Regular season | |
---|---|
Duration | September 8, 2005 – January 1, 2006 |
Playoffs | |
Start date | January 7, 2006 |
AFC Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers |
NFC Champions | Seattle Seahawks |
Super Bowl XL | |
Date | February 5, 2006 |
Site | Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan |
Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers |
Pro Bowl | |
Date | February 12, 2006 |
Site | Aloha Stadium |
The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League.
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's streak of 10 consecutive playoff wins was ended in the Divisional Playoff Round by the Denver Broncos, 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. This also marked the first time that a Sixth-seeded team, who by the nature of their seeding would play every game on the road, would advance to and win the Super Bowl.
The season formally concluded with the Pro Bowl, the league's all-star game, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 12.
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.