# 2004 St. Louis Rams season

The 2004 season was the St. Louis Rams' 67th in the National Football League and their tenth in St. Louis. For the first time 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. 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
### Draft

2004 St. Louis Rams draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 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 ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| 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 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| • Rams | 0 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 17 |
* Marshall Faulk 22 Rush, 128 Yds
* Isaac Bruce 9 Rec, 112 Yds

## Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |
NFC
viewtalkedit :
| # | 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 | St. Louis Rams | West | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 5–1 | 7–5 | .488 | .438 | W2 |
| 6 | Minnesota Vikings | North | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 3–3 | 5–7 | .480 | .406 | L2 |
| Did not qualify for the postseason ||||||||||||
| 7 | 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 | Detroit Lions | North | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 2–4 | 5–7 | .496 | .417 | L2 |
| 10 | Arizona Cardinals | West | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 2–4 | 5–7 | .461 | .417 | W1 |
| 11 | New York Giants | East | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 3–3 | 5–7 | .516 | .417 | W1 |
| 12 | Dallas Cowboys | East | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 2–4 | 5–7 | .516 | .375 | L1 |
| 13 | Washington Redskins | East | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 1–5 | 6–6 | .477 | .333 | W1 |
| 14 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | South | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–4 | 4–8 | .477 | .413 | L4 |
| 15 | 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 ||||||||||||
| 1 2 3 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). 1 2 Minnesota clinched the NFC #6 seed instead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory. 1 2 3 4 5 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. 1 2 3 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). 1 2 Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep. 1 2 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. ||||||||||||

## Playoffs

| 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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Rams | 7 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 27 |
| Seahawks | 3 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
* Marc Bulger 18/32, 313 Yds
* Torry Holt 6 Rec, 108 Yds
* Kevin Curtis 4 Rec, 107 Yds