| Year: | 2005 |
| Nflchampion: | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Regular Season: | September 8, 2005 – January 1, 2006 |
| Playoffs Start: | January 7, 2006 |
| Afcchampion: | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Afcrunner-Up: | Denver Broncos |
| Nfcchampion: | Seattle Seahawks |
| Nfcrunner-Up: | Carolina Panthers |
| Sb Name: | XL |
| Sb Date: | February 5, 2006 |
| Sb Site: | Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan |
| Pb Date: | February 12, 2006 |
The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League (NFL).
Regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006. The regular season also saw the first ever regular season game played outside the United States, as well as the New Orleans Saints being forced to play elsewhere due to damage to the Superdome and the entire New Orleans area by Hurricane Katrina.
The playoffs began on January 7. The New England Patriots' streak of 10 consecutive playoff wins and chance at a third straight Super Bowl title was ended in the Divisional Playoff Round by the Denver Broncos, and eventually the NFL title was won by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan on February 5 for their fifth Super Bowl win. This also marked the first time that a sixth-seeded team, who by the nature of their seeding would play every game on the road, would advance to and win the Super Bowl.
The season formally concluded with the Pro Bowl, the league's all-star game, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 12.
This was also the final full season for Paul Tagliabue as commissioner.
The 2005 NFL draft was held from April 23 to 24, 2005 at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. With the first pick, the San Francisco 49ers selected quarterback Alex Smith from the University of Utah.
The 2005 season also featured the first ever regular season game played outside the United States when the San Francisco 49ers–Arizona Cardinals game was played at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on October 2 (the Cardinals won 31–14). The game drew an NFL regular season record of 103,467 paid fans. It was a home game for the Cardinals, mostly because the team rarely sold out at their then-home field, Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. This season was the last year that the Cardinals played at Sun Devil Stadium; the team then moved to their new Cardinals Stadium in nearby Glendale.
See also: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Saints, Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the Louisiana Superdome and Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to the Louisiana Superdome and the greater New Orleans area, the New Orleans Saints' entire 2005 home schedule was played at different venues while the Saints set up temporary operations in San Antonio, Texas. The Saints' first home game scheduled for September 18 against New York Giants was moved to September 19 at Giants Stadium. The impromptu "Monday Night doubleheader" with the game already scheduled (Washington at Dallas) was a success, and was made an annual part of the schedule from through .
The NFL designated its second weekend, September 18 and 19, as "Hurricane Relief Weekend', with fund raising collections at all of the league's games. The Saints' remaining home games were split between the Alamodome in San Antonio and Louisiana State University's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Being forced to travel to 13 of their 16 games (only three of their games were actually played in the same city where they practiced) and practice in substandard facilities and conditions in San Antonio, the Saints finished 3–13, their worst season since 1999.
The last time an NFL franchise had to play at an alternate site was in, when the Chicago Bears played home games in Champaign, Illinois, 120 miles (200 km) away, due to the reconstruction of Soldier Field.[2] The last NFL team to abandon their home city during a season was the 1952 Dallas Texans, whose franchise was returned to the league after drawing several poor crowds at the Cotton Bowl. They played their final "home" game in Akron, Ohio.[3]
The October 23 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins at Dolphins Stadium was rescheduled to Friday, October 21 at 7:00 pm EDT to beat Hurricane Wilma's arrival to the Miami, Florida area.[4] The Chiefs won the game, 30–20, and became the first visiting team to travel and play on the same day. Since the game was planned for Sunday afternoon, it is one of the few times in history that the Dolphins wore their white jerseys in a home game played at night.
The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:
| Record | Player/team | Date/opponent | Previous record holder[5] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longest return of a missed field goal/ longest play in NFL history | Nathan Vasher, Chicago (108 yards) | November 13, vs. San Francisco | Chris McAlister, Baltimore vs. Denver, September 30, 2002 (107 yards) | |
| Most consecutive games played, career | Jeff Feagles, New York Giants | November 27, at Seattle | Jim Marshall, 1960–1979 (282) | |
| Most touchdowns, season | Shaun Alexander, Seattle (28) | January 1, at Green Bay | Priest Holmes, Kansas City, 2003 (27) | |
| Most field goals, season | Neil Rackers, Arizona (40) | January 1, at Indianapolis | Tied by 2 players (39) | |
| Most field goals by a team, season | Arizona (43) | January 1, at Indianapolis | Tied by 2 teams (39) |
| Points scored | Seattle Seahawks (452) | |
| Total yards gained | Kansas City Chiefs (6,192) | |
| Yards rushing | Atlanta Falcons (2,546) | |
| Yards passing | Arizona Cardinals (4,437) | |
| Fewest points allowed | Chicago Bears (202) | |
| Fewest total yards allowed | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4,444) | |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | San Diego Chargers (1,349) | |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | Green Bay Packers (2,680) |
| Scoring | Shaun Alexander, Seattle (168 points) | |
| Touchdowns | Shaun Alexander, Seattle (28 TDs) * | |
| Most field goals made | Neil Rackers, Arizona (40 FGs) * | |
| Rushing yards | Shaun Alexander, Seattle (1,880 yards) | |
| Rushing touchdowns | Shaun Alexander, Seattle (27 TDs) * | |
| Passer rating | Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (104.1 rating) | |
| Passing touchdowns | Carson Palmer, Cincinnati (32 TDs) | |
| Passing yards | Tom Brady, New England (4,110 yards) | |
| Receptions | Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona and Steve Smith, Carolina (103 catches) | |
| Receiving yards | Steve Smith, Carolina (1,563 yards) | |
| Receiving touchdowns | Steve Smith, Carolina, and Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis (12 TDs) | |
| Punt returns | Reno Mahe, Philadelphia (12.8 average yards) | |
| Kickoff returns | Terrence McGee, Buffalo (30.2 average yards) | |
| Interceptions | Ty Law, New York Jets and Deltha O'Neal, Cincinnati (10) | |
| Punting | Brian Moorman, Buffalo and Shane Lechler, Oakland (45.7 average yards) | |
| Sacks | Derrick Burgess, Oakland (16) | |
| ||
| Most Valuable Player | Shaun Alexander, running back, Seattle | |
| Coach of the Year | Lovie Smith, Chicago | |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Shaun Alexander, running back, Seattle | |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Brian Urlacher, linebacker, Chicago | |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Carnell Williams, running back, Tampa Bay | |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | Shawne Merriman, linebacker, San Diego | |
| NFL Comeback Player of the Year | Tedy Bruschi, linebacker, New England Steve Smith, wide receiver, Carolina (tie) | |
| Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year | Peyton Manning, quarterback, Indianapolis | |
| Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Hines Ward, wide receiver, Pittsburgh |
[7] ----
| Offense | ||
|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | Peyton Manning, Indianapolis | |
| Running back | Shaun Alexander, Seattle Tiki Barber, N.Y. Giants | |
| Fullback | Mack Strong, Seattle | |
| Wide receiver | Steve Smith, Carolina Chad Johnson, Cincinnati | |
| Tight end | Antonio Gates, San Diego | |
| Offensive tackle | Walter Jones, Seattle Willie Anderson, Cincinnati | |
| Offensive guard | Steve Hutchinson, Seattle Brian Waters, Kansas City Alan Faneca, Pittsburgh | |
| Center | Jeff Saturday, Indianapolis | |
| Defense | ||
|---|---|---|
| Defensive end | Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis Osi Umenyiora, N.Y. Giants | |
| Defensive tackle | Jamal Williams, San Diego Richard Seymour, New England | |
| Outside linebacker | Lance Briggs, Chicago Derrick Brooks, Tampa Bay | |
| Inside linebacker | Brian Urlacher, Chicago Al Wilson, Denver | |
| Cornerback | Champ Bailey, Denver Ronde Barber, Tampa Bay | |
| Safety | Bob Sanders, Indianapolis Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh | |
| Special teams | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kicker | Neil Rackers, Arizona | ||||
| Punter | Brian Moorman, Buffalo | ||||
| Kick returner | Jerome Mathis, Houston | ||||
| Team | Departing coach | Interim coach | Incoming coach | Reason for leaving | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | Resigned | |||||
| Miami Dolphins | ||||||
| San Francisco 49ers | Fired | |||||
| Team | Position | 2004 office holder | 2005 replacement | Reason for leaving | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | GM (de facto) | Fired | Former Head Coach Butch Davis also had general manager duties. | |||
| Miami Dolphins | GM | New head coach Nick Saban has the final say on all roster moves. | ||||
| San Francisco 49ers | GM | New head coach Mike Nolan also serves as his own general manager. | ||||
| Seattle Seahawks | GM | Resigned | Ferguson resigned on February 22, 2005, as part of an executive house-cleaning following the dismissal of team president Bob Whitsitt. | |||
| Green Bay Packers | GM | Replaced | The Packers hired Ted Thompson from the Seattle Seahawks to take over Mike Sherman's general manager duties. Sherman remains the Packers' head coach. |
The New Orleans Saints played in Baton Rouge's Tiger Stadium for four games and in San Antonio's Alamodome for three games due to Louisiana Superdome damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Tiger Stadium's goalposts did not conform to NFL standards due to (a) two supports instead of one and (b) white paint instead of gold. The NFL granted the Saints dispensation to keep LSU's goalposts in place for their games.
In addition, with the RCA and Edward Jones domes both removing their AstroTurf surfaces in favor of the newer next-generation FieldTurf surface, the old first-generation AstroTurf surface ceased to be used in the NFL.
Pro Player Stadium was renamed Dolphins Stadium. Pro Player's parent Fruit of the Loom had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in 1999, and the Pro Player label was discontinued, but that stadium name was kept for several more years.
This was the eighth and final year under the league's broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, Fox, and ESPN to televise Monday Night Football, the AFC package, the NFC package, and Sunday Night Football, respectively.
While CBS and Fox renewed their television contracts to the AFC and the NFC packages, respectively,[8] 2005 marked the final season that ABC held the exclusive rights to televise Monday Night Football. When the TV contracts were renewed, the rights to broadcast MNF were awarded to Disney-owned corporate sibling ESPN. NBC then won the rights to televise Sunday Night Football, marking the first time that the network broadcast NFL games since Super Bowl XXXII in 1998.[9] While the NFL had indicated that it wanted SNF to become the new night for its marquee game, ABC declined to renew, citing that it had lost millions of dollars on the MNF despite generating high ratings, and the network wanted to continue airing the TV series Desperate Housewives on Sunday nights.[10] [11] ABC would not air an NFL game again until they began simulcasting ESPN's Wild Card playoff game in January 2016.
Cris Collinsworth left Fox to sit out the 2005 season before joining NBC as a studio analyst the following year, leaving Fox's lead broadcasting team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in a two-man booth.[12]