2004 NFL season


The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League.
With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced the rescheduling of two Miami Dolphins home games: the game against the Tennessee Titans was moved up one day to Saturday, September 11 to avoid oncoming Hurricane Ivan, while the game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, September 26 was moved back 7½ hours to miss the eye of Hurricane Jeanne.
The playoffs began on January 8, and eventually New England repeated as NFL champions when they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24–21 in Super Bowl XXXIX, the Super Bowl championship game, at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on February 6.

Draft

The 2004 NFL Draft was held from April 24 to 25, 2004 at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, the San Diego Chargers selected quarterback Eli Manning from the University of Mississippi.

Referee changes

returned to line judge, and Bill Vinovich was promoted to take his place as referee.
Midway through the season, Johnny Grier, the NFL's first African-American referee, suffered a leg injury that forced him to retire. He was permanently replaced by the back judge on his crew, Scott Green, who had previous experience as a referee in NFL Europe.

Major rule changes

Tiebreakers

were the first team to be eliminated from the playoff race, having reached a 1–9 record by week 11.

Bracket

Milestones

The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:
RecordPlayer/TeamDate/OpponentPrevious Record Holder
Longest Interception ReturnEd Reed, Baltimore November 7, vs ClevelandTied by 2 players
Most Touchdown Passes, SeasonPeyton Manning, Indianapolis N/ADan Marino, Miami, 1984
Highest Passer Rating, SeasonPeyton Manning, Indianapolis N/ASteve Young, San Francisco, 1994
Most Interception Return Yards Gained, SeasonEd Reed, Baltimore N/ACharlie McNeil, San Diego, 1961
Most First Downs by a Team, SeasonKansas City N/AMiami, 1994
Most Consecutive Games WonNew England October 24, vs. N.Y. JetsChicago, 1933–34
Most Passing Touchdowns by a Team, SeasonIndianapolis N/AMiami, 1984

The Colts led the NFL with 522 points scored. The Colts tallied more points in the first half of each of their games of the 2004 NFL season than seven other NFL teams managed in the entire season. Despite throwing for 49 touchdown passes, Peyton Manning attempted fewer than 500 passes for the first time in his NFL career. The San Francisco 49ers record 420 consecutive scoring games that had started in Week 5 of the 1977 season ended in Week 2 of the season.

Statistical leaders

Team

Individual

Awards

Coaching changes