The 2004

2004 NFL season

The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...

 Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 season was their 45th in the league

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. The team improved upon their previous season's output

2003 Buffalo Bills season

The 2003 Buffalo Bills season was their 44th in the league. The team failed to improve upon their previous season's output of 8–8, instead finishing 6–10...

 of 6–10, finishing 9–7. However, this was the fifth straight season in which the team missed the playoffs.

Buffalo needed a win in the final game of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

 to qualify for the playoffs. However, despite the Steelers playing their third-string, Buffalo lost and subsequently missed the playoffs. It was the only winning season that Buffalo had in the first decade of the 2000s (2000

2000 NFL season

The 2000 NFL season was the 81st regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXXV when the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants.Week 1 of the season reverted to Labor Day weekend in 2000...

–2009

2009 NFL season

The 2009 NFL season was the 90th regular season of the National Football League.The preseason started with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on August 9, 2009, and the regular season began September 10. The season ended with Super Bowl XLIV, the league's championship game, on February 7, 2010 at...

).

According to Football Outsiders

Football Outsiders

Football Outsiders is a website started in July 2003 which focuses on advanced statistical analysis of the NFL. The site is run by a staff of regular writers, who produce a series of weekly columns using both the site's in-house statistics and their personal analyses of NFL games.In 2005 and 2006,...

, who has tracked every play in the NFL since the early 1990s, the 2004 Bills are statistically the best NFL team (in their record-keeping history) to have failed to qualify for the playoffs.

NFL Draft

The Bills drafted future starters Lee Evans

Lee Evans (American football)

-Buffalo Bills:Evans was initially assigned the jersey number 84. Evans, as a reference to his full name, had always worn the number 3 in college, a number that was not allowed to be used in professional football for wide receivers...

 from Wisconsin

Wisconsin Badgers football

The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football...

 and J.P. Losman

J.P. Losman

Jonathan Paul "J. P." Losman is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills 22nd overall in the 2004 NFL Draft...

 from Tulane

Tulane Green Wave football

The Tulane Green Wave football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents Tulane University in New Orleans. The team is a member of Conference USA and is led by interim head coach Mark Hutson, who took over on October 18, 2011, when fifth-year head coach Bob Toledo resigned...

 in the first round of the 2004 Draft. Buffalo also signed undrafted tight end

Tight end

The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...

 Jason Peters

Jason Peters

-Buffalo Bills:Peters was picked up by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted rookie free agent in April 2004. He was cut then re-signed to the Bills' practice squad. He was signed to the active roster on November 12, 2004...

 from Arkansas

Arkansas Razorbacks football

The Arkansas Razorbacks football program is a college football team that represents the University of Arkansas. The team is a member of the Southeastern Conference's Western Division, which is in Division I's Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...

 and converted him into a Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl

In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

 offensive tackle. Buffalo traded their 2004 second round pick and 2005

2005 NFL Draft

The 2005 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also held an supplemental draft that year, which was held after...

 first round pick to move into position to draft Losman.

Round	Pick #	Player	Position	College
1	13	Lee Evans Lee Evans (American football) -Buffalo Bills:Evans was initially assigned the jersey number 84. Evans, as a reference to his full name, had always worn the number 3 in college, a number that was not allowed to be used in professional football for wide receivers...	Wide Receiver Wide receiver A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...	Wisconsin Wisconsin Badgers football The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football...
1	22	J.P. Losman J.P. Losman Jonathan Paul "J. P." Losman is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills 22nd overall in the 2004 NFL Draft...	Quarterback Quarterback Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...	Tulane Tulane Green Wave football The Tulane Green Wave football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents Tulane University in New Orleans. The team is a member of Conference USA and is led by interim head coach Mark Hutson, who took over on October 18, 2011, when fifth-year head coach Bob Toledo resigned...
3	74	Tim Anderson Tim Anderson (American football) Timothy J. Anderson was an American football defensive tackle for the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft...	Defensive Tackle	Ohio State Ohio State Buckeyes football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
4	109	Tim Euhus Tim Euhus Tim Euhus is an American football tight end currently in free agency. He was originally drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft...	Tight End Tight end The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...	Oregon State Oregon State Beavers football The Oregon State Beavers football team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I-A college football. The team first fielded an organized football team in 1893 and is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. The head coach is Mike Riley, with Danny Langsdorf as the offensive...
7	207	Dylan McFarland Dylan McFarland Dylan McFarland is a former American football offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League and the Hamburg Sea Devils in NFL Europa....	Offensive Tackle	Montana Montana Grizzlies football The Montana Grizzlies football program represents the University of Montana in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision of college football. The Grizzlies have competed in the Big Sky Conference, where it is a founding member, since 1963...
7	214	Jonathan Smith	Wide Receiver Wide receiver A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...	Georgia Tech Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in collegiate level football. While the team is officially designated as the Yellow Jackets, it is also referred to as the Ramblin' Wreck. The Yellow Jackets are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference...

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	Attendance
1	September 12, 2004	Jacksonville Jaguars Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	L 13–10	CBS 1:00pm	72,389
2	September 19, 2004	at Oakland Raiders Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	L 13–10	CBS 4:05pm	53,610
3	Bye
4	October 3, 2004	New England Patriots New England Patriots The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...	L 31–17	CBS 1:00pm	72,698
5	October 10, 2004	at New York Jets New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	L 16–14	CBS 4:15pm	77,976
6	October 17, 2004	Miami Dolphins Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 20–13	CBS 1:00pm	72,714
7	October 24, 2004	at Baltimore Ravens Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...	L 20–6	CBS 1:00pm	69,809
8	October 31, 2004	Arizona Cardinals Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 38–14	FOX 1:00pm	65,887
9	November 7, 2004	New York Jets New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 22–17	CBS 1:00pm	72,574
10	November 14, 2004	at New England Patriots New England Patriots The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...	L 29–6	ESPN 8:30pm	68,756
11	November 21, 2004	St. Louis Rams St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...	W 37–17	FOX 4:15pm	72,393
12	November 28, 2004	at Seattle Seahawks Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...	W 38–9	CBS 4:05pm	66,271
13	December 5, 2004	at Miami Dolphins Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 42–32	CBS 1:00pm	73,084
14	December 12, 2004	Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 37–7	CBS 1:00pm	72,330
15	December 19, 2004	at Cincinnati Bengals Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...	W 33–17	CBS 1:00pm	65,378
16	December 26, 2004	at San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...	W 41–7	CBS 4:05pm	63,248
17	January 2, 2005	Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...	L 29–24	CBS 1:00pm	73,414