# 2004 Oakland Raiders season

The 2004 Oakland Raiders season was the 45th of professional football for the Oakland Raiders franchise, their 35th season as members of the National Football League (NFL), and their ninth season since returning to Oakland. They were led by head coach Norv Turner in his first season as head coach of the Raiders. They played their home games at Network Associates Coliseum as member of the AFC West. They finished the season 5–11, finishing in last place in the AFC West for the second consecutive year. This was the first time the Raiders suffered from consecutive losing seasons since 1996 and 1997.
Though Rich Gannon began the season as the Raiders starting quarterback, he suffered a neck injury in the third game of the season that would eventually lead to his retirement. For the second consecutive season, the Raiders suffered a five-game losing streak in the middle of the season. They only won one game by a touchdown or more, defeating their Super Bowl XXXVII opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 30-20.
The team lost two of their starting receivers from the 2002 team: Tim Brown was released and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jerry Rice was traded to the Seattle Seahawks midseason.

## Previous season

The Raiders finished the 2003 season 4–12 to finish in a tie for last place in the AFC West. Following the season, Raider owner Al Davis fired head coach Bill Callahan after two years as head coach. A month later, the team named Norv Turner head coach.

## Offseason
### Free Agency

| Player | Former team |
| Warren Sapp | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Ted Washington | New England Patriots |
| Bobby Hamilton | New England Patriots |
| Danny Clark | Jacksonville Jaguars |
| Player | New team |
| Eric Barton | New York Jets |
| Rod Coleman | Atlanta Falcons |

### NFL draft

2004 Oakland Raiders draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 2 | Robert Gallery | OT | Iowa |
| 2 | 45 | Jake Grove | C | Virginia Tech |
| 3 | 67 | Stuart Schweigert | FS | Purdue |
| 4 | 99 | Carlos Francis | WR | Texas Tech |
| 5 | 134 | Johnnie Morant | WR | Syracuse |
| 6 | 166 | Shawn Johnson | DE | Delaware |
| 6 | 182 | Cody Spencer | LB | North Texas |
| 7 | 245 | Courtney Anderson | TE | San Jose State |
| 7 | 255 | Andre Sommersell | LB | Colorado State |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule and results

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance | TV |
| 1 | September 12 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 21–24 | 0–1 | 60,147 | CBS |
| 2 | September 19 | Buffalo Bills | W 13–10 | 1–1 | 53,610 | CBS |
| 3 | September 26 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 30–20 | 2–1 | 60,874 | ESPN |
| 4 | October 3 | at Houston Texans | L 17–30 | 2–2 | 70,741 | CBS |
| 5 | October 10 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 14–35 | 2–3 | 57,230 | CBS |
| 6 | October 17 | Denver Broncos | L 3–31 | 2–4 | 62,507 | CBS |
| 7 | October 24 | New Orleans Saints | L 26–31 | 2–5 | 45,337 | Fox |
| 8 | October 31 | at San Diego Chargers | L 14–42 | 2–6 | 66,210 | CBS |
| 9 | November 7 | at Carolina Panthers | W 27–24 | 3–6 | 73,518 | CBS |
| 10 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 11 | November 21 | San Diego Chargers | L 17–23 | 3–7 | 46,905 | CBS |
| 12 | November 28 | at Denver Broncos | W 25–24 | 4–7 | 75,936 | ESPN |
| 13 | December 5 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 27–34 | 4–8 | 51,292 | CBS |
| 14 | December 12 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 10–35 | 4–9 | 70,616 | CBS |
| 15 | December 19 | Tennessee Titans | W 40–35 | 5–9 | 44,299 | CBS |
| 16 | December 25 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 30–31 | 5–10 | 77,289 | CBS |
| 17 | January 2 | Jacksonville Jaguars | L 6–13 | 5–11 | 41,112 | CBS |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Select game summaries
#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 0 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 25 |
| Broncos | 0 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 24 |
* Kerry Collins 26/45, 339 Yds
* Jerry Porter 6 Rec, 135 Yds

## Standings

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(4)}$ San Diego Chargers | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 446 | 313 | W1 |
| $^{(6)}$ Denver Broncos | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 381 | 304 | W2 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–3 | 6–6 | 483 | 435 | L1 |
| Oakland Raiders | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–5 | 3–9 | 320 | 422 | L2 |
AFC
viewtalkedit :
| # | 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 | Indianapolis Colts | South | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 5–1 | 8–4 | .500 | .458 | L1 |
| 4 | San Diego Chargers | West | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 5–1 | 9–3 | .477 | .411 | W1 |
| Wild cards ||||||||||||
| 5 | New York Jets | East | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 7–5 | .523 | .406 | L2 |
| 6 | Denver Broncos | West | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 7–5 | .484 | .450 | W2 |
| Did not qualify for the postseason ||||||||||||
| 7 | Jacksonville Jaguars | South | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 2–4 | 6–6 | .527 | .479 | W1 |
| 8 | Baltimore Ravens | North | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 6–6 | .551 | .472 | W1 |
| 9 | 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 | Houston Texans | South | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–2 | 6–6 | .504 | .402 | L1 |
| 12 | Kansas City Chiefs | West | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–3 | 6–6 | .551 | .509 | L1 |
| 13 | Oakland Raiders | West | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–5 | 3–9 | .570 | .450 | L2 |
| 14 | Tennessee Titans | South | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–5 | 3–9 | .512 | .463 | W1 |
| 15 | Miami Dolphins | East | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 1–5 | 2–10 | .555 | .438 | L1 |
| 16 | Cleveland Browns | North | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 1–5 | 3–9 | .590 | .469 | W1 |
| Tiebreakers ||||||||||||
| 1 2 Indianapolis clinched the AFC #3 seed instead of San Diego based upon head-to-head victory. 1 2 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). 1 2 3 Jacksonville and Baltimore finished ahead of Buffalo because they each defeated Buffalo head-to-head. 1 2 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). 1 2 Houston finished ahead of Kansas City based upon head-to-head victory. 1 2 Oakland finished ahead of Tennessee based upon head-to-head victory. 1 2 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. ||||||||||||