2005 Miami Dolphins season

The 2005 Miami Dolphins season was the franchise’s 40th overall, the 36th as a member of the National Football League. The Dolphins managed to improve upon their previous season’s output of 4–12, posting a winning record of 9–7. They finished the season on a six-game win streak and ended their season with an upset over the defending back-to-back Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, the Dolphins' second straight year beating them as defending champions.

2005 Miami Dolphins season
Owner	Wayne Huizenga
Head coach	Nick Saban
Home field	Dolphins Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	2nd AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	WR Chris Chambers DE Jason Taylor LB Zach Thomas

Staff

2005 Miami Dolphins staff

Front office Owner/chairman of the board – Wayne Huizenga Chief executive officer – Joe Bailey Executive vice president/chief operating officer – Bryan Wiedmeier General manager – Randy Mueller Head coaches Head coach – Nick Saban Assistant head coach/offense/wide receivers – Charlie Baggett Assistant head coach/defense – Will Muschamp Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Scott Linehan Quarterbacks – Jason Garrett Running backs – Bobby Williams Tight ends – Derek Dooley Offensive line – Hudson Houck Assistant offensive line – Tim Davis Offensive quality control – Judd Garrett Offensive assistant – James Coley

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Richard Smith Defensive line – Dan Quinn Assistant defensive line – Travis Jones Linebackers – George Edwards Secondary – Mel Phillips Defensive quality control – Glenn Pires Special teams coaches Special teams – Keith Armstrong Special teams assistant – Dameyune Craig Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – John Gamble Associate strength and conditioning – Bert Hill Assistant strength and conditioning – Eric Fears

Roster

2005 Miami Dolphins roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 11 Gus Frerotte 17 Cleo Lemon 18 Sage Rosenfels Running backs (RB) 36 Darian Barnes 23 Ronnie Brown 28 Travis Minor 31 Sammy Morris 34 Ricky Williams Wide receivers (WR) 86 Marty Booker 84 Chris Chambers 82 Bryan Gilmore 88 Cliff Russell 83 Wes Welker KR/PR Tight ends (TE) 89 Alex Holmes 81 Randy McMichael 87 Lorenzo Diamond

Offensive linemen (OL) 79 Anthony Alabi T 65 Joe Berger G/T 69 C.J. Brooks G 72 Vernon Carey T 63 Alonzo Ephraim C/G 66 Rex Hadnot G 78 Jeno James G 73 Stockar McDougle T 77 Damion McIntosh T Defensive linemen (DL) 96 David Bowens DE 93 Kevin Carter DE 91 Vonnie Holliday DT 98 Matt Roth DE 99 Jason Taylor DE 94 Keith Traylor NT 75 Manuel Wright DT 90 Jeff Zgonina DT

Linebackers (LB) 52 Channing Crowder OLB 51 Jason Glenn OLB 53 Mike Labinjo MLB 56 Derrick Pope OLB 50 Nick Rogers OLB 59 Donnie Spragan OLB 54 Zach Thomas MLB 57 Lester Towns MLB Defensive backs (DB) 37 Yeremiah Bell SS 21 Travis Daniels CB 25 Reggie Howard CB 35 Eddie Jackson CB 42 Norman LeJeune FS 29 Sam Madison CB 30 Lance Schulters FS 20 Kiwaukee Thomas CB 26 Travares Tillman SS Special teams 97 John Denney LS  5 Donnie Jones P 10 Olindo Mare K

Practice squad  9 Chris Davis WR 16 Fred Gibson WR 43 Kay-Jay Harris RB 49 Jack Hunt S 41 Jason Rader TE 61 Orrin Thompson T -- Chris Van Hoy DT 15 Jason Willis WR Reserve 80 David Boston WR (IR) 38 Kyle Eckel FB (Military) 24 Tebucky Jones S (IR) 68 Seth McKinney C (IR) 45 Shirdonya Mitchell CB (NF-Inj.) 58 Eddie Moore LB (IR) 14 Kendall Newson WR (IR) 27 Will Poole CB (IR) 55 Junior Seau LB (IR) 74 Wade Smith T (IR) 92 Kevin Vickerson DT (IR) 62 Eric Wilson DT (IR) Rookies in italics 53 active, 12 reserve, 8 practice squad

Schedule

In addition to their regular games with AFC East rivals, the Dolphins played teams from the AFC West and NFC South as per the schedule rotation, and also played intraconference games against the Browns and the Titans based on divisional positions from 2004.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 11	Denver Broncos	W 34–10	1–0	Dolphins Stadium	72,324
2	September 18	at New York Jets	L 7–17	1–1	Giants Stadium	77,918
3	September 25	Carolina Panthers	W 27–24	2–1	Dolphins Stadium	72,288
4	Bye
5	October 9	at Buffalo Bills	L 14–20	2–2	Ralph Wilson Stadium	72,160
6	October 16	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 13–27	2–3	Raymond James Stadium	65,168
7	October 21	Kansas City Chiefs	L 20–30	2–4	Dolphins Stadium	68,350
8	October 30	at New Orleans Saints	W 21–6	3–4	Tiger Stadium	61,643
9	November 6	Atlanta Falcons	L 10–17	3–5	Dolphins Stadium	72,187
10	November 13	New England Patriots	L 16–23	3–6	Dolphins Stadium	73,405
11	November 20	at Cleveland Browns	L 0–22	3–7	Cleveland Browns Stadium	72,773
12	November 27	at Oakland Raiders	W 33–21	4–7	McAfee Stadium	49,097
13	December 4	Buffalo Bills	W 24–23	5–7	Dolphins Stadium	72,051
14	December 11	at San Diego Chargers	W 23–21	6–7	Qualcomm Stadium	65,026
15	December 18	New York Jets	W 24–20	7–7	Dolphins Stadium	72,650
16	December 24	Tennessee Titans	W 24–10	8–7	Dolphins Stadium	72,001
17	January 1	at New England Patriots	W 28–26	9–7	Gillette Stadium	68,756

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