2005 St. Louis Rams season explained

Team:St. Louis Rams
Year:2005
Record:6–10
Division Place:2nd NFC West
Coach:Mike Martz
Joe Vitt
Owner:Georgia Frontiere
Stadium:Edward Jones Dome
Playoffs:Did not qualify
Uniform:File:NFCW-Uniform-jersey -STL2000-2007.png -->
Pro Bowlers:T Orlando Pace
WR Torry Holt
Shortnavlink:Rams seasons

The 2005 season was the St. Louis Rams' 68th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 11th in St. Louis. They tried to improve on their previous output in which they won eight games. Instead, they collapsed and finished the season with a 6–10 record and finished the season with double-digit losses for the first time since 1998. The Rams also missed the playoffs for the first time since 2002. From 2006 onwards the Rams continued to crumble: during the subsequent nine seasons in St. Louis, the team neither made it into the playoffs nor finished with a winning record (though they almost made it into the 2010 playoffs, but lost to the Seahawks in their last game to lose the division). Their 6–42 record between 2007 and 2009 was the worst for such a period by any team between the World War II Chicago Cardinals and the 2015 to 2017 Cleveland Browns.

On October 10, news broke out that head coach Mike Martz announced he was leaving the team indefinitely after being diagnosed with a bacterial infection. A day before that, he coached his last game in a home loss against Seattle. Joe Vitt took over the sidelines for the rest of the season. Though Martz was medically cleared to return, management refused to let him do so and he was fired the day after the final regular season game. Several players said they enjoyed having Martz as their head coach.

As second-year running back Steven Jackson earned the starting position, this year was the final season for future Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk as he missed the following season because of reconstructive knee surgery, which ultimately led to his retirement in 2007.

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 11at San Francisco 49ersL 25–280–1Monster Park67,918
2September 18at Arizona CardinalsW 17–121–1Sun Devil Stadium45,160
3September 25Tennessee TitansW 31–272–1Edward Jones Dome65,835
4October 2at New York GiantsL 24–442–2Giants Stadium78,453
5October 9Seattle SeahawksL 31–372–3Edward Jones Dome65,707
6at Indianapolis ColtsL 28–452–4RCA Dome57,307
7October 23New Orleans SaintsW 28–173–4Edward Jones Dome64,586
8October 30Jacksonville JaguarsW 24–214–4Edward Jones Dome65,251
9Bye
10November 13at Seattle SeahawksL 16–314–5Qwest Field67,192
11November 20Arizona CardinalsL 28–384–6Edward Jones Dome65,750
12November 27at Houston TexansW 33–275–6Reliant Stadium70,010
13December 4Washington RedskinsL 9–245–7Edward Jones Dome65,701
14December 11at Minnesota VikingsL 13–275–8Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome64,005
15December 18Philadelphia EaglesL 16–175–9Edward Jones Dome65,382
16San Francisco 49ersL 20–245–10Edward Jones Dome65,473
17January 1, 2006at Dallas CowboysW 20–106–10Texas Stadium63,131
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text