2005 NFL season The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League . With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions , regular season play was held from September 8 , 2005 to January 1 , 2006 . The regular season also saw the first ever regular season game played outside the United States , as well as the New Orleans Saints being forced to play elsewhere due to damage to the Superdome and the entire New Orleans area by Hurricane Katrina . The playoffs began on January 7 . New England was eliminated in the Divisional Playoff Round , and eventually the NFL title was won by the Pittsburgh Steelers , who defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21 – 10 in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit , Michigan on February 5 for their fifth Super Bowl win . The season formally concluded with the Pro Bowl , the league ' s all - star game , at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu , Hawaii on February 12 . Television . This marked the final season that ABC held the rights to televise " Monday Night Football " after thirty - six years of airing the series . When the TV contracts were renewed near the end of the season , the rights to broadcast " Monday Night Football " were awarded to Disney - owned corporate sibling ESPN . NBC bought the right to televise " Sunday Night Football " , marking the first time that the network broadcast NFL games since Super Bowl XXXII in 1998 . Meanwhile , CBS and Fox renewed their television contracts to the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference packages , respectively . First regular season game played outside the United States . The 2005 season also featured the first ever regular season game played outside the United States when a San Francisco 49ers - Arizona Cardinals game was played at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on October 2 ( the Cardinals won 31 - 14 ) . The game drew an NFL regular season record of 103 , 467 paid fans . It was a home game for the Cardinals , mostly because the team rarely sold out at their then - home field , Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe , Arizona . This season was the last year that the Cardinals played at Sun Devil Stadium ; the team then moved to their new Cardinals Stadium in nearby Glendale . Effect of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season . Effect of Hurricane Katrina . Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to the Louisiana Superdome and the greater New Orleans area , the entire New Orleans Saints ' 2005 home schedule were played at different venues while the Saints set up temporary operations in San Antonio , Texas . The Saints ' first home game on September 18 against the New York Giants was moved to Giants Stadium on September 19 ( In which the N . Y . Giants won 27 - 10 ) . The impromptu " Monday Night doubleheader " with the game already scheduled ( Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys ) was a success , and was made a permanent part of the schedule the next year when Monday Night Football made the move to ESPN . As a result of the unscheduled doubleheader , the NFL designated its second weekend , September 18 and 19 , as " Hurricane Relief Weekend " , with fund raising collections at all of the league ' s games . The Saints ' remaining home games were split between the Alamodome in San Antonio and Louisiana State University ' s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge , Louisiana . Being forced to travel to 13 of their 16 games ( only 3 of their games were actually played in the same city where they practiced ) and practice in substandard facilities and conditions in San Antonio , the Saints finished 3 – 13 , their worst season since 1999 . The last time an NFL franchise had to play at an alternate site because its own home field was deemed unplayable was in 2002 , when the Chicago Bears played that season in Champaign , Illinois , 120 miles ( 200 km ) away , due to the reconstruction of Soldier Field . The last NFL team to abandon their home city during a season was the hapless 1952 Dallas Texans , whose franchise was returned to the league after drawing several poor crowds at the Cotton Bowl . They played their final " home " game at the Rubber Bowl in Akron , Ohio , against the Bears on Thanksgiving ; the Texans stunned the Bears , 27 - 23 , in front of a crowd estimated at 3 , 000 , for their only win of the season . Effect of Hurricane Wilma . The Sunday , October 23 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins at Dolphins Stadium was rescheduled to Friday , October 21 at 7 : 00 pm EDT to beat Hurricane Wilma ' s arrival to the Miami , Florida area . The Chiefs won the game , 30 – 20 , and became the first visiting team to travel and play on the same day . Since the game was planned for Sunday afternoon , it is one of the few times in history that the Dolphins wore their road jerseys in a home game played at night . Final regular season standings . " W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , PCT = Winning Percentage , PF = Points For , PA = Points Against " " Clinched playoff seeds are marked in parentheses and shaded in green " Milestones . The following teams and players set all - time NFL records during the season :