| Team: | Buffalo Bills |
| Year: | 2005 |
| Record: | 5–11 |
| Division Place: | 3rd AFC East |
| Coach: | Mike Mularkey |
| General Manager: | Tom Donahoe |
| Owner: | Ralph Wilson |
| Stadium: | Ralph Wilson Stadium |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers: | P Brian Moorman LS Mike Schneck |
| Shortnavlink: | Bills seasons |
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.[2]
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."[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.
See 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.
| Position | College | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Brad Cieslak | Tight end | Northern Illinois | |
| Liam Ezekiel | Linebacker | Northeastern | |
| Jim Leonhard | Safety | Wisconsin |
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 | 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 | 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 | Denver Broncos | L 17–28 | 4–10 | 71,887 | ||
| 16 | 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. | ||||||