2005 Buffalo Bills season

2005 Buffalo Bills season
2005 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
General manager	Tom Donahoe
Head coach	Mike Mularkey
Home field	Ralph Wilson Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	3rd AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	P Brian Moorman; LS Mike Schneck
	← 2004; Bills seasons; 2006 →;

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.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
2005 Buffalo Bills draft
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 Head coach – Mike Mularkey Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Tom Clements Quarterbacks – Sam Wyche Running backs – Eric Studesville Wide receivers – Tyke Tolbert Tight ends – Mike Miller Offensive line – Jim McNally Offensive line – Frank Verducci			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Jerry Gray Defensive line – Tim Krumrie Linebackers – Don Blackmon Defensive backs – Steve Szabo Defensive assistant – Chuck Lester Special teams coaches Special teams – Bobby April Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning coordinator – Brad Roll Assistant strength and conditioning – John Allaire

Roster

**2005 Buffalo Bills roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Kelly Holcomb 7 J. P. Losman 6 Shane Matthews Running backs (RB) 35 Joe Burns 25 Lionel Gates 44 Jon Goldsberry FB 21 Willis McGahee 31 Daimon Shelton FB 20 Shaud Williams Wide receivers (WR) 89 Sam Aiken 83 Lee Evans 80 Eric Moulds 11 Roscoe Parrish KR/PR 82 Josh Reed 19 Jonathan Smith KR/PR 15 George Wilson Tight ends (TE) 84 Mark Campbell 48 Brad Cieslak TE 87 Tim Euhus		Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Bennie Anderson G 69 Mike Gandy T 73 Justin Geisinger G 76 Greg Jerman G 79 Dylan McFarland T 71 Jason Peters T 75 Duke Preston C 70 Trey Teague C 58 Chris Villarrial G 68 Mike Williams G/T Defensive linemen (DL) 95 Sam Adams DT 77 Tim Anderson DT 97 Justin Bannan DT 92 Ryan Denney DE 99 Jason Jefferson DT 90 Chris Kelsay DE 94 Aaron Schobel DE		Linebackers (LB) 55 Angelo Crowell OLB 50 Liam Ezekiel MLB 59 London Fletcher MLB 53 Mario Haggan OLB 96 Jeff Posey OLB 57 Josh Stamer OLB Defensive backs (DB) 26 Rashad Baker FS 22 Nate Clements CB/PR 33 Jabari Greer CB 29 Eric King CB 42 Jim Leonhard SS 24 Terrence McGee CB/KR 36 Lawyer Milloy SS 23 Troy Vincent FS Special teams 9 Rian Lindell K 8 Brian Moorman P 54 Mike Schneck LS				Practice squad 67 LaWaylon Brown DT 60 Jasen Esposito T 40 Wendell Hunter LB 39 Rob Lee CB 72 Marques Ogden T 91 Eric Powell DE Reserve 98 Ron Edwards DE (IR) 85 Kevin Everett TE (IR) 88 Ryan Neufeld TE (IR) 72 Lawrence Smith G (IR) 93 Lauvale Sape DT (IR) 51 Takeo Spikes LB (IR) 28 Kevin Thomas CB (PUP) 27 Coy Wire S (IR) Rookies in italics 53 active, 8 reserve, 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	Houston Texans	W 22–7	1–0	71,781
2	September 18	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 3–19	1–1	64,777
3	September 25	Atlanta Falcons	L 16–24	1–2	72,032
4	October 2	at New Orleans Saints (San Antonio)	L 7–19	1–3	58,688
5	October 9	Miami Dolphins	W 20–14	2–3	72,160
6	October 16	New York Jets	W 27–17	3–3	72,045
7	October 23	at Oakland Raiders	L 17–38	3–4	42,779
8	October 30	at New England Patriots	L 16–21	3–5	68,756
9	Bye
10	November 13	Kansas City Chiefs	W 14–3	4–5	72,093
11	November 20	at San Diego Chargers	L 10–48	4–6	65,602
12	November 27	Carolina Panthers	L 9–13	4–7	71,440
13	December 4	at Miami Dolphins	L 23–24	4–8	72,051
14	December 11	New England Patriots	L 7–35	4–9	71,810
15	December 17	Denver Broncos	L 17–28	4–10	71,887
16	December 24	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 37–27	5–10	65,485
17	January 1	at New York Jets	L 26–30	5–11	76,822
Note: Intra-divisional games are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	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)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Texans	0	7	0	0	7
Bills	6	13	0	3	22

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Date: September 11, 2005
Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
Game weather: Sunny, 75 °F or 23.9 °C
Game attendance: 71,781
Referee: Ron Winter
TV announcers (CBS): Gus Johnson, Brent Jones
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

BUF – Rian Lindell 35-yard field goal, 9:24. Bills 3–0. Drive: 10 plays, 65 yards, 5:36.
BUF – Rian Lindell 21-yard field goal, 1:43. Bills 6–0. Drive: 9 plays, 63 yards, 5:45.

Second quarter

BUF – Rian Lindell 42-yard field goal, 13:57. Bills 9–0. Drive: 4 plays, 9 yards, 1:09.
BUF – Rian Lindell 39-yard field goal, 11:07. Bills 12–0. Drive: 4 plays, 6 yards, 2:34.
HOU – David Carr 1-yard run (Kris Brown kick). Bills 12–7. Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 4:30.
BUF – Jason Peters 1-yard pass from J.P. Losman (Rian Lindell kick), 0:29. Bills 19–7. Drive: 11 plays, 61 yards, 6:08.

Third quarter

No scoring

Fourth quarter

BUF – Rian Lindell 31-yard field goal, 7:11. Bills 22–7. Drive: 6 plays, 10 yards, 2:31.

Top passers

HOU – David Carr – 9/21, 70 yards, 3 INT
BUF – J.P. Losman – 17/28, 170 yards, TD

Top rushers

HOU – Domanick Williams – 17 rushes, 48 yards
BUF – Willis McGahee – 22 rushes, 117 yards

Top receivers

HOU – Mark Bruener – 1 reception, 19 yards
BUF – Lee Evans – 3 receptions, 68 yards

The Bills wore throwback AFL "standing buffalo" helmets
J.P. Losman 1st career start

Notes

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

References

^ "2005 Buffalo Bills". Pro Football Reference.
^ "N.F.L. ROUNDUP; Bledsoe Rejoins Parcells, With Eye on Starting Job". The New York Times.
^ "2005 Buffalo Bills Draft". The Football Database. Retrieved January 1, 2017.

[2] Second of two total years; Mularkey would resign from the Bills after the 2005 season

[1] "2005 Buffalo Bills". Pro Football Reference.

[3] "N.F.L. ROUNDUP; Bledsoe Rejoins Parcells, With Eye on Starting Job". The New York Times.

[4] "2005 Buffalo Bills Draft". The Football Database. Retrieved January 1, 2017.

[1]

[note 1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Buffalo Bills
Founded in 1960 Based and headquartered in Orchard Park, New York
Franchise	Franchise History All-time roster Seasons Pro Bowl selections First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Coaches NFL in Toronto
Stadiums	War Memorial Stadium Highmark Stadium Rogers Centre (Bills Toronto Series) New Highmark Stadium (set to open in 2026)
Culture	Ralph Wilson Billy Buffalo Buffalo Jills Bills Mafia Ken "Pinto Ron" Johnson Tim Russert Buffalo '66 Second String Flutie Flakes "Shout" song "Mr. Brightside" "3 Acts of God" Elway to Marino Four Falls of Buffalo Zubaz "No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills!"
Lore	Electric Company Wide Right No Punt Game The Comeback Music City Miracle Snowvertime Hail Murray 13 Seconds
Rivalries	Kansas City Chiefs Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Jets Tennessee Titans
Division championships (14)	1964 1965 1966 1980 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995 2020 2021 2022 2023
Conference championships (4)	1990 1991 1992 1993
League championships (2)	1964 1965
Wall of Fame	Simpson Kemp McGroder Sestak Shaw Wilson 12th Man Dubenion Stratton Ferguson Levy DeLamielleure James Abramoski Kalsu Saimes Kelly Smerlas Hull Talley Ritcher Thomas Reed Tasker Smith Edgerson Hansen Polian Miller Saban Gilchrist
Media	Broadcasters Radio Radio Network WGR 550 Television MSG Western New York Personalities: Chris Brown Van Miller Eric Wood Steve Tasker
Owners	Ralph Wilson Pegula family Terry Kim
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: East Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)
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