2005 Buffalo Bills season

2005 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerRalph Wilson
General managerTom Donahoe
Head coachMike Mularkey
Home stadiumRalph Wilson Stadium
Results
Record5–11
Division place3rd AFC East
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro BowlersP Brian Moorman
LS Mike Schneck

The 2005 Buffalo Bills season was their 46th in the National Football League. The team was unable to improve upon their previous season's output of 9–7, instead finishing 5–11.[1] This was the sixth consecutive season in which the team missed the playoffs.

Mike Mularkey coached the Bills for his second year.[note 1]

Offseason

Drew Bledsoe, who had been the team's quarterback from 2002 to 2004, was released by the Bills after the 2004 season to make way for backup quarterback J. P. Losman. It was the second time that Bledsoe's team had let him go for a younger quarterback. When Bledsoe was later signed by the Dallas Cowboys, he expressed bitterness with the Bills for the move, stating "I can't wait to go home and dress my kids in little stars and get rid of the other team’s [Buffalo’s] stuff."[2]

The Bills failed to re-sign defensive tackle Pat Williams, who would sign with the Minnesota Vikings for the 2005 season. The Bills also lost starting offensive tackle Jonas Jennings to the San Francisco 49ers.

Draft

Buffalo had six draft picks in the 2005 draft. The Bills traded their only first round pick in 2005 to the Dallas Cowboys to move up in the previous draft, a pick they used to draft J. P. Losman.

2005 Buffalo Bills draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 55 Roscoe Parrish  WR Miami (FL)
3 86 Kevin Everett  TE Miami (FL)
4 122 Duke Preston  C Illinois
5 156 Eric King  CB Wake Forest
6 197 Justin Geisinger  OG Vanderbilt
7 236 Lionel Gates  RB Louisville
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[3]

Undrafted free agents

2005 undrafted free agents of note
Player Position College
Brad Cieslak Tight end Northern Illinois
Liam Ezekiel Linebacker Northeastern
Jim Leonhard Safety Wisconsin

Personnel

Staff

2005 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office

  • Owner/founder – Ralph Wilson
  • President/general manager – Tom Donahoe
  • Assistant general manager – Tom Modrak
  • Director of pro personnel – John Guy
  • Coordinator of college scouting – Doug Majeski

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Defensive coordinator – Jerry Gray
  • Defensive line – Tim Krumrie
  • Linebackers – Don Blackmon
  • Defensive backs – Steve Szabo
  • Defensive assistant – Chuck Lester

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning coordinator – Brad Roll
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – John Allaire

Roster

2005 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 8 reserve, 6 practice squad

Regular season

In addition to their regular games with AFC East rivals, the Bills played teams from the AFC West and NFC South as per the schedule rotation, and also played intraconference games against the Bengals and the Texans based on divisional positions from 2004.

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 11 Houston Texans W 22–7 1–0 Ralph Wilson Stadium 71,781 Recap
2 September 18 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 3–19 1–1 Raymond James Stadium 64,777 Recap
3 September 25 Atlanta Falcons L 16–24 1–2 Ralph Wilson Stadium 72,032 Recap
4 October 2 at New Orleans Saints L 7–19 1–3 Alamodome 58,688 Recap
5 October 9 Miami Dolphins W 20–14 2–3 Ralph Wilson Stadium 72,160 Recap
6 October 16 New York Jets W 27–17 3–3 Ralph Wilson Stadium 72,045 Recap
7 October 23 at Oakland Raiders L 17–38 3–4 McAfee Coliseum 42,779 Recap
8 October 30 at New England Patriots L 16–21 3–5 Gillette Stadium 68,756 Recap
9 Bye
10 November 13 Kansas City Chiefs W 14–3 4–5 Ralph Wilson Stadium 72,093 Recap
11 November 20 at San Diego Chargers L 10–48 4–6 Qualcomm Stadium 65,602 Recap
12 November 27 Carolina Panthers L 9–13 4–7 Ralph Wilson Stadium 71,440 Recap
13 December 4 at Miami Dolphins L 23–24 4–8 Dolphins Stadium 72,051 Recap
14 December 11 New England Patriots L 7–35 4–9 Ralph Wilson Stadium 71,810 Recap
15 December 17 Denver Broncos L 17–28 4–10 Ralph Wilson Stadium 71,887 Recap
16 December 24 at Cincinnati Bengals W 37–27 5–10 Paul Brown Stadium 65,485 Recap
17 January 1 at New York Jets L 26–30 5–11 Giants Stadium 76,822 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(4) New England Patriots 10 6 0 .625 5–1 7–5 379 338 L1
Miami Dolphins 9 7 0 .563 3–3 7–5 318 317 W6
Buffalo Bills 5 11 0 .313 2–4 5–7 271 367 L1
New York Jets 4 12 0 .250 2–4 3–9 240 355 W1

Season summary

Week 1: vs. Houston Texans

Week One: Houston Texans (0–0) at Buffalo Bills (0–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Texans 0 7 007
Bills 6 13 0322

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information
  • The Bills wore throwback AFL "standing buffalo" helmets
  • J. P. Losman's 1st career start

Week 2: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week Two: Buffalo Bills (1–0) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 0 3 003
Buccaneers 0 9 7319

at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Game information

Week 3: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Week Three: Atlanta Falcons (1–1) at Buffalo Bills (1–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Falcons 7 10 0724
Bills 3 10 3016

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 4: at New Orleans Saints

Week Four: Buffalo Bills (1–2) at New Orleans Saints (1–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 7 0 007
Saints 0 13 0619

at Alamo Dome, San Antonio, Texas

Game information

Week 5: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week Five: Miami Dolphins (2–1) at Buffalo Bills (1–3)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Dolphins 0 0 7714
Bills 10 7 0320

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 6: vs. New York Jets

Week Six: New York Jets (2–3) at Buffalo Bills (2–3)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Jets 0 10 7017
Bills 7 10 7327

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 7: at Oakland Raiders

Week Seven: Buffalo Bills (3–3) at Oakland Raiders (1–4)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 7 3 0717
Raiders 0 17 71438

at McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, California

  • Date: October 23, 2005
  • Game time: 4:15 pm EDT / 1:15 pm PDT
  • Game weather: Sunny, 59 °F or 15.0 °C
  • Game attendance: 42,779
  • Referee: Pete Morelli
  • TV announcers (CBS): Bill Macatee, Rich Gannon
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 8: at New England Patriots

Week Eight: Buffalo Bills (3–4) at New England Patriots (3–3)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 0 3 7616
Patriots 0 0 71421

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Game information

Week 10: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week Ten: Kansas City Chiefs (5–3) at Buffalo Bills (3–5)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Chiefs 3 0 003
Bills 0 7 7014

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: November 13, 2005
  • Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 61 °F or 16.1 °C
  • Game attendance: 72,093
  • Referee: Tom White
  • TV announcers (CBS): Kevin Harlan, Randy Cross
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 11: at San Diego Chargers

Week Eleven: Buffalo Bills (4–5) at San Diego Chargers (5–4)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 3 7 0010
Chargers 14 21 31048

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

  • Date: November 20, 2005
  • Game time: 4:15 pm EDT / 1:15 pm PDT
  • Game weather: Partly Cloudy, 78 °F or 25.6 °C
  • Game attendance: 65,602
  • Referee: Bill Leavy
  • TV announcers (CBS): Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker, and Scott Kaplan
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers

Week Twelve: Carolina Panthers (7–3) at Buffalo Bills (4–6)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Panthers 0 3 3713
Bills 0 6 039

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: November 27, 2005
  • Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 41 °F or 5.0 °C
  • Game attendance: 71,440
  • Referee: Mike Carey
  • TV announcers (Fox): Sam Rosen, Bill Maas, and Jay Glazer
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 13: at Miami Dolphins

Week Thirteen: Buffalo Bills (4–7) at Miami Dolphins (4–7)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 21 0 2023
Dolphins 0 3 02124

at Dolphins Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

Game information

Week 14: vs. New England Patriots

Week Fourteen: New England Patriots (7–5) at Buffalo Bills (4–8)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Patriots 7 7 71435
Bills 0 0 077

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: December 11, 2005
  • Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 30 °F or −1.1 °C
  • Game attendance: 71,810
  • Referee: Bill Carollo
  • TV announcers (CBS): Kevin Harlan, Randy Cross
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 15: vs. Denver Broncos

Week Fifteen: Denver Broncos (10–3) at Buffalo Bills (4–9)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 0 7 14728
Bills 7 0 3717

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 16: at Cincinnati Bengals

Week Sixteen: Buffalo Bills (4–10) at Cincinnati Bengals (11–3)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 6 7 71737
Bengals 0 14 10327

at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Date: December 24, 2005
  • Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 51 °F or 10.6 °C
  • Game attendance: 65,485
  • Referee: Pete Morelli
  • TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle, Solomon Wilcots
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 17: at New York Jets

Week Seventeen: Buffalo Bills (5–10) at New York Jets (3–12)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 3 10 10326
Jets 3 14 31030

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: January 1, 2006
  • Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 35 °F or 1.7 °C
  • Game attendance: 76,822
  • Referee: Gerry Austin
  • TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle, Solomon Wilcots
  • Box Score
Game information

Notes

  1. ^ Second of two total years; Mularkey would resign from the Bills after the 2005 season

References

  1. ^ "2005 Buffalo Bills". Pro Football Reference.
  2. ^ "Bledsoe Rejoins Parcells and Plans to Start for Cowboys". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 24, 2005. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  3. ^ "2005 Buffalo Bills Draft". The Football Database. Retrieved January 1, 2017.