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.
Roster
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 11 at San Francisco 49ers L 25–28 0–1 Monster Park 67,918 2 September 18 at Arizona Cardinals W 17–12 1–1 Sun Devil Stadium 45,160 3 September 25 Tennessee Titans W 31–27 2–1 Edward Jones Dome 65,835 4 October 2 at New York Giants L 24–44 2–2 Giants Stadium 78,453 5 October 9 Seattle Seahawks L 31–37 2–3 Edward Jones Dome 65,707 6 at Indianapolis Colts L 28–45 2–4 RCA Dome 57,307 7 October 23 New Orleans Saints W 28–17 3–4 Edward Jones Dome 64,586 8 October 30 Jacksonville Jaguars W 24–21 4–4 Edward Jones Dome 65,251 9 Bye 10 November 13 at Seattle Seahawks L 16–31 4–5 Qwest Field 67,192 11 November 20 Arizona Cardinals L 28–38 4–6 Edward Jones Dome 65,750 12 November 27 at Houston Texans W 33–27 (OT) 5–6 Reliant Stadium 70,010 13 December 4 Washington Redskins L 9–24 5–7 Edward Jones Dome 65,701 14 December 11 at Minnesota Vikings L 13–27 5–8 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 64,005 15 December 18 Philadelphia Eagles L 16–17 5–9 Edward Jones Dome 65,382 16 San Francisco 49ers L 20–24 5–10 Edward Jones Dome 65,473 17 January 1, 2006 at Dallas Cowboys W 20–10 6–10 Texas Stadium 63,131 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Season summary
Week 2: at Arizona Cardinals
Standings
References