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. This was the sixth consecutive season in which the team missed the playoffs.
Mike Mularkey coached the Bills for his second year.Second of two total years; Mularkey would resign from the Bills after the 2005 season
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."
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.
Undrafted free agents + 2005 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeBrad CieslakTight endNorthern IllinoisLiam EzekielLinebackerNortheasternJim LeonhardSafetyWisconsin
Personnel Staff
Roster
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 9Bye 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 Denver Broncos L 17–28 4–10 Ralph Wilson Stadium 71,887 Recap 16 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
Season summary
Week 1: vs. Houston Texans
The Bills wore throwback AFL "standing buffalo" helmets J. P. Losman's 1st career start
Week 2: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 3: vs. Atlanta Falcons
Linebacker Takeo Spikes was lost for the season after an injury to his right achilles tendon being torn.
Week 4: at New Orleans Saints
Week 5: vs. Miami Dolphins
Week 6: vs. New York Jets
Week 7: at Oakland Raiders
Week 8: at New England Patriots
Week 10: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
On the second score of the game wide receiver Lee Evans and Chiefs cornerback Eric Warfield collided into a stadium security guard who sustained a leg injury and had to be carted off the field.
Week 11: at San Diego Chargers
Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
Week 13: at Miami Dolphins
Week 14: vs. New England Patriots
Week 15: vs. Denver Broncos
Week 16: at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 17: at New York Jets
Notes
References
External links 2005 Buffalo Bills at jt-sw.com 2005 Buffalo Bills at ProFootballArchives.com 2005 Buffalo Bills at Pro-Football-Reference.com