# 2004 Buffalo Bills season

The 2004 Buffalo Bills season was their 45th in the National Football League. The team improved upon their previous season's output of 6–10, finishing 9–7. However, this was the fifth consecutive season in which the team missed the playoffs.
Buffalo started the season with four straight losses. However, they rebounded with nine wins in their next eleven games. Having won six games in a row, they needed a win in the final game of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers to qualify for the playoffs (they also would've been only the second team in NFL history to make the playoffs after starting 0-4 after the 1992 Chargers). However, despite the Steelers playing their third stringers (which, notably, included Willie Parker, who would have his breakout performance in the game) and having a 17–16 lead in the fourth quarter, Buffalo lost 29–24 and subsequently missed the playoffs. It was the only winning season that Buffalo had in the 2000s (2000–2009) and would be the Bills' last winning season until 2014.
According to Football Outsiders, who has tracked every play in the NFL since the early 1990s, the 2004 Bills were statistically the best NFL team (in their record-keeping history) to have failed to qualify for the playoffs.
The Bills set an NFL record by returning six kicks (3 punts + 3 kickoffs) for touchdowns in 2004.
Their match with the Miami Dolphins in Week 6 is the only time in the NFL since 1968 that the last two winless teams have met each other.

## Offseason
### Free Agency

The Bills failed to re-sign guard Ruben Brown and cornerback Antoine Winfield Sr. Both would end up signing with NFC North teams, with Brown signing with the Chicago Bears and Winfield signing with the Minnesota Vikings.
To replace the departed players, the Bills signed former Chicago Bears guard Chris Villarrial and former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Troy Vincent.

### NFL Draft

The Bills drafted future starters Lee Evans from Wisconsin and J. P. Losman from Tulane in the first round of the 2004 Draft. Buffalo also signed undrafted tight end Jason Peters from Arkansas and converted him into a Pro Bowl offensive tackle. Buffalo traded their 2004 second round pick and 2005 first round pick to move into position to draft Losman.
| Round | Pick # | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 13 | Lee Evans | Wide receiver | Wisconsin |
| 1 | 22 | J. P. Losman | Quarterback | Tulane |
| 3 | 74 | Tim Anderson | Defensive tackle | Ohio State |
| 4 | 109 | Tim Euhus | Tight end | Oregon State |
| 7 | 207 | Dylan McFarland | Offensive tackle | Montana |
| 7 | 214 | Jonathan Smith | Wide receiver | Georgia Tech |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | TV Time | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | September 12 | Jacksonville Jaguars | L 10–13 | CBS 1:00pm | 72,389 | 0–1 |
| 2 | September 19 | at Oakland Raiders | L 10–13 | CBS 4:15pm | 53,610 | 0–2 |
| 3 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 4 | October 3 | New England Patriots | L 17–31 | CBS 1:00pm | 72,698 | 0–3 |
| 5 | October 10 | at New York Jets | L 14–16 | CBS 4:05pm | 77,976 | 0–4 |
| 6 | October 17 | Miami Dolphins | W 20–13 | CBS 1:00pm | 72,714 | 1–4 |
| 7 | October 24 | at Baltimore Ravens | L 6–20 | CBS 1:00pm | 69,809 | 1–5 |
| 8 | October 31 | Arizona Cardinals | W 38–14 | FOX 1:00pm | 65,887 | 2–5 |
| 9 | November 7 | New York Jets | W 22–17 | CBS 1:00pm | 72,574 | 3–5 |
| 10 | November 14 | at New England Patriots | L 6–29 | ESPN 8:30pm | 68,756 | 3–6 |
| 11 | November 21 | St. Louis Rams | W 37–17 | FOX 1:00pm | 72,393 | 4–6 |
| 12 | November 28 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 38–9 | CBS 4:15pm | 66,271 | 5–6 |
| 13 | December 5 | at Miami Dolphins | W 42–32 | CBS 1:00pm | 73,084 | 6–6 |
| 14 | December 12 | Cleveland Browns | W 37–7 | CBS 1:00pm | 72,330 | 7–6 |
| 15 | December 19 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 33–17 | CBS 1:00pm | 65,378 | 8–6 |
| 16 | December 26 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 41–7 | CBS 4:05pm | 63,248 | 9–6 |
| 17 | January 2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 24–29 | CBS 1:00pm | 73,414 | 9–7 |
| Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Jaguars | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| Bills | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |

## Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(2)}$ New England Patriots | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 5–1 | 10–2 | 437 | 260 | W2 |
| $^{(5)}$ New York Jets | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 333 | 261 | L2 |
| Buffalo Bills | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 5–7 | 395 | 284 | L1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 1–5 | 2–10 | 275 | 354 | L1 |
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. ||||||||||||