2004 Miami Dolphins season

The 2004 Miami Dolphins season was the team's 39th overall, and 35th as a member of the National Football League. The Dolphins were unable to improve upon their previous season's output of 10–6, instead only going 4–12 after starting the season 0–6.[1] The team was adversely affected by the premature retirement of their star running back, Ricky Williams, and the trade of holdout defensive end Adewale Ogunleye for wide receiver Marty Booker. With this season record below .500 the team would have their first losing season since 1988.

2004 Miami Dolphins season
Head coach	Dave Wannstedt (resigned during bye week; 1–8 record) Jim Bates (Interim)
Owner	Wayne Huizenga
Home field	Pro Player Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	2

Despite the disappointing season, the Dolphins, at 2–11 were able to upset the defending Super Bowl champion 12–1 New England Patriots, a memorable game of the Dolphins-Patriots rivalry known as "The Night That Courage Wore Orange", and handed the Patriots their second loss of the season. During Week 6, their match with the Buffalo Bills is the only time in the NFL since 1968 that the last two winless teams have met each other.[2]

Staff

2004 Miami Dolphins staff

	Front office Owner/Chairman of the Board – Wayne Huizenga President – Eddie Jones Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer – Bryan Wiedmeier General Manager – Rick Spielman Head coaches Head Coach – Dave Wannstedt (Games 1-9) Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks – Marc Trestman Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Chris Foerster Running Backs – Joel Collier Wide Receivers – Jerry Sullivan Tight Ends – Bernie Parmalee Offensive Line – Tony Wise Offensive Quality Control/Receivers – Judd Garrett Fellowship Coach-Offense/Special Teams – Jeff Dellenbach			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Jim Bates (Interim Head Coach Games 10-16) Defensive Line – Clarence Brooks Assistant Defensive Line – Glenn Pires Linebackers – Bob Sanders (Defensive Coordinator Games 10-16) Secondary – Mel Phillips Defensive Nickel Package – Bill Lewis Special teams coaches Special Teams – Keith Armstrong Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – John Gamble Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Eric Fears

Roster

2004 Miami Dolphins final roster

	Quarterbacks  7 A. J. Feeley  9 Jay Fiedler 18 Sage Rosenfels Running backs 42 Doug Easlick FB 30 Lamar Gordon 33 Vick King 44 Rob Konrad FB 28 Travis Minor 31 Sammy Morris Wide receivers 15 Ronald Bellamy 86 Marty Booker 84 Chris Chambers 82 Bryan Gilmore 88 Derrius Thompson 83 Wes Welker Tight ends 85 Donald Lee 81 Randy McMichael		Offensive linemen 72 Vernon Carey T 66 Rex Hadnot G 78 Jeno James G 60 Greg Jerman G 77 Damion McIntosh T 68 Seth McKinney C 70 John St. Clair T 69 Taylor Whitley G Defensive linemen 96 David Bowens DE 98 Bryan Robinson DT 94 Dario Romero DT 99 Jason Taylor DE 91 Jay Williams DE 90 Jeff Zgonina DT		Linebackers 50 Brendon Ayanbadejo ILB 51 Tony Bua 52 Morlon Greenwood OLB 56 Derrick Pope OLB 54 Zach Thomas ILB 55 Junior Seau OLB 53 Renaud Williams Defensive backs 37 Yeremiah Bell SS 24 Sammy Knight S 29 Sam Madison CB 27 Will Poole 23 Patrick Surtain CB 22 Shawn Wooden CB 35 Jimmy Wyrick Special teams 10 Olindo Mare K  1 Matt Turk P		Reserve lists 64 Larry Chester DT (IR)  6 Alphonso Roundtree CB (IR) 74 Wade Smith T (IR) 62 Eric Wilson G (IR) Practice squad 71 Tony Pape T Rookies in italics active, inactive, practice squad

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	Attendance
1	September 11, 2004	Tennessee Titans	L 17–7	CBS 1:00pm	69,987
2	September 19, 2004	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 16–13	ESPN 8:30pm	65,705
3	September 26, 2004	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 13–3	CBS 1:00pm game was moved to 8:30	72,225
4	October 3, 2004	New York Jets	L 17–9	CBS 4:15pm	73,157
5	October 10, 2004	at New England Patriots	L 24–10	CBS 1:00pm	68,756
6	October 17, 2004	at Buffalo Bills	L 20–13	CBS 1:00pm	72,714
7	October 24, 2004	St. Louis Rams	W 31–14	FOX 1:00pm	72,945
8	November 1, 2004	at New York Jets	L 41–14	ABC 9:00pm	78,216
9	November 7, 2004	Arizona Cardinals	L 24–23	FOX 1:00pm	72,612
10	Bye
11	November 21, 2004	at Seattle Seahawks	L 24–17	CBS 4:05pm	66,644
12	November 28, 2004	at San Francisco 49ers	W 24–17	CBS 4:15pm	66,156
13	December 5, 2004	Buffalo Bills	L 42–32	CBS 1:00pm	73,084
14	December 12, 2004	at Denver Broncos	L 20–17	CBS 4:05pm	75,027
15	December 20, 2004	New England Patriots	W 29–28	ABC 9:00pm	73,629
16	December 26, 2004	Cleveland Browns	W 10–7	ESPN 8:30pm	73,169
17	January 2, 2005	at Baltimore Ravens	L 30–23	CBS 1:00pm	69,843

"The Night That Courage Wore Orange"

On December 20, the 2–11 Dolphins upset the 12–1 defending Super Bowl champion Patriots on Monday Night Football by a score of 29–28. Late in the game, A. J. Feeley threw a game-winning touchdown to Derrius Thompson on 4th down and 10. Bleacher Report writer Thomas Galicia nicknamed the game "The Night That Courage Wore Orange".[3]

Images

• 
  Miami at the Jets in the 2004 season, week 8
• 
  Dolphins defense is called into action, week 8

Standings

AFC East
	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

References

1. 2004 Miami Dolphins
2. Last Winless Team in Each NFL season
3. Galicia, Thomas (October 4, 2010). "Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots: Greatest Games In The Series". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 8, 2017.