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 (NFL). 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. 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, as well as career ending injuries to fullback Rob Konrad and defensive tackle Tim Bowens. With this season record below .500 the team would have their first losing season since 1988. Two of their games were postponed due to Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Jeanne.

Despite the disappointing season, the Dolphins, at 2–11 were able to upset the defending and eventual 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.

Schedule

style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Week	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Date	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Opponent	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Result	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Record	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Venue	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Attendance
1	Template:Dow tooltip	Tennessee Titans	L 7–17	0–1	Pro Player Stadium	69,987
2	September 19	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 13–16	0–2	Paul Brown Stadium	65,705
3	September 26	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–13	0–3	Pro Player Stadium	72,225
4	October 3	New York Jets	L 9–17	0–4	Pro Player Stadium	73,157
5	October 10	at New England Patriots	L 10–24	0–5	Gillette Stadium	68,756
6	October 17	at Buffalo Bills	L 13–20	0–6	Ralph Wilson Stadium	72,214
7	October 24	St. Louis Rams	W 31–14	1–6	Pro Player Stadium	72,945
8	Template:Dow tooltip	at New York Jets	L 14–41	1–7	Giants Stadium	78,216
9	November 7	Arizona Cardinals	L 23–24	1–8	Pro Player Stadium	72,612
10	Bye
11	November 21	at Seattle Seahawks	L 17–24	1–9	Qwest Field	66,644
12	November 28	at San Francisco 49ers	W 24–17	2–9	Monster Park	66,156
13	December 5	Buffalo Bills	L 32–42	2–10	Pro Player Stadium	73,084
14	December 12	at Denver Broncos	L 17–20	2–11	Invesco Field at Mile High	75,027
15	Template:Dow tooltip	New England Patriots	W 29–28	3–11	Pro Player Stadium	73,629
16	December 26	Cleveland Browns	W 10–7	4–11	Pro Player Stadium	73,169
17	January 2	at Baltimore Ravens	L 23–30	4–12	M&T Bank Stadium	69,843
colspan="7" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text

"The Night That Courage Wore Orange"

On December 20, the 2–11 Dolphins upset the 12–1 defending and eventual 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".

Images

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