2005 New England Patriots season

2005 New England Patriots season
Owner	Robert Kraft
President	Jonathan Kraft
Head coach	Bill Belichick
Home field	Gillette Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	1st AFC East
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Jaguars) 28–3 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Broncos) 13–27
Pro Bowlers	QB Tom Brady DT Richard Seymour
AP All-Pros	DT Richard Seymour (1st team) QB Tom Brady (2nd team)
Uniform
← 2004 Patriots seasons 2006 →

The 2005 season was the New England Patriots' 36th in the National Football League (NFL), their 46th overall and their sixth under head coach Bill Belichick. With a Week 6 loss to the Denver Broncos, the Patriots failed to either improve or match their 14–2 record from last season; they finished with a 10–6 record and the division title before losing in the playoffs to the Broncos, ending their hopes of becoming the first NFL team to three peat in the Super Bowl.

Ten days after earning a victory in Super Bowl XXXIX, linebacker Tedy Bruschi suffered a stroke and initially planned on missing the entire season; Bruschi returned to the field against the Buffalo Bills on October 30. Cornerback Ty Law was released in the offseason, and injuries at cornerback, as well as a season-ending injury to safety Rodney Harrison in Week 3, forced the Patriots to start a number of players in the secondary early in the season. Overall, injuries caused the Patriots to start 45 different players at one point or another during the season, an NFL record for a division champion (breaking the record of 42 set by the Patriots in 2003).^[1]

Beginning the season with a 4–4 record, the Patriots lost their first game at home since 2002 against the San Diego Chargers in Week 4. The team ended the season on a 6–2 run to finish 10–6, earning their third straight AFC East title. (The Patriots were the first team in NFL history to alternate wins and losses in each of their first nine games.)^[2]

With the fourth seed in the AFC playoffs, the Patriots defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in the wild card round but fell to the Denver Broncos on the road in the divisional round, committing five turnovers in the game and marking the first playoff loss in the Brady/Belichick era and the first since 1998. They were the last defending champion to win a playoff game until the 2014 Seattle Seahawks. This would begin an 18-season stretch in which the defending NFL champions failed to defend their Super Bowl title before eventually being broken by the 2023 Kansas City Chiefs.