2004 Denver Broncos season

2004 Denver Broncos season
2004 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Pat Bowlen
General manager	Ted Sundquist and Mike Shanahan
President	Pat Bowlen
Head coach	Mike Shanahan
Offensive coordinator	Gary Kubiak
Defensive coordinator	Larry Coyer
Home field	Invesco Field at Mile High
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs; (at Colts) 24–49
Pro Bowlers	FS John Lynch; CB Champ Bailey
	← 2003; Broncos seasons; 2005 →;

The 2004 Denver Broncos season was the franchise's 35th season in the National Football League (NFL) and the 45th overall. Under head coach Mike Shanahan the Broncos equalled their 10–6 record from 2003, and again finished second in the AFC West. In a repeat of 2003, the Broncos’ season ended in defeat to the Indianapolis Colts 49–24 in the AFC Wild Card playoffs.

Starting quarterback Jake Plummer finished the season with 4,089 passing yards (4th in the league). During the offseason, the Broncos traded running back Clinton Portis to the Washington Redskins in exchange for cornerback Champ Bailey.

Offseason

The Broncos acquired cornerback Champ Bailey in a trade with the Washington Redskins, sending running back Clinton Portis to Washington in return.

During the offseason, the Broncos failed to retain linebackers Keith Burns and Ian Gold. Both would sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but however, both players would return to the team in the following season. Also, the Broncos failed to retain defensive end Bertrand Berry, who would sign with the Arizona Cardinals as a free agent.

The Broncos also signed safety John Lynch as a free agent after he was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2004 Denver Broncos draft
1	17	D. J. Williams	Linebacker	Miami (FL)	from Cincinnati^[1]
2	41	Tatum Bell	Running back	Oklahoma State	from Washington^[2]
2	54	Darius Watts	Wide receiver	Marshall
3	85	Jeremy LeSueur	Cornerback	Michigan
5	152	Jeff Shoate	Cornerback	San Diego State
6	171	Triandos Luke	Wide receiver	Alabama
6	190	Josh Sewell	Center	Nebraska
7	225	Matt Mauck	Quarterback	LSU
7	247	Brandon Miree	Fullback	Pittsburgh
7	250	Bradlee Van Pelt	Quarterback	Colorado State
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

**2004 Denver Broncos staff**
	Front office President and chief executive officer – Pat Bowlen General manager – Ted Sundquist Director of pro personnel – Rick Smith Director of college scouting – Jim Goodman Head coaches Executive vice president of football operations/head coach – Mike Shanahan Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Gary Kubiak Quarterbacks – Pat McPherson Running backs – Bobby Turner Wide receivers – Steve Watson Tight ends – Brian Pariani Offensive line – Rick Dennison Offensive assistant/special teams – Troy Calhoun			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Larry Coyer Defensive line – Jacob Burney Assistant defensive line/pass rush specialist – Keith Millard Defensive backs – David Gibbs Assistant defensive backs – Jimmy Spencer Defensive assistant/special teams – Kirk Doll Special teams coaches Special teams – Ronnie Bradford Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Rich Tuten Assistant strength and conditioning – Greg Saporta Assistant strength and conditioning – Cedric Smith

Roster

**2004 Denver Broncos roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 13 Danny Kanell 16 Jake Plummer Running backs (RB) 26 Tatum Bell 34 Reuben Droughns KR 39 Kyle Johnson 27 Jonathan Reese 37 Cecil Sapp Wide receivers (WR) 81 Charlie Adams 85 Ashley Lelie 10 Triandos Luke KR/PR 80 Rod Smith PR 17 Darius Watts Tight ends (TE) 89 Dwayne Carswell 86 Patrick Hape 88 Jeb Putzier		Offensive linemen (OL) 69 P. J. Alexander C 65 Cooper Carlisle G 70 Tyson Clabo T 72 George Foster T 74 Cornell Green T 50 Ben Hamilton G 78 Matt Lepsis T 66 Tom Nalen C 62 Dan Neil G 63 Tim Stuber G Defensive linemen (DL) 92 Marco Coleman DE 68 Mario Fatafehi DT 98 Reggie Hayward DE 61 Ellis Johnson DT 99 Raylee Johnson DE 95 Anton Palepoi DE 75 Monsanto Pope DT 93 Trevor Pryce DT 97 Demetrin Veal DT		Linebackers (LB) 55 Patrick Chukwurah OLB 53 Louis Green OLB 58 Terry Pierce MLB 59 Donnie Spragan OLB 57 Jashon Sykes OLB 52 D.J. Williams OLB 56 Al Wilson MLB Defensive backs (DB) 45 Roc Alexander CB/KR 24 Champ Bailey CB 42 Sam Brandon FS 25 Nick Ferguson FS 31 Kelly Herndon CB 28 Kenoy Kennedy SS 47 John Lynch FS 40 Jeff Shoate CB 32 Chris Young SS Special teams 6 Jason Baker P 1 Jason Elam K 83 Mike Leach LS				Practice squad 30 Santonio Beard RB 36 Curome Cox S 3 Romar Crenshaw WR 18 Grant Mattos WR 8 Matt Mauck QB 71 D.J. Renteria DE 79 Josh Sewell C 9 Bradlee Van Pelt QB Reserve 38 Mike Anderson FB (IR) 96 Dorsett Davis DT (IR) 94 Luther Elliss DT (IR) 22 Quentin Griffin RB (IR) 20 Garrison Hearst RB (IR) 14 Nate Jackson WR (IR) 12 B.J. Johnson WR (IR) 43 Jeremy LeSueur CB (IR) 23 Willie Middlebrooks CB (IR) 48 Brandon Miree RB (IR) 35 Lenny Walls CB (IR) Rookies in italics 53 active, 11 reserve, 8 practice squad

Schedule

In addition to their regular home-and-away series with AFC West rivals the Raiders, the Chiefs and the Chargers, the Broncos played teams from the AFC South and NFC South as per the schedule rotation established in 2002,^[3] and also played intraconference games against the Miami Dolphins and the Cincinnati Bengals based on their common divisional position vis-à-vis the Broncos from 2003.

The Christmas Day game was the first occasion the Broncos had played the Titans since they were the Houston Oilers, whom they previously met in 1995.^[4] This is because between 1978 and 2002 non-divisional conference games were scheduled exclusively based upon the preceding season’s finish.^[5]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance	TV
1	September 12	Kansas City Chiefs	W 34–24	1–0	75,939	ESPN
2	September 19	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 6–7	1–1	69,127	CBS
3	September 26	San Diego Chargers	W 23–13	2–1	74,533	CBS
4	October 3	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 16–13	3–1	65,341	CBS
5	October 10	Carolina Panthers	W 20–17	4–1	75,072	Fox
6	October 17	at Oakland Raiders	W 31–3	5–1	57,293	CBS
7	October 25	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 10–23	5–2	65,806	ABC
8	October 31	Atlanta Falcons	L 28–41	5–3	75,083	Fox
9	November 7	Houston Texans	W 31–13	6–3	74,292	CBS
10	Bye
11	November 21	at New Orleans Saints	W 34–13	7–3	64,900	CBS
12	November 28	Oakland Raiders	L 24–25	7–4	75,936	ESPN
13	December 5	at San Diego Chargers	L 17–20	7–5	65,395	CBS
14	December 12	Miami Dolphins	W 20–17	8–5	75,027	CBS
15	December 19	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 17–45	8–6	77,702	CBS
16	December 25	at Tennessee Titans	W 37–16	9–6	68,809	ESPN
17	January 2	Indianapolis Colts	W 33–14	10–6	75,149	CBS
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Wild Card	January 9, 2005	at Indianapolis Colts	L 24–49	0–1	RCA Dome	56,609

Standings

AFC West
view talk edit	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^[6] view talk edit
#	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^[a]	Indianapolis Colts	South	12	4	0	.750	5–1	8–4	.500	.458	L1
4^[a]	San Diego Chargers	West	12	4	0	.750	5–1	9–3	.477	.411	W1
Wild cards
5^[b]	New York Jets	East	10	6	0	.625	3–3	7–5	.523	.406	L2
6^[b]	Denver Broncos	West	10	6	0	.625	3–3	7–5	.484	.450	W2
Did not qualify for the postseason
7^[c]^[d]	Jacksonville Jaguars	South	9	7	0	.563	2–4	6–6	.527	.479	W1
8^[c]^[d]	Baltimore Ravens	North	9	7	0	.563	3–3	6–6	.551	.472	W1
9^[c]	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^[e]	Houston Texans	South	7	9	0	.438	4–2	6–6	.504	.402	L1
12^[e]	Kansas City Chiefs	West	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	.551	.509	L1
13^[f]	Oakland Raiders	West	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	.570	.450	L2
14^[f]	Tennessee Titans	South	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	.512	.463	W1
15^[g]	Miami Dolphins	East	4	12	0	.250	1–5	2–10	.555	.438	L1
16^[g]	Cleveland Browns	North	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	.590	.469	W1
Tiebreakers^[h]
^ ^a ^b Indianapolis clinched the AFC #3 seed instead of San Diego based upon head-to-head victory. ^ ^a ^b 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). ^ ^a ^b ^c Jacksonville and Baltimore finished ahead of Buffalo because they each defeated Buffalo head-to-head. ^ ^a ^b 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). ^ ^a ^b Houston finished ahead of Kansas City based upon head-to-head victory. ^ ^a ^b Oakland finished ahead of Tennessee based upon head-to-head victory. ^ ^a ^b 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.

References

^ "Round 1". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 4, 2004. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
^ "Round 2". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
^ Urena, Ivan (2014). Pro Football Schedules: A Complete Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc. pp. 154–157, 160. ISBN 9780786473519.
^ Urena (2014). Pro Football Schedules. p. 221.
^ Urena (2014). Pro Football Schedules. pp. 85–88, 116–119.
^ "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.

[12–4-7] Indianapolis clinched the AFC #3 seed instead of San Diego based upon head-to-head victory.

[10–6-8] 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).

[9–7a-9] Jacksonville and Baltimore finished ahead of Buffalo because they each defeated Buffalo head-to-head.

[9–7b-10] 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).

[7–9-11] Houston finished ahead of Kansas City based upon head-to-head victory.

[5–11-12] Oakland finished ahead of Tennessee based upon head-to-head victory.

[4–12-13] Miami finished ahead of Cleveland based upon head-to-head victory.

[14] 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.

[Round_1-1] "Round 1". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 4, 2004. Retrieved June 7, 2008.

[Round_2-2] "Round 2". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2008.

[3] Urena, Ivan (2014). Pro Football Schedules: A Complete Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc. pp. 154–157, 160. ISBN 9780786473519.

[4] Urena (2014). Pro Football Schedules. p. 221.

[5] Urena (2014). Pro Football Schedules. pp. 85–88, 116–119.

[standings-conf-NFL-6] "2004 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.

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