2004 Carolina Panthers season

2004 Carolina Panthers season
OwnerJerry Richardson
General managerMarty Hurney
Head coachJohn Fox
Home fieldBank of America Stadium
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC South
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR Muhsin Muhammad
DE Julius Peppers
LB Mark Fields
LB Dan Morgan
Carolina Panthers wordmark between 1996 and 2011

The 2004 Carolina Panthers season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League and the 3rd under head coach John Fox. It was also the team's 8th season at Bank of America Stadium. They failed to improve upon their record in 2003, a year when they finished the regular season 11–5 and ultimately fell 29–32 in Super Bowl XXXVIII to the New England Patriots and they finished 7–9. Their collapse to a 1–7 record start was because of key injuries to their starters including wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., through the first eight games. Despite their late-season rally, they failed to make the playoffs since 2002. They would suffer another collapse in 2016 to a 6–10 record that year after appearing in Super Bowl 50 the previous season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 2004 NFL Draft
2004 Carolina Panthers draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 28 Chris Gamble  Cornerback Ohio State
2 62 Keary Colbert  Wide receiver USC
3 94 Travelle Wharton  Offensive tackle South Carolina
5 163 Drew Carter  Wide receiver Ohio State
6 196 Sean Tufts  Linebacker Colorado
7 232 Michael Gaines  Tight end Central Florida
      Made roster  

[1]

Personnel

Staff

2004 Carolina Panthers staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning


[2]

Roster

2004 Carolina Panthers roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 14 reserve, 8 practice squad

Schedule

Regular season

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 13 Green Bay Packers L 14–24 0–1 Bank of America Stadium Recap
2 September 19 at Kansas City Chiefs W 28–17 1–1 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
3 Bye
4 October 3 Atlanta Falcons L 10–27 1–2 Bank of America Stadium Recap
5 October 10 at Denver Broncos L 17–20 1–3 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap
6 October 17 at Philadelphia Eagles L 8–30 1–4 Lincoln Financial Field Recap
7 October 24 San Diego Chargers L 6–17 1–5 Bank of America Stadium Recap
8 October 31 at Seattle Seahawks L 17–23 1–6 Qwest Field Recap
9 November 7 Oakland Raiders L 24–27 1–7 Bank of America Stadium Recap
10 November 14 at San Francisco 49ers W 37–27 2–7 Monster Park Recap
11 November 21 Arizona Cardinals W 35–10 3–7 Bank of America Stadium Recap
12 November 28 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 21–14 4–7 Bank of America Stadium Recap
13 December 5 at New Orleans Saints W 32–21 5–7 Louisiana Superdome Recap
14 December 12 St. Louis Rams W 20–7 6–7 Bank of America Stadium Recap
15 December 18 at Atlanta Falcons L 31–34 (OT) 6–8 Georgia Dome Recap
16 December 26 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 37–20 7–8 Raymond James Stadium Recap
17 January 2 New Orleans Saints L 18–21 7–9 Bank of America Stadium Recap

Standings

NFC South
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(2) Atlanta Falcons 11 5 0 .688 4–2 8–4 340 337 L2
New Orleans Saints 8 8 0 .500 3–3 6–6 348 405 W4
Carolina Panthers 7 9 0 .438 3–3 6–6 355 339 L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 11 0 .313 2–4 4–8 301 304 L4
NFC[3]
# 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[a] St. Louis Rams West 8 8 0 .500 5–1 7–5 .488 .438 W2
6[a][b] Minnesota Vikings North 8 8 0 .500 3–3 5–7 .480 .406 L2
Did not qualify for the postseason
7[a][b] 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[c] Detroit Lions North 6 10 0 .375 2–4 5–7 .496 .417 L2
10[c] Arizona Cardinals West 6 10 0 .375 2–4 5–7 .461 .417 W1
11[c][d] New York Giants East 6 10 0 .375 3–3 5–7 .516 .417 W1
12[c][d][e] Dallas Cowboys East 6 10 0 .375 2–4 5–7 .516 .375 L1
13[c][d][e] Washington Redskins East 6 10 0 .375 1–5 6–6 .477 .333 W1
14[f] Tampa Bay Buccaneers South 5 11 0 .313 2–4 4–8 .477 .413 L4
15[f] 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[g]
  1. ^ a b c 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).
  2. ^ a b Minnesota clinched the NFC #6 seed instead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory.
  3. ^ a b c d e 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.
  4. ^ a b c 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).
  5. ^ a b Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep.
  6. ^ a b Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago based upon head-to-head victory.
  7. ^ 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

  1. ^ "2004 Carolina Panthers Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  2. ^ "Assistant Coaches". Panthers.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  3. ^ "2004 Conference Standings". National Football League. Retrieved April 6, 2024.