2004 San Diego Chargers season

2004 San Diego Chargers season
Head coach	Marty Schottenheimer
General manager	A.J. Smith
Owner	Alex Spanos
Home field	Qualcomm Stadium
Results
Record	12–4
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Jets) (20–17 OT)

The 2004 San Diego Chargers season began with the team trying to improve on their 4–12 record in 2003. They finished the regular season 12-4 and made the playoffs for the first time in nine years. In the playoffs they lost in overtime to the New York Jets. At the end of the season Marty Schottenheimer was named NFL Coach of the Year.

Offseason

NFL draft

With the first pick overall, the Chargers drafted Eli Manning. Manning would be traded to the New York Giants in exchange for Philip Rivers and several draft picks.

Main article: Manning-Rivers trade

Round	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	Eli Manning (traded to New York Giants for Philip Rivers, plus the Giants 3rd round pick of the same year and their 1st and 5th round picks in the 2005 draft.)	Quarterback	Ole Miss
2	Igor Olshansky	Defensive Tackle	Oregon

Personnel

Staff

2004 San Diego Chargers staff
	Front office Owner – Alex Spanos President/Chief Executive Officer – Dean Spanos Executive Vice President – Michael Spanos Executive Vice President/General Manager – A. J. Smith Assistant General Manager/Director of Player Personnel – Buddy Nix Vice President of Football Operations – Ed McGuire Director of College Scouting – Jimmy Raye Director of Pro Scouting – Fran Foley Head coaches Head Coach – Marty Schottenheimer Assistant Head Coach – Tim Brewster Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Cam Cameron Quarterbacks – Brian Schottenheimer Running Backs – Clarence Shelmon Wide Receivers – James Lofton Tight Ends – Tim Brewster Offensive Line – Hudson Houck Offensive Assistant/Quality Control – Pete Carmichael, Jr.			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Wade Phillips Defensive Line – Wayne Nunnely Linebackers – Greg Manusky Secondary – Brian Stewart Defensive Assistant/Quality Control – John Pagano Special teams coaches Special Teams – Steve Crosby Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Dave Redding Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Matt Schiotz

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 12, 2004	at Houston Texans	W 27–20	70,255
2	September 19, 2004	New York Jets	L 34–28	57,310
3	September 26, 2004	at Denver Broncos	L 23–13	74,553
4	October 3, 2004	Tennessee Titans	W 38–17	54,006
5	October 10, 2004	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 34–21	52,101
6	October 17, 2004	at Atlanta Falcons	L 21–20	70,187
7	October 24, 2004	at Carolina Panthers	W 17–6	73,096
8	October 31, 2004	Oakland Raiders	W 42–14	66,210
9	November 7, 2004	New Orleans Saints	W 43–17	59,662
10	Bye
11	November 21, 2004	at Oakland Raiders	W 23–17	46,905
12	November 28, 2004	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 34–31	77,447
13	December 5, 2004	Denver Broncos	W 20–17	65,395
14	December 12, 2004	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 31–24	65,858
15	December 19, 2004	at Cleveland Browns	W 21–0	72,489
16	December 26, 2004	at Indianapolis Colts	L 34–31 (OT)	57,330
17	January 2, 2005	Kansas City Chiefs	W 24–17	64,920

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(4) San Diego Chargers	12	4	0	.750	5–1	9–3	446	313	W1
(6) Denver Broncos	10	6	0	.625	3–3	7–5	381	304	W2
Kansas City Chiefs	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	483	435	L1
Oakland Raiders	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	320	422	L2

Game summaries

Week 1: at Houston Texans

See also: 2004 Houston Texans season

1 2 3 4 Total • Chargers 3 7 10 7 27 Texans 3 10 7 0 20 Date: September 12 Location: Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX Source: [1]

Scoring summary 1 11:49 HOU Kris Brown 37-yard field goal HOU 3–0 1 7:35 SD Nate Kaeding 48-yard field goal Tied 3–3 2 14:07 HOU Kris Brown 20-yard field goal HOU 6–3 2 9:51 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 10–6 2 4:36 HOU Dominick Davis 2-yard run (Kris Brown kick) HOU 13–10 3 9:12 SD Reche Caldwell 36-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 17–13 3 4:40 HOU Dominick Davis 1-yard run (Kris Brown kick) HOU 20–17 3 0:00 SD Nate Kaeding 29-yard field goal Tied 20–20 4 8:34 SD Eric Parker 19-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 27–20

Week 2: vs. New York Jets

See also: 2004 New York Jets season

1 2 3 4 Total • Jets 14 3 10 7 34 Chargers 0 7 7 14 28 Date: September 19 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Source: [2]

Scoring summary 1 7:50 NYJ Curtis Martin 1-yard run (Doug Brien kick) NYJ 7–0 1 3:42 NYJ Curtis Martin 2-yard run (Doug Brien kick) NYJ 14–0 2 9:40 NYJ Doug Brien 28-yard field goal NYJ 17–0 2 9:28 SD Tim Dwight 87-yard punt return (Nate Kaeding kick) NYJ 17–7 3 11:16 NYJ Doug Brien 23-yard field goal NYJ 20–7 3 3:31 NYJ Jerald Sowell 4-yard pass from Chad Pennington (Doug Brien kick) NYJ 27–7 3 2:12 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 4-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) NYJ 27–14 4 7:38 SD Reche Caldwell 33-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) NYJ 27–21 4 3:56 NYJ Chris Baker 1-yard pass from Chad Pennington (Doug Brien kick) NYJ 34–21 4 0:30 SD Doug Flutie 6-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) NYJ 34–28

Week 3: at Denver Broncos

See also: 2004 Denver Broncos season

1 2 3 4 Total Chargers 3 0 7 3 13 • Broncos 7 6 7 3 23 Date: September 26 Location: Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, CO Source: [3]

Scoring summary 1 8:15 DEN Rod Smith 16-yard pass from Jake Plummer (Jason Elam kick) DEN 7–0 1 2:18 SD Nate Kaeding 23-yard field goal DEN 7–3 2 12:24 DEN Jason Elam 22-yard field goal DEN 10–3 2 7:43 DEN Jason Elam 23-yard field goal DEN 13–3 3 7:37 SD Drew Brees 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) DEN 13–10 3 3:29 DEN Ashley Lelie 33-yard pass from Jake Plummer (Jason Elam kick) DEN 20–10 4 14:06 SD Nate Kaeding 51-yard field goal DEN 20–13 4 11:12 DEN Jason Elam 43-yard field goal DEN 23–13

Week 4: vs. Tennessee Titans

See also: 2004 Tennessee Titans season

1 2 3 4 Total Titans 0 7 0 10 17 • Chargers 7 14 3 14 38 Date: October 3 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Source: [4]

Scoring summary 1 5:56 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 15-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–0 2 14:10 TEN Derrick Mason 4-yard pass from Billy Volek (Gary Anderson kick) Tied 7–7 2 5:16 SD Antonio Gates 11-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 14–7 2 0:38 SD Justin Peelle 10-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 21–7 3 4:18 SD Nate Kaeding 31-yard field goal SD 24–7 4 12:26 TEN Gary Anderson 24-yard field goal SD 24–10 4 7:04 TEN Shad Meier 3-yard pass from Billy Volek (Gary Anderson kick) SD 24–17 4 6:42 SD Reche Caldwell 58-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 31–17 4 3:18 SD Jesse Chatman 21-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 38–17

Week 5: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

See also: 2004 Jacksonville Jaguars season

1 2 3 4 Total Jaguars 0 7 0 14 21 • Chargers 14 7 6 7 34 Date: October 10 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Source: [5]

Scoring summary 1 10:14 SD Antonio Gates 1-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–0 1 4:03 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 14–0 2 9:23 SD Antonio Gates 11-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 21–0 2 1:33 JAC Chris Fumatu-Ma'afala 1-yard run (Josh Scobee kick) SD 21–7 3 7:15 SD Nate Kaeding 21-yard field goal SD 24–7 3 0:46 SD Nate Kaeding 28-yard field goal SD 27–7 4 10:42 JAC Byron Leftwich 2-yard run (Josh Scobee kick) SD 27–14 4 9:54 SD Jesse Chatman 41-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 34–14 4 7:21 JAC Cortez Hankton 7-yard pass from Byron Leftwich (Josh Scobee kick) SD 34–21

Week 6: at Atlanta Falcons

See also: 2004 Atlanta Falcons season

1 2 3 4 Total Chargers 0 14 3 3 20 • Falcons 0 7 0 14 21 Date: October 17 Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA Source: [6]

Scoring summary 2 10:24 ATL Alge Crumpler 19-yard pass from Michael Vick (Jay Feely kick) ATL 7–0 1 1:18 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) Tied 7–7 1 0:18 SD Eric Parker 17-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 14–7 3 5:10 SD Nate Kaeding 53-yard field goal SD 17–7 4 13:09 ATL Michael Vick 14-yard run (Jay Feely kick) SD 17–14 4 10:12 ATL Dez White 32-yard pass from Michael Vick (Jay Feely kick) ATL 21–17 4 6:01 SD Nate Kaeding 28-yard field goal ATL 21–20

Week 7: at Carolina Panthers

See also: 2004 Carolina Panthers season

1 2 3 4 Total • Chargers 0 0 10 7 17 Panthers 6 0 0 0 6 Date: October 24 Location: Ericsson Stadium, Charlotte, NC Source: [7]

Scoring summary 1 8:21 CAR John Kasay 28-yard field goal CAR 3–0 1 3:28 CAR John Kasay 21-yard field goal CAR 6–0 3 8:13 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 8-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–6 3 2:36 SD Nate Kaeding 44-yard field goal SD 10–6 4 1:42 SD Jesse Chatman 5-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 17–6

Week 8: vs. Oakland Raiders

See also: 2004 Oakland Raiders season

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 7 7 0 14 • Chargers 14 14 14 0 42 Date: October 31 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Source: [8]

Scoring summary 1 11:14 SD Justin Peelle 17-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–0 1 0:08 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 14–0 2 10:02 OAK Tyrone Wheatley 5-yard run (Sebastian Janikowski kick) SD 14–7 2 4:56 SD Keenan McCardell 13-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 21–7 2 0:36 SD Tim Dwight 23-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 28–7 3 11:05 SD Antonio Gates 5-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 35–7 3 3:08 SD Antonio Gates 1-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 42–7 3 0:02 OAK Doug Jolley 13-yard pass from Kerry Collins (Sebastian Janikowski kick) SD 42–14

Week 9: vs. New Orleans Saints

See also: 2004 New Orleans Saints season

1 2 3 4 Total Saints 0 7 0 10 17 • Chargers 14 6 16 7 43 Date: November 7 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Source: [9]

Scoring summary 1 9:50 SD Antonio Gates 12-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–0 1 5:29 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 14–0 2 13:02 SD Nate Kaeding 40-yard field goal SD 17–0 2 8:12 NO Deuce McAllister 2-yard run (John Carney kick) SD 17–7 2 3:15 SD Nate Kaeding 27-yard field goal SD 20–7 3 8:36 SD Safety, holding penalty on Wayne Gandy in end zone SD 22–7 3 3:15 SD Antonio Gates 7-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 29–7 3 2:04 SD Antonio Gates 2-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 36–7 4 13:53 NO John Carney 37-yard field goal SD 36–10 4 7:06 SD Kassim Osgood 12-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 43–10 4 4:04 NO Boo Williams 6-yard pass from Aaron Brooks (John Carney kick) SD 43–17

Week 11: at Oakland Raiders

1 2 3 4 Total • Chargers 6 7 3 7 23 Raiders 0 7 7 3 17 Date: November 21 Location: McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, CA Source: [10]

Scoring summary 1 9:05 SD Antonio Gates 11-yard pass from Drew Brees (kick blocked) SD 6–0 2 10:07 SD Drew Brees 6-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 13–0 2 7:40 OAK Ronald Curry 22-yard pass from Kerry Collins (Sebastian Janikowski kick) SD 13–7 3 5:21 SD Nate Kaeding 19-yard field goal SD 16–7 3 1:58 OAK Teyo Johnson 8-yard pass from Kerry Collins (Sebastian Janikowski kick) SD 16–14 4 11:06 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 6-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 23–14 4 7:11 OAK Sebastian Janikowski 31-yard field goal SD 23–17

Week 12: at Kansas City Chiefs

See also: 2004 Kansas City Chiefs season

1 2 3 4 Total • Chargers 7 7 3 17 34 Chiefs 7 10 0 14 31 Date: November 28 Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO Source: [11]

Scoring summary 1 7:01 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–0 1 4:26 KC Derrick Blaylock 5-yard run (Lawrence Tynes kick) Tied 7–7 2 9:05 KC Larry Johnson 6-yard run (Lawrence Tynes kick) KC 14–7 2 3:11 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 3-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) Tied 14–14 2 0:45 KC Lawrence Tynes 28-yard field goal KC 17–14 3 7:24 SD Nate Kaeding 25-yard field goal Tied 17–17 4 14:17 KC Derrick Blaylock 22-yard run (kick failed) KC 23–17 4 10:13 SD Antonio Gates 18-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 24–23 4 10:00 KC Dante Hall 96-yard kickoff return (Trent Green to Eddie Kennison pass) KC 31–24 4 7:22 SD Antonio Gates 11-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) Tied 31–31 4 2:24 SD Nate Kaeding 43-yard field goal SD 34–31

Week 13: vs. Denver Broncos

1 2 3 4 Total Broncos 0 7 0 10 17 • Chargers 7 10 3 0 20 Date: December 5 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Source: [12]

Scoring summary 1 12:01 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 5-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–0 2 13:27 DEN Tatum Bell 16-yard run (Jason Elam kick) Tied 7–7 2 7:05 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 14–7 2 0:00 SD Nate Kaeding 23-yard field goal SD 17–7 3 5:12 SD Nate Kaeding 23-yard field goal SD 20–7 4 14:18 DEN Reuben Droughns 4-yard run (Jason Elam kick) SD 20–14 4 9:26 DEN Jason Elam 31-yard field goal SD 20–17

Week 14: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

See also: 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

1 2 3 4 Total Buccaneers 0 7 7 10 24 • Chargers 0 14 7 10 31 Date: December 12 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Source: [13]

Scoring summary 2 11:49 SD Eric Parker 79-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–0 2 9:02 TB Joey Galloway 36-yard pass from Brian Griese (Jay Taylor kick) Tied 7–7 2 0:49 SD Kassim Osgood 19-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 14–7 3 4:56 TB Joey Galloway 4-yard pass from Brian Griese (Jay Taylor kick) Tied 14–14 3 0:30 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 7-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 21–14 4 6:03 TB Michael Clayton 20-yard pass from Brian Griese (Jay Taylor kick) Tied 21–21 4 4:09 SD Donnie Edwards 30-yard interception return (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 28–21 4 2:06 SD Nate Kaeding 40-yard field goal SD 31–21 4 0:16 TB Jay Taylor 31-yard field goal SD 31–24

Week 15: at Cleveland Browns

See also: 2004 Cleveland Browns season

1 2 3 4 Total • Chargers 7 7 7 0 21 Browns 0 0 0 0 0 Date: December 19 Location: Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, OH Source: [14]

Scoring summary 1 2:09 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–0 2 2:11 SD Antonio Gates 72-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 14–0 3 8:32 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 21–0

San Diego clinches its first division title since 1994.

Week 16: at Indianapolis Colts

See also: 2004 Indianapolis Colts season

1 2 3 4 OT Total Chargers 7 10 7 7 0 31 • Colts 0 9 7 15 3 34 Date: December 26 Location: RCA Dome, Indianapolis, IN Source: [15]

Scoring summary 1 4:48 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 74-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–0 2 14:18 IND Mike Vanderjagt 36-yard field goal SD 7–3 2 11:46 SD Nate Kaeding 50-yard field goal SD 10–3 2 7:09 SD Eric Parker 19-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 17–3 2 4:30 IND Mike Vanderjagt 26-yard field goal SD 17–6 2 0:18 IND Mike Vanderjagt 23-yard field goal SD 17–9 3 9:24 SD Antonio Gates 4-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 24–9 3 6:11 IND James Mungro 3-yard pass from Peyton Manning (Mike Vanderjagt kick) SD 24–16 4 14:55 SD LaDainian Tomlinson 16-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 31–16 4 14:42 IND Dominic Rhodes 88-yard kickoff return (Mike Vanderjagt kick) SD 31–23 4 0:56 IND Brandon Stokley 14-yard pass from Peyton Manning (Edgerrin James run) Tied 31–31 OT 12:13 IND Mike Vanderjagt 30-yard field goal IND 34–31

Week 17: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

1 2 3 4 Total Chiefs 0 3 0 14 17 • Chargers 3 14 0 7 24 Date: January 2 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Source: [16]

Scoring summary 1 10:56 SD Nate Kaeding 34-yard field goal SD 3–0 2 7:08 KC Lawrence Tynes 50-yard field goal Tied 3–3 2 2:24 SD Doug Flutie 1-yard run (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 10–3 2 0:12 SD Ryan Krause 10-yard pass from Doug Flutie (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 17–3 4 7:19 SD Malcom Floyd 13-yard pass from Philip Rivers (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 24–3 4 4:10 KC Larry Johnson 2-yard run (Lawrence Tynes kick) SD 24–10 4 2:10 KC Larry Johnson 14-yard pass from Trent Green (Lawrence Tynes kick) SD 24–17

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Wildcard	January 8, 2005	New York Jets	L 20–17	67,536

Game summaries

Wild Card: vs. New York Jets

1 2 3 4 OT Total • Jets 0 7 10 0 3 20 Chargers 0 7 0 10 0 17 Date: January 8 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Source: [17]

Scoring summary 2 9:26 SD Keenan McCardell 26-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) SD 7–0 2 2:54 NYJ Anthony Becht 13-yard pass from Chad Pennington (Doug Brien kick) Tied 7–7 3 10:29 NYJ Santana Moss 45-yard pass from Chad Pennington (Doug Brien kick) NYJ 14–7 3 1:23 NYJ Doug Brien 42-yard field goal NYJ 17–7 4 10:47 SD Nate Kaeding 35-yard field goal NYJ 17–10 4 0:11 SD Antonio Gates 1-yard pass from Drew Brees (Nate Kaeding kick) Tied 17–17 OT 0:05 NYJ Doug Brien 28-yard field goal NYJ 20–17

See also

• 2004 NFL season