page_title: History of the Miami Dolphins
section_title: 2005
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Miami Dolphins / 2000-2011: the Post-Marino Era / 2005-2007: Nick Saban's NFL coaching stint and the worst season in franchise history / 2005
caption_attribution_description: Ricky Williams...check out everyone staring at him when he enters.
context_page_description: The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football franchise based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league's American Football Conference East division. The Dolphins team was founded by attorney-politician Joe Robbie and actor-comedian Danny Thomas. They began play in the AFL in 1966. The region had not had a professional football team since the days of the Miami Seahawks, who played in the All-America Football Conference in 1946 before becoming the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts.
context_section_description: In 2005, the offseason saw many changes for the Dolphins as Saban began to mold the team in his image.  The team selected Auburn running back Ronnie Brown in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. The Dolphins also signed veteran quarterback Gus Frerotte, who would win the starting job over A.J. Feeley, who was a disappointment in 2004, after Miami gave up a second-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for Feeley. At the 2005 trade deadline, Feeley and a seventh-rounder were dealt to the San Diego Chargers for Cleo Lemon. Cornerback Patrick Surtain was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for their second-round pick. Finally, Ricky Williams returned to the team. However, he had to sit out the first four games of the 2005 season due to violations of the NFL's substance abuse policy that he had ducked out on in 2004.
  The Dolphins began their 2005 regular season with a bang. The Dolphins won their Week 1 home-opener against the Denver Broncos 34–10, giving Nick Saban his very first NFL win.  Despite going on the road and losing to division rival New York Jets (17–7), the Dolphins won a tough game at home against the Carolina Panthers 27–24.  After their Week 4 bye, they lost their next two road games to their division rival Buffalo Bills (20–14) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (27–13). Not even Ricky Williams's return against the Bucs was enough.
  On Friday, October 21, the Dolphins had to play their home game against the Kansas City Chiefs two days early, because of Hurricane Wilma. The Dolphins lost 30–20, making them 0–3 in home games that had to be rescheduled because of a hurricane since the 2004 season. They would win next week at LSU's Tiger Stadium against the New Orleans Saints 21–6, but would lose their next three games. During that time, they lost two home games to the Atlanta Falcons (17–10) and their division rival New England Patriots (23–16) before getting shut out on the road against the Cleveland Browns (22–0). When things looked grim, the Dolphins regrouped and began gaining steam, winning six games in a row. First, they won on the road against the Oakland Raiders (33–21). Then Miami gained a measure of revenge against their division rival Buffalo Bills at home (24–23) with a late fourth quarter comeback engineered by backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels, Then the Dolphins pulled off an upset victory over the San Diego Chargers (23–21). Finally Miami beat the New York Jets by a score of 24–20, extending their winning streak to four games. The win also put them at the .500 mark (7–7), although wins by the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers put them out of playoff contention. The next week, on Christmas Eve, they achieved their fifth victory in a row with a 24–10 victory over the Tennessee Titans, which guaranteed them not to finish with a losing record.  The team closed out their 40th season with a 28–26 victory at New England to finish the 2005 campaign at 9–7. On a side note, this was the first time since December 24, 2000 that the Dolphins were able to beat the Patriots in Foxborough.
caption: Ricky Williams on August 8, 2005 at his first game back from retirement
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