The 2004 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 56th season and 52nd with the National Football League. The Browns were looking to improve on their 5–11 record from 2003 and return to their 2002 playoff position; however, hindered by a tough schedule they regressed further and only won four games. On November 30, Butch Davis resigned as head coach and general manager of the team. He was succeeded by offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie. Robiskie promoted tight end coach Rob Chudzinski to offensive coordinator.

On September 12, the Browns defeated the Baltimore Ravens, 20–3, marking the team's only Week 1 win since returning to the NFL in 1999 until they defeated the Carolina Panthers in 2022, 26–24. In the 24 seasons since the Browns returned to the league, the Browns opening week record is 3–20–1.

2004 NFL draft

Draft order Player name Position College Round Pick 1 6 Kellen Winslow Tight end Miami 2 59 Sean Jones Safety Georgia 4 106 Luke McCown Quarterback Louisiana Tech 5 161 Amon Gordon Defensive tackle Stanford 6 176 Kirk Chambers Offensive tackle Stanford 7 208 Adimchinobi Echemandu Running back California

Personnel

Roster

Schedule Football statistics site Football Outsiders calculated that the 2004 Browns played the toughest schedule of any NFL team between 1989 and 2013, based on strength of opponent, although Pro Football Reference argues that their schedule was only the fifth-toughest in this span and twelfth-toughest non-strike since 1971.Tougher schedules according to Pro Football Reference in non-strike seasons since 1971 were suffered by, in descending order of toughness, the 2010 Buffalo Bills, the 1975 Browns and 1975 Jets (equal), the 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 2010 Miami Dolphins, the 1979 Cincinnati Bengals, the 1977 Kansas City Chiefs, the 1973 San Francisco 49ers, and lastly by the 1991 Phoenix Cardinals and 2015 San Francisco 49ers (equal). The Browns played just one game – their Week 16 contest against the Miami Dolphins – against a team with fewer than six wins, and played five against opponents with 12 or more wins, including a total of three against Steelers and Patriots who were a combined 28–2 against their remaining opponents.

Apart from their AFC North division games, the Browns played against the AFC East and NFC East according to the conference rotation, and played the Chargers and Texans based on 2003 divisional positions. Week Date Opponent Result Record Stadium Attendance 1 September 12 Baltimore Ravens W 20–3 1–0 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,068 2 September 19 at Dallas Cowboys L 12–19 1–1 Texas Stadium 63,119 3 September 26 at New York Giants L 10–271–2 Giants Stadium 78,521 4 October 3 Washington Redskins W 17–13 2–2 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,348 5 October 10 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 23–34 2–3 Heinz Field 63,609 6 October 17 Cincinnati Bengals W 34–17 3–3 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,263 7 October 24 Philadelphia Eagles L 31–34 (OT) 3–4 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,394 8 Bye 9 November 7 at Baltimore Ravens L 13–27 3–5 M&T Bank Stadium 69,781 10 November 14 Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–24 3–6 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,703 11 November 21 New York Jets L 7–10 3–7 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,547 12 November 28 at Cincinnati Bengals L 48–58 3–8 Paul Brown Stadium 65,677 13 December 5 New England Patriots L 15–42 3–9 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,028 14 December 12 at Buffalo Bills L 7–37 3–10 Ralph Wilson Stadium 72,330 15 December 19 San Diego Chargers L 0–21 3–11 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,489 16 December 26 at Miami Dolphins L 7–10 3–12 Pro Player Stadium 73,169 17 January 2 at Houston Texans W 22–14 4–12 Reliant Stadium 70,724Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Conference standings

Notes

References

External links 2004 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference (Profootballreference.com) 2004 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com 2004 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com at DatabaseFootball.com