# 2005 St. Louis Rams season

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.

## 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 | October 17 | 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 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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 | 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 | December 24 | 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

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Cardinals | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
* Date: September 18
* Game time: 4:05 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 94 °F (34 °C)
* Game attendance: 45,160
* Referee: Jeff Triplette
* TV announcers (Fox): Ron Pitts & Tim Ryan
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
STL – Torry Holt 19-yard pass from Marc Bulger (Jeff Wilkins kick), 11:42. Rams 7–0. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 3:18.
ARI — Neil Rackers 29-yard field goal, 5:38. Rams 7–3. Drive: 10 plays, 57 yards, 3:19.
Second quarter
ARI – Neil Rackers 26-yard field goal, 8:44. Rams 7–6. Drive: 8 plays, 37 yards, 3:59.
STL – Jeff Wilkins 29-yard field goal, 3:42. Rams 10–6. Drive: 10 plays, 69 yards, 5:02.
Third quarter
ARI – Neil Rackers 48-yard field goal, 10:23. Rams 10–9. Drive: 9 plays, 45 yards, 4:37.
STL – Steven Jackson 7-yard run (Jeff Wilkins kick), 5:45. Rams 17–9. Drive: 8 plays, 76 yards, 4:38.
Fourth quarter
ARI – Neil Rackers 35-yard field goal, 6:59. Rams 17–12. Drive: 9 plays, 56 yards, 5:48.
Top passers
STL – Marc Bulger – 18/29, 216 yards, TD, INT
ARI – Kurt Warner – 29/42, 327 yards, INT
Top rushers
STL – Steven Jackson – 18 rushes, 93 yards, TD
ARI – Marcel Shipp – 12 rushes, 54 yards
Top receivers
STL – Torry Holt – 4 receptions, 70 yards, TD
ARI – Anquan Boldin – 8 receptions, 119 yards :

## Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ Seattle Seahawks | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 6–0 | 10–2 | 454 | 271 | L1 |
| St. Louis Rams | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 1–5 | 3–9 | 363 | 429 | W1 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 311 | 387 | L1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 2–4 | 3–9 | 239 | 428 | W2 |