2005 Dallas Cowboys season The 2005 Dallas Cowboys season began with the team trying to improve on their 6 – 10 record in 2004 . Despite a 7 – 3 start , the Cowboys ended the season with a 9 – 7 record and narrowly missed the playoffs . Offseason . During the 2005 offseason , the team found a temporary solution to the quarterback situation by signing former Buffalo Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe . Earlier in his career , Bledsoe played for Bill Parcells while he was the coach for the New England Patriots . The Cowboys also signed cornerback Aaron Glenn and cornerback Anthony Henry . The Cowboys also lost their last remaining three - time super bowl champion when Darren Woodson announced his retirement just before the offseason began . The Cowboys installed a 3 - 4 defensive scheme , marking the first departure from the 4 – 3 defense since the club was founded in 1960 . In their first year in the new system the team finished tenth in the NFL in total defense and opponents completed just 54 . 7 percent of their passes against the Cowboys ’ secondary , the second - lowest number in the NFL that year . Regular season . Week 1 : at San Diego Chargers . After losing on opening weekend for five straight years , the Cowboys looked to end the streak on opening weekend against the San Diego Chargers . The defending AFC West Champion Chargers just had a 12 – 4 season and they were at home . The game was not decided until the final 30 seconds , when looking to score the game - winning touchdown on the Dallas 7 - yard line , San Diego Quarterback Drew Brees threw an interception to Aaron Glenn . Both teams would go on to get a " disappointing " 9 – 7 record . Summary Week 2 : vs . Washington Redskins . Going into the game , the Dallas Cowboys had won 14 of the last 15 meetings between the two teams . The Redskins had not won in Texas Stadium since 1995 . After holding a 13 – 0 with 3 : 46 remaining in the fourth quarter , the Redskins came out with an extremely improbable rally late in the fourth quarter to stun the Cowboys 14 – 13 when Mark Brunell threw two touchdown passes to Santana Moss . It was an extremely painful loss for the Cowboys , and it was the first time ( after 77 times ) that Coach Parcells lost after going into the fourth quarter with at least a 13 point lead . Summary Week 3 : at San Francisco 49ers . The Dallas Cowboys did the exact opposite of what they did a week earlier by scoring 15 unanswered point in the fourth quarter to shock the 49ers 34 – 31 , in a game that was decided with less than 2 minutes remaining . Summary Week 4 : at Oakland Raiders . Despite staying in the Bay area over the week to prepare for the game against the Raiders game , the Cowboys were unable to take advantage of the winless Oakland Raiders , and failed to score on a potential game saving drive late in the fourth quarter . Summary Week 5 : vs . Philadelphia Eagles . The Cowboys exploded offensively in what Parcells said was the best performance he has seen since coming to Dallas . The Cowboys would not let the Eagles offense score a single touchdown ( they had one defensive touchdown ) , and the Cowboys outscored the Eagles 27 – 3 in the first half to put the game out of reach . Summary Week 6 : vs . New York Giants . Dallas hoped to continue playing great offensively as they did in the previous week by beating the New York Giants at home . Instead , they played very sloppily and Coach Parcells said his team was " fortunate " to win . The Cowboys were sacked 4 times for a loss of 36 yards and turned over the ball 4 times . Summary The Cowboys lost left tackle Flozell Adams for the remainder of the season when he tore an ACL in his knee . With an immobile quarterback like Drew Bledsoe , this would be devastating for the Dallas Cowboys later in the Season because Bledsoe would be sacked 36 more times ( after being sacked " only " 13 times during the first six games ) , and he would throw 13 more interceptions after this game ( while throwing only 4 picks during the first six games ) . Week 7 : at Seattle Seahawks . The Cowboys came to Seattle for a defensive showdown . After scoring a touchdown early in the first quarter , the Cowboys had the lead until 59 minutes and 20 second into the game when Seattle tied the game at 10 – 10 . Trying to win with 14 seconds left in regulation , Drew Bledsoe threw an interception and Seahawks kicker Josh Brown kicked the game - winning field goal , taking their first lead of the game as time expired . Summary Jose Cortez missed a field goal which cost Dallas the game , and he was fired after the game . Ryan Hannam , who scored a game - tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent the following season . Week 8 : vs . Arizona Cardinals . The Dallas Cowboys bounced back from a painful loss a week earlier and routed the Arizona Cardinals . The Cowboys had a new kicker on their roster , rookie Shaun Suisham , and another rookie making his first start was Marion Barber , who was starting in place of injured Julius Jones . He ran for 127 yards and scored two touchdowns in his breakout game . Summary Week 10 : at Philadelphia Eagles . The Cowboys came to Philadelphia hoping to sweep the Eagles for the first time since 1998 , and beat them at Philadelphia for the first time since 1998 . After trailing by 13 points late in the fourth quarter , the Cowboys stunned the Eagles by scoring two touchdowns ( one of which was an interception return ) to win the game 21 – 20 . Also , Donovan McNabb injured his knee and he would leave for the remainder of the season . Summary Week 11 : vs . Detroit Lions . Earlier in the week , Coach Parcells hung mousetraps in the locker room to warn his players that this game was a " trap game " . Dallas rushed for 149 yards and 2 touchdowns , and kicker Billy Cundiff kicked a franchise record 56 yard field goal . After the game , the Cowboys were 7 – 3 and tied for second place in the NFC . The Cowboys had already won more game than they did in the previous season Summary Week 12 : vs . Denver Broncos . In the annual Thanksgiving Day Game , the Dallas Cowboys hosted the Denver Broncos . The Cowboys offense had 314 yards , greater than Denver ' s 293 yards , but Cowboys kicker Billy Cundiff a missed field goal in the fourth quarter so the game went into overtime . Denver won the coin toss and Broncos backup runningback Ron Dayne ran 55 yards on the second play in overtime and Jason Elam kicked the game winning field goal . Summary Week 13 : at New York Giants . In this season ' s rematch , the New York Giants made the Dallas Cowboys pay for an overtime 16 – 13 win earlier in the season , but both teams had a sloppy performance overall . Both teams threw two interceptions , but the Cowboys lost two fumbles . Drew Bledsoe was sacked 4 times for a loss of 21 yards , both quarterbacks completed under 40 % of their passes , and both teams missed a field goal . The Giants ran for 127 yards rushing ( including 115 yards by Tiki Barber ) and one rushing touchdown which made the difference in the game . Summary Week 14 : vs . Kansas City Chiefs . In a back - and - forth offensive thriller , Kansas City running back Larry Johnson scored three touchdowns and Drew Bledsoe threw for three touchdowns . The Chief ' s offense had 493 , more than the Cowboys 445 yards , but the Chiefs mistakes ( including a lost fumble ) made the difference in the game . Summary Week 15 : at Washington Redskins . After losing a painful Monday Night game in Week Two 13 – 14 , the Cowboys were unable to avenge their former team . Instead , Washington gave Bill Parcells his biggest loss ever as an NFL coach . Tight end Chris Cooley had a career day catching three touchdown passes . After being down 35 – 0 early in the fourth quarter , Dallas prevented a shutout by throwing a conselation touchdown pass to Jason Witten . Drew Bledsoe was sacked seven times and threw three interceptions . Only the Danny White led Dallas 44 – 14 victory on September 9 , 1985 had a larger margin of victory between the two teams . Summary Week 16 : at Carolina Panthers . Going into the game , the Panthers needed a win to secure a playoff spot . The Cowboys needed a win to stay alive in the playoff race after losing three out of the last four games . Despite falling behind 0 – 10 early in the game , the Cowboys rallied to outscore Carolina 17 – 3 for almost three quarters , including two Julius Jones touchdowns . Julius Jones rushed for 194 yards , the fourth best in franchise history . Late in the fourth quarter while trailing 17 – 20 , Billy Cundiff attempted to tie the game on a 33 yard field goal , but missed . The only reason Dallas still managed to win the game was because Carolina was penalized for " running into the kicker " ( Carolina contended that they had slightly blocked the kick but replays proved inconclusive ) and Terry Glenn scored a touchdown with one hand to take the lead ( he dislocated his hand early in the game ) . Summary Billy Cundiff had a 32 - yard field goal attempt blocked , and missed a 33 - yard attempt . He already missed two field goals earlier in the season , including one that cost Dallas the game on Thanksgiving against Denver , so two days after the game he was fired by coach Parcells . Carolina won next week to secure a wildcard spot in the playoffs , but despite several likely playoff scenarios Dallas was eliminated from the playoffs before their last game when the Panthers , the Redskins , and the Giants all won a week later . Week 17 : vs . St . Louis Rams . Only minutes before the game , the Cowboys were eliminated from the playoff race when the Washington Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles The deflated Cowboys only managed to score 10 points against the St . Louis Rams , who came into the game 5 – 10 . After running for a meager 35 yards , Julius Jones had 993 yards for the season , painfully just 7 yards short of 1 , 000 yards . Summary Just days after the game , head coach Bill Parcells announced he was staying for at least one more season , and his contract was extended through 2007 . At the time , there had been some speculation he would be retiring .