2005 Buffalo Bills season

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.

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

Mike Mularkey coached the Bills for his second year.[2]

Offseason

Drew Bledsoe, who had been the team’s quarterback from 2002–2004, 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."[3]

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
Main article: 2005 NFL 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

[4]

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 final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad


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

Schedule

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.

Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 11, 2005 Houston Texans W 22–7 1–0 71,781
2 September 18, 2005 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 3–19 1–1 64,777
3 September 25, 2005 Atlanta Falcons L 16–24 1–2 72,032
4 October 2, 2005 at New Orleans Saints (San Antonio) L 7–19 1–3 58,688
5 October 9, 2005 Miami Dolphins W 20–14 2–3 72,160
6 October 16, 2005 New York Jets W 27–17 3–3 72,045
7 October 23, 2005 at Oakland Raiders L 17–38 3–4 42,779
8 October 30, 2005 at New England Patriots L 16–21 3–5 68,756
9 Bye
10 November 13, 2005 Kansas City Chiefs W 14–3 4–5 72,093
11 November 20, 2005 at San Diego Chargers L 10–48 4–6 65,602
12 November 27, 2005 Carolina Panthers L 9–13 4–7 71,440
13 December 4, 2005 at Miami Dolphins L 23–24 4–8 72,051
14 December 11, 2005 New England Patriots L 7–35 4–9 71,810
15 December 17, 2005 Denver Broncos L 17–28 4–10 71,887
16 December 24, 2005 at Cincinnati Bengals W 37–27 5–10 65,485
17 January 1, 2006 at New York Jets L 26–30 5–11 76,822

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 Texans
Week One: Houston Texans (0–0) at Buffalo Bills (0–0)
Period 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 1st career start

References
  1. 2005 Buffalo Bills
  2. Second of two total years; Mularkey would resign from the Bills after the 2005 season
  3. N.F.L. ROUNDUP; Bledsoe Rejoins Parcells, With Eye on Starting Job at The New York Times
  4. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Jan-01.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.