The 2004 season was the New England Patriots' 35th in the National Football League (NFL), their 45th overall and their fifth under head coach Bill Belichick. They finished with their second consecutive 14–2 record before advancing to and winning Super Bowl XXXIX, their third Super Bowl victory in four years, and their last until 2014. They are, as of 2022, the most recent team to repeat as NFL Champions and only the second to win 3 Super Bowls in a 4-year span (the other being the Dallas Cowboys from the 1992 to 1995 seasons).
Following a Super Bowl win in 2003, the Patriots looked to improve their running game in the offseason. They replaced Antowain Smith with longtime but disgruntled Cincinnati Bengals running back Corey Dillon, who was acquired in a trade days before the 2004 NFL Draft; Dillon would rush for a career-high 1,635 yards in 2004. Winning their first six games of the season, the Patriots set the NFL record for consecutive regular season victories (18), which was later broken by the 2006–2008 Patriots (21), and consecutive regular season and playoff victories (21) before losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 31. In that game, Pro Bowl cornerback Ty Law was lost for the season with a foot injury. Combined with the loss of other starting cornerback Tyrone Poole two weeks earlier, the Patriots were forced to complete the regular season and playoffs by using second-year cornerback Asante Samuel, undrafted free agent Randall Gay, and longtime Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown at cornerback, among others.
With a 14–2 record and the second seed in the AFC playoffs, the Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts at home in the playoffs for the second-straight year, holding the Colts' top offense to three points. The Patriots then defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road, 41–27, in the AFC Championship Game. Prior to the Patriots' matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, Eagles wide receiver Freddie Mitchell said he did not know the names of the Patriots' defensive backs, which was taken as a sign of disrespect by the Patriots' "replacement" secondary. The Patriots would go on to defeat the Eagles 24–21 in their second straight Super Bowl victory and third championship in four seasons, cementing their status as the NFL sports dynasty of the 2000s. Despite being eventually overshadowed by their 2007 counterparts, the 2004 Patriots are still considered one of the greatest NFL teams of all time. In 2019, the NFL on its 100th anniversary ranked the 2004 Patriots as the No. 16 greatest NFL team of all time, the highest ranked New England team that won the Super Bowl. Until their 2016 team won the Super Bowl, no team with more than 13 wins would win the Super Bowl.
Offseason
2004 NFL draft
Staff
Opening training camp roster
At the time of the first public training camp practice at Gillette Stadium on July 29, they had the NFL maximum of 80 players signed to their roster. The Patriots received seven roster exemptions for the NFL Europe allocations of Rohan Davey, Jamil Soriano, Chas Gessner, Lawrence Flugence, Scott Farley, Buck Rasmussen, and David Pruce. Additionally, the Patriots allocated safety Jason Perry and cornerback Michael Hall to NFL Europe and received roster exemptions for them, but those players were waived before the start of training camp. Finally, rookie Benjamin Watson had not yet signed a contract by the start of camp and did not count against the roster limit.
Roster
Week 1 roster
Final roster
Schedule
Preseason
Regular season
Postseason
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. Indianapolis Colts
Opening the NFL season on a Thursday night with a rematch of the previous season's AFC Championship Game, the Patriots began the game with a heavy reliance on throwing the ball. This led to an opening-drive field goal by Adam Vinatieri and a 3–0 lead. Indianapolis then drove inside the Patriots red zone, but the drive ended with no points when Peyton Manning was intercepted by Tedy Bruschi at the New England 1-yard line. The Patriots responded by turning to their running game with the newly acquired Corey Dillon carrying the ball a number of times on the Patriots next several drives. After Mike Vanderjagt hit his record 42nd consecutive field goal to tie the game, the teams fired up their offenses in the second quarter, with Edgerrin James carrying much of the workload for the Colts. Indianapolis led 17–13 at the half.