2004 St. Louis Rams season

Summary

The 2004 season was the St. Louis Rams' 67th in the National Football League and their tenth in St. Louis.

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

This for first 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 until 2017, when the franchise returned to Los Angeles; thus, this was the team's final playoff appearance in St. Louis.

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.

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 edit

Draft edit

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 edit

2004 St. Louis Rams final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
53 active, 7 inactive, 8 practice squad

Regular season edit

Schedule edit

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 edit

1 234Total
Cardinals 0 370 10
• Rams 0 638 17

[3]

Standings edit

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) St. Louis Rams 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

Playoffs edit

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 edit

1 234Total
• Rams 7 7310 27
Seahawks 3 737 20

[4]

References edit

  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. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-27.