derrick Dockery G 64 Lennie Friedman C 69 Jim Molinaro T 78 Vaughn Parker T 52 Cory Raymer C 60 Chris Samuels T 77 Randy Thomas G 63 Mark Wilson G Defensive linemen (DL) 73 Ryan Boschetti DE 57 Chris Clemons DE 92 Demetric Evans DE 96 Cornelius Griffin DT 99 Jermaine Haley DT 91 Cedric Killings DT 75 Brandon Noble DT 95 Joe Salave'a DT 94 Ron Warner DE 97 Renaldo Wynn DE

Linebackers (LB) 51 Brandon Barnes MLB 59 Devin Lemons OLB 98 Lemar Marshall OLB 58 Antonio Pierce MLB 53 Marcus Washington OLB Defensive backs (DB) 37 Rufus Brown CB 25 Ryan Clark SS 22 Pat Dennis FS 29 Todd Franz SS 27 Walt Harris CB 21 Fred Smoot CB 24 Shawn Springs CB 36 Sean Taylor FS 38 Garnell Wilds CB Special teams 71 Ethan Albright LS  5 Jeff Chandler K 19 Tom Tupa P

Practice squad -- Korey Banks CB -- James Bethea CB 72 Nic Clemons DE 79 Pita Elisara T -- Maurice Jones LB 61 Ben Nowland C 18 Gari Scott WR 54 Clifton Smith LB Reserve 56 LaVar Arrington LB (IR) -- Micheal Barrow LB (IR) 41 Matt Bowen S (IR) 50 Khary Campbell LB (IR) 93 Phillip Daniels DE (IR) 35 Jason Doering S (IR) 10 John Hall K (IR) 76 Jon Jansen T (IR) 23 Ade Jimoh CB (IR) 74 Kenyatta Jones T (IR) 34 Andre Lott S (IR) 20 Chad Morton (IR) 26 Clinton Portis RB (IR) 31 John Simon RB (IR) 39 Dennard Wilson S (IR) Rookies in italics 53 active, 15 reserve, 8 practice squad

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue
1	August 9	Denver Broncos	W 20–17	1–0	FedExField
2	August 14	Carolina Panthers	L 20–23	1–1	FedExField
3	August 21	at Miami Dolphins	W 17–0	2–1	Pro Player Stadium
4	August 27	at St. Louis Rams	L 3–28	2–2	Edward Jones Dome
5	September 3	Atlanta Falcons	W 27–0	3–2	FedExField

Regular season

Due to the addition of the Houston Texans in 2002 and a subsequent change to the NFL's scheduling formula,^[1] the 2004 season was the first time since 1991 that the Redskins played the Cincinnati Bengals; the Bengals won the game, the first time they had done so at the Redskins.^[2] It was also the first time the Redskins had hosted the Green Bay Packers since 1979.^[3]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 16–10	1–0	FedExField	90,098
2	September 19	at New York Giants	L 14–20	1–1	Giants Stadium	78,767
3	September 27	Dallas Cowboys	L 18–21	1–2	FedExField	90,367
4	October 3	at Cleveland Browns	L 13–17	1–3	Cleveland Browns Stadium	73,348
5	October 10	Baltimore Ravens	L 10–17	1–4	FedExField	90,287
6	October 17	at Chicago Bears	W 13–10	2–4	Soldier Field	61,985
7	Bye
8	October 31	Green Bay Packers	L 14–28	2–5	FedExField	89,295
9	November 7	at Detroit Lions	W 17–10	3–5	Ford Field	62,657
10	November 14	Cincinnati Bengals	L 10–17	3–6	FedExField	87,786
11	November 21	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 6–28	3–7	Lincoln Financial Field	67,720
12	November 28	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 7–16	3–8	Heinz Field	63,707
13	December 5	New York Giants	W 31–7	4–8	FedExField	87,872
14	December 12	Philadelphia Eagles	L 14–17	4–9	FedExField	90,089
15	December 18	at San Francisco 49ers	W 26–16	5–9	Monster Park	65,710
16	December 26	at Dallas Cowboys	L 10–13	5–10	Texas Stadium	63,705
17	January 2	Minnesota Vikings	W 21–18	6–10	FedExField	78,876
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 7 0 0 7 14 • Giants 0 20 0 0 20 Date: September 19 Location: Giants Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:11 Game attendance: 78,767 Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C); wind 16 mph (26 km/h) Referee: Tom White TV announcers (Fox): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Cris Collinsworth, Pam Oliver

Scoring summary Q1 7:24 WAS Cooley 7-yard pass from Brunell (Hall kick) WAS 7–0 Q2 12:53 NYG Carter 38-yard pass from Warner (Christie kick) Tied 7–7 Q2 6:21 NYG Green 16-yard fumble return (Christie kick) NYG 14–7 Q2 4:34 NYG Christie 38-yard field goal NYG 17–7 Q2 0:37 NYG Christie 22-yard field goal NYG 20–7 Q4 12:01 WAS Portis 13-yard pass from Ramsey (Hall kick) NYG 20–14

^[4]

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
^(1) Philadelphia Eagles	13	3	0	.813	6–0	11–1	386	260	L2
New York Giants	6	10	0	.375	3–3	5–7	303	347	W1
Dallas Cowboys	6	10	0	.375	2–4	5–7	293	405	L1
Washington Redskins	6	10	0	.375	1–5	6–6	240	265	W1

NFC[5] view talk edit
#	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]
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). Minnesota clinched the NFC #6 seed instead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory. 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. 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). Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep. Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago 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. "History of the NFL's Structure and Formats". Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
2. Cincinnati Bengals v Washington Redskins
3. Urena, Ivan (2014). Pro Football Schedules: A Comple Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. pp. 15, 17. ISBN 9780786473519.
4. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
5. "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.