2004 Pittsburgh Steelers Season
The 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers looked to rebound after a disappointing 6–10 season the year before, which saw the team go through the entire season without winning consecutive games.
The team would more than rebound, finishing with a 15–1 record, topping the team-record 14–2 record from 1978 and joined the 1984 San Francisco 49ers, the 1985 Chicago Bears, and the 1998 Minnesota Vikings as the only teams in NFL history since the league adopted a 16-game schedule in 1978 to finish with such a record. This also makes the Steelers the first AFC team to achieve a 15–1 record. Along the way, the Steelers ended the New England Patriots NFL-record 21-game winning streak in Week 8, then defeated the Philadelphia Eagles the following week to hand the NFL's last two undefeated teams their first losses in back-to-back weeks, both at home.
The season was highlighted by the surprising emergence of rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the team's top pick in that year's draft. Originally intended to sit behind veteran Tommy Maddox the entire season, plans abruptly changed when Maddox was hurt in the team's Week 2 loss to Baltimore. Surrounded by talent, "Big Ben" went an NFL-record 13–0 as a rookie starting quarterback, shattering the old NFL record (and coincidentally, also the team record) of 6–0 to start an NFL career set by Mike Kruczek filling in for an injured Terry Bradshaw in 1976.
The Steelers would host the AFC Championship for the fifth time in eleven years. However, for the fourth time in that same span, the Steelers would lose at home one game away from the Super Bowl, and as in 2001, lost to the Patriots in a rematch from Week 8.
The 2006 edition of Pro Football Prospectus, listed the 2004 Steelers as one of their "Heartbreak Seasons," in which teams "dominated the entire regular season only to falter in the playoffs, unable to close the deal." Said Pro Football Prospectus, "In the playoffs, Roethlisberger hit an inconvenient slump, just like the Pittsburgh quarterbacks who came before him. He threw two killer interceptions against the Jets, but the Steelers were bailed out when Jets kicker Doug Brien missed a game-winning field goal. The next week against New England, head coach a 15-1 team had failed to make it to the Super Bowl."
Read more about 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers Season: Offseason, Standings, Honors and Awards
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