2005 Denver Broncos season In 2005 the Denver Broncos ended the 2005 regular season with a 13 – 3 record , the franchise ' s second - best number of wins of all time and their third best win percentage ever . They won their first playoff game since winning Super Bowl XXXIII in the 1998 season . They failed to get to the Super Bowl however , losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers , that season ' s champions , in the AFC Championship game . 2005 season . After losing their first game 34 – 10 to the Miami Dolphins on September 11 , the Broncos won 5 straight games , defeating the San Diego Chargers 20 – 17 , the Kansas City Chiefs 30 – 10 , the Jacksonville Jaguars 20 – 7 , the Washington Redskins 21 – 19 , and the two - time defending champion New England Patriots 28 – 20 on October 16 before losing to the New York Giants on October 23 by a final score of 24 – 23 . They then beat the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles 49 – 21 on October 30 . In that game , the Broncos became the first team in NFL history to have two players , Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell , rush for over 100 yards and another player , Jake Plummer , pass for over 300 yards in a single game . They then beat the Oakland Raiders on November 13 31 – 17 . They beat the New York Jets on November 20 27 – 0 . It was the first time the Broncos had shut out a team at home since the Carolina Panthers on November 9 , 1997 . They played the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving day , November 24 , winning a very hard fought game in overtime 24 – 21 . The key play that led to Jason Elam ' s 24 - yard game winning field goal was a 55 yard run by Ron Dayne who filled in for the injured Tatum Bell . They lost to the Chiefs 31 – 27 on December 4 , but defeated the Baltimore Ravens the following week 12 – 10 . On December 17 , the Broncos defeated the Buffalo Bills 28 – 17 . On Christmas Eve 2005 , the Denver Broncos clinched the AFC West division title as they finished 8 – 0 at Invesco Field beating the Oakland Raiders 22 – 3 . On December 31 , 2005 , the Broncos got win number 13 by going on the road and sweeping their division rivals , the Chargers , with a final score of 23 – 7 . The Broncos entered their third consecutive year in the playoffs with the momentum of a four game winning streak . With a record of 13 – 3 , they were tied with the Seattle Seahawks for second overall in the league , behind the 14 – 2 Indianapolis Colts . They were seeded number two in the AFC behind the Colts . On January 14 , 2006 , the Broncos defeated the two - time defending champions , the New England Patriots , 27 – 13 , ending the Patriots chance of becoming the first NFL team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowl championships . The last team with a chance of winning three consecutive Super Bowls before the Patriots were the Broncos themselves . The Broncos ' run came to an end by losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship 34 – 17 on January 22 , 2006 . Their strength of controlling the ball collapsed with 4 turnovers . They were outscored in the first half 24 – 3 and were not able to come from behind to win in the second half . The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL . Team stats . The Broncos relied on a more consistent Jake Plummer , their running game behind Tatum Bell , Ron Dayne , and Mike Anderson , and their defense to stop opposing running back s . The Broncos placed second in the league in rushing yards per game , fourth in total offense and allowed the second fewest rushing yards in the league . The key to Denver ' s success that year was their ability to keep control of the ball . In the regular season they committed just 16 turnovers , tied for the second - least in the league , and took it away from their opponents 36 times , fifth - best in the league . This resulted in a turnover differential of + 20 , second - best in the NFL . Jake Plummer , after throwing an NFL - high - tying 20 interceptions in the 2004 season , threw only 7 interceptions on the year , and had the second - lowest interception percentage rate of any quarterback in the league ( behind Brad Johnson ) . His only commission of a serious number of turnovers occurred , unfortunately , in the AFC Championship , with two interceptions . In 2005 the Broncos had 5 , 766 total offensive yard s and gave up 5 , 006 yards . They outrushed their opponents 2 , 539 to 1 , 363 . They were , however , outpassed 3 , 643 to 3 , 227 . They had 28 sacks and gave up 23 . They had 46 touchdowns to their opponents ' 31 . They were tied for fifth in total touchdowns and were seventh in the league in points per game . The Broncos had 753 tackles to their opponents ' 837 , made 20 interceptions for the year and gave up only seven . Player stats . Jake Plummer threw 277 completions out of 456 attempts for 3366 yards and 18 touchdowns . He had 7 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 90 . 2 . He also ran 46 times for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns . Mike Anderson had 239 rushes for 1014 yards and 12 touchdowns . Tatum Bell ran 173 times for 921 yards and 8 touchdowns . He also had 18 catches and 104 receiving yards . Ron Dayne had 53 carries for 270 yards . He also had 18 receptions for 212 yards . Rod Smith led in receiving with 85 receptions for 1105 yards and 6 touchdowns . Ashley Lelie had 42 receptions , 770 yards , and 1 touchdown . Jeb Putzier made 37 catches for 481 yards . Charlie Adams had 21 receptions and 203 yards . Ian Gold had 72 tackle s , 16 assists , 3 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries . Nick Ferguson made 61 tackles and had 18 assists and 1 fumble recovery . Al Wilson had 61 tackles , 11 assists , 3 sacks and 1 fumble recovery . Domonique Foxworth made 64 tackles , had 6 assists and 2 fumble recoveries . Champ Bailey had 8 interceptions and 2 touchdowns , 59 tackles and 5 assists . John Lynch had 44 tackles , 17 assists , and 4 sacks . Jason Elam kicked 24 field goal s out of 32 attempted and 43 out of 44 extra points . 2005 team roster . Offensive backs Receivers Kickers Offensive line Linebackers Defensive backs Defensive line Practice squad Reserve / Injured