| Year: | 2004 |
| Nflchampion: | New England Patriots |
| Regular Season: | September 9, 2004 – January 2, 2005 |
| Playoffs Start: | January 8, 2005 |
| Afcchampion: | New England Patriots |
| Afcrunner-Up: | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Nfcchampion: | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Nfcrunner-Up: | Atlanta Falcons |
| Sb Name: | XXXIX |
| Sb Date: | February 6, 2005 |
| Sb Site: | ALLTEL Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida |
| Pb Date: | February 13, 2005 |
The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League (NFL).
With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004, to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced the rescheduling of two Miami Dolphins home games: the game against the Tennessee Titans was moved up one day to Saturday, September 11 to avoid oncoming Hurricane Ivan, while the game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, September 26 was moved back 7½ hours to miss the eye of Hurricane Jeanne.
The playoffs began on January 8, and eventually the New England Patriots repeated as NFL champions when they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on February 6. It would mark the last time a team won back-to-back Super Bowls until 2023 (that team being the Kansas City Chiefs).
The 2004 NFL draft was held from April 24 to 25, 2004 at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, the San Diego Chargers selected quarterback Eli Manning from the University of Mississippi.
Ron Blum returned to line judge (where he officiated Super Bowl XXIV and Super Bowl XXVI), and Bill Vinovich was promoted to take his place as referee.
Midway through the season, Johnny Grier, the NFL's first African-American referee, suffered a leg injury that forced him to retire. He was permanently replaced by the back judge on his crew, Scott Green, who had previous experience as a referee in NFL Europe.
See main article: 2004–05 NFL playoffs.
The Miami Dolphins were the first team to be eliminated from the playoff race, having reached a 1–9 record by week 11.[2]
The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:
| Record | Player/team | Date/opponent | Previous record holder[3] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longest interception return | Ed Reed, Baltimore (106 yards) | November 7, vs Cleveland | Tied by 2 players (103) | |
| Most touchdown passes, season | Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (49) | N/A | Dan Marino, Miami, 1984 (48) | |
| Highest passer rating, season | Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (121.1) | Steve Young, San Francisco, 1994 (112.8) | ||
| Most interception return yards gained, season | Ed Reed, Baltimore (358) | Charlie McNeil, San Diego, 1961 (349) | ||
| Most first downs by a team, season | Kansas City (398) | Miami, 1994 (387) | ||
| Most consecutive games won | New England (21) | October 24, vs. N.Y. Jets | Chicago, 1933–34 (17) | |
| Most passing touchdowns by a team, season | Indianapolis (51) | N/A | Miami, 1984 (49) |
The Colts led the NFL with 522 points scored. The Colts tallied more points in the first half of each of their games of the 2004 NFL season (277 points) than seven other NFL teams managed in the entire season.[4] Despite throwing for 49 touchdown passes, Peyton Manning attempted fewer than 500 passes for the first time in his NFL career.[5] The San Francisco 49ers' record 420 consecutive scoring games that had started in Week 5 of the 1977 season ended in Week 2 of the season.
| Points scored | Indianapolis Colts (522) | |
| Total yards gained | Kansas City Chiefs (6,695) | |
| Yards rushing | Atlanta Falcons (2,672) | |
| Yards passing | Indianapolis Colts (4,623) | |
| Fewest points allowed | Pittsburgh Steelers (251) | |
| Fewest total yards allowed | Pittsburgh Steelers (4,134) | |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | Pittsburgh Steelers (1,299) | |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2,579) |
| Scoring | Adam Vinatieri, New England (141 points) | |
| Touchdowns | Shaun Alexander, Seattle (20 TDs) | |
| Most field goals made | Adam Vinatieri, New England (31 FGs) | |
| Passing | Daunte Culpepper, Minnesota (4717 yards) | |
| Passing Touchdowns | Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (49 TDs) | |
| Passer Rating | Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (121.1 rating) | |
| Rushing | Curtis Martin, New York Jets (1,697 yards) | |
| Rushing Touchdowns | LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (17 TDs) | |
| Receptions | Tony Gonzalez, Kansas City (102) | |
| Receiving yards | Muhsin Muhammad, Carolina (1,405) | |
| Punt returns | Eddie Drummond, Detroit (13.2 average yards) | |
| Kickoff returns | Willie Ponder, New York Giants (26.9 average yards) | |
| Interceptions | Ed Reed, Baltimore (9) | |
| Punting | Shane Lechler, Oakland (46.7 average yards) | |
| Sacks | Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis (16) |
| Most Valuable Player | Peyton Manning, quarterback, Indianapolis | |
| Coach of the Year | Marty Schottenheimer, San Diego | |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Peyton Manning, quarterback, Indianapolis | |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Ed Reed, Strong Safety, Baltimore | |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback, Pittsburgh | |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | Jonathan Vilma, linebacker, New York Jets | |
| NFL Comeback Player of the Year | Drew Brees, quarterback, San Diego | |
| Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year | Warrick Dunn, running back, Atlanta | |
| Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Deion Branch, wide receiver, New England |
This was the seventh year under the league's eight-year broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, Fox, and ESPN to televise Monday Night Football, the AFC package, the NFC package, and Sunday Night Football, respectively.
At CBS, Jim Nantz and Greg Gumbel swapped roles. Nantz replaced Gumbel as the network's lead play-by-play announcer while Gumbel took Nantz's hosting duties on The NFL Today. Shannon Sharpe also joined The NFL Today as an analyst, replacing Deion Sanders.
ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Patrick missed the first few broadcasts to recover from heart bypass surgery. Pat Summerall filled in those weeks for Patrick.
Starting this season CBS, Fox, ABC, and ESPN started broadcasting regular season games in High Definition. CBS would do select games weekly, while Fox, ABC, and ESPN broadcast every game weekly.