The National Football League playoffs for the 2005 season began on January 7, 2006. The postseason tournament concluded with the Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, 21–10, on February 5, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
After scrutiny in the Wild Card and Divisional rounds, the league reversed a two-year policy, and returned to "all star" officiating crews for the Conference Championship games. Since the 2003–04 NFL playoffs, postseason officiating had been done by entire crews from the regular season. Nevertheless, the officiating in Super Bowl XL would be met with criticism.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
These playoffs marked the final season that ABC televised the first two Wild Card playoff games. Super Bowl XL was also ABC's final Super Bowl telecast. In addition to taking over Sunday Night Football during the following season, NBC was awarded the first two Wild Card playoff games, as well as ABC's place in the annual Super Bowl broadcasting rotation. ABC would not broadcast a playoff game again until the 2015–16 playoffs when it started to simulcast the ESPN-produced Wild Card Game.
CBS continued to televise the rest of the AFC playoff games and Fox the rest of the NFC games.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:92%; text-align:center;"
! Away team !! Score !! Home team !! Date !! Kickoff<br>(ET / UTC–5) !! TV
|-
! colspan="6"|Wild Card playoffs
|-
| Washington Redskins || 17–10 || Tampa Bay Buccaneers || January 7, 2006 || 4:30 p.m. || ABC
|-
| Jacksonville Jaguars || 3–28 || New England Patriots || January 7, 2006 || 8:00 p.m. || ABC
|-
| Carolina Panthers || 23–0 || New York Giants || January 8, 2006 || 1:00 p.m. || Fox
|-
| Pittsburgh Steelers || 31–17 || Cincinnati Bengals || January 8, 2006 || 4:30 p.m. || CBS
|-
! colspan="6"|Divisional playoffs
|-
| Washington Redskins || 10–20 || Seattle Seahawks || January 14, 2006 || 4:30 p.m. || Fox
|-
| New England Patriots || 13–27 || Denver Broncos || January 14, 2006 || 8:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
| Pittsburgh Steelers || 21–18 || Indianapolis Colts || January 15, 2006 || 1:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
| Carolina Panthers || 29–21 || Chicago Bears || January 15, 2006 || 4:30 p.m. || Fox
|-
! colspan="6"|Conference Championships
|-
| Pittsburgh Steelers || 34–17 || Denver Broncos || January 22, 2006 || 3:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
| Carolina Panthers || 14–34 || Seattle Seahawks || January 22, 2006 || 6:30 p.m. || Fox
|-
! colspan="6"|Super Bowl XL<br><small>Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan</small>
|-
| Seattle Seahawks || 10–21 || Pittsburgh Steelers || February 5, 2006 || 6:30 p.m. || ABC
|}
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 7, 2006
NFC: Washington Redskins 17, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10
Although the Redskins gained only 120 yards on offense, the lowest total in NFL playoff history for a winning team, they converted two turnovers into touchdowns.
Midway through the first quarter, Washington linebacker LaVar Arrington's 21-yard interception return set up running back Clinton Portis' six-yard touchdown run. Then, Redskins linebacker Marcus Washington recovered Tampa Bay running back Cadillac Williams' fumble and returned it seven yards before losing it himself – into the arms of safety Sean Taylor, who then ran 51 yards for the Redskins' second touchdown.
Early in the second quarter, Tampa Bay drove 38 yards to the Redskins' 24-yard line where Matt Bryant kicked a 43-yard field goal to cut their deficit to 14–3. The Redskins responded with a 10-play, 40-yard drive and scored with a 40-yard field goal from John Hall.
In the third quarter, Mark Jones gave the Buccaneers the ball at their own 49-yard line on a 24-yard punt return. Tampa Bay's offense then went on a 7-play, 51-yard drive that ended with quarterback Chris Simms' two-yard touchdown run. In the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay drove to the Redskins 19-yard line, but linebacker Lemar Marshall tackled fullback Mike Alstott for no gain on third down and 1, and then Simms threw an incomplete pass on fourth down. Buccaneers cornerback Brian Kelly intercepted a pass from Mark Brunell on the Redskins' next drive and returned it to the Redskins 35-yard line. With three minutes left in the game, Tampa Bay wide receiver Edell Shepherd caught what appeared to be a 35-yard touchdown reception, but he lost control of the ball as he was coming down in the end zone for an incomplete pass. The Buccaneers got one last chance to tie the game when they received a punt at their own 46-yard line with 1:05 left in regulation, but Simms threw a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage and went into the arms of Marcus Washington for a game-ending interception.
The game was widely regarded by commentators as an "ugly" performance by both teams' offenses, rendering it a largely defensive game.
This was the final playoff victory for the "Redskins", as the controversial moniker was retired in 2020. Washington would not win in the postseason again until the 2024–25 NFL playoffs, which they won in Tampa again.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Redskins and Buccaneers. Tampa Bay won the only prior meeting.
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
|+
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!Tampa Bay leads 1–0 in all-time playoff games
|-
|
|}
AFC: New England Patriots 28, Jacksonville Jaguars 3
The three-time Super Bowl champion Patriots, who for the first time in their previous three playoff trips would have to win three games to advance to the Super Bowl, defeated the Jaguars 28–3. Linebacker Willie McGinest set NFL playoff records for sacks in a game (4.5, one ahead of the old record held by Richard Dent and Rich Milot) and career postseason sacks (16, two ahead of the old record held by Bruce Smith), while quarterback Tom Brady threw for 201 yards and three touchdown passes.
thumb|300px|New England vs. Jacksonville in the 2005 wild card game
In the first half, the Jaguars recorded four sacks and held New England to 126 yards, while the Patriots defense recorded two sacks, gave up only 115 yards, and did not allow a first down until 9:40 remained in the second quarter. Neither team could score in the first quarter, but early in the second, New England receiver Tim Dwight returned Chris Hanson's 46-yard punt 27 yards to the Jaguars 37-yard line. Two 4-yard runs by Corey Dillon and an 18-yard burst from Kevin Faulk then moved the ball to the 11-yard line, and Brady capped off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Troy Brown. On Jacksonville's ensuing possession, Jimmy Smith's 19-yard reception gave his team a first down for the first time in the game and moved the ball to the Patriots 44-yard line. But on the next play, a tackle from safety Eugene Wilson caused Alvin Pearman to fumble the ball, and defensive end Richard Seymour recovered it. However, the Patriots could not take advantage of the turnover; Jacksonville managed to force a punt and then drove into scoring range for the first time in the game. Quarterback Byron Leftwich completed five passes for 59 yards on the drive, and Josh Scobee finished it with a 36-yard field goal, cutting their deficit to 7–3. After the kickoff, Faulk's 21-yard reception moved the ball to midfield and gave the Patriots a chance to increase their lead before halftime, but receiver Deion Branch dropped a pass from Brady at the Jaguars 10-yard line with 19 seconds left.
After forcing Jacksonville to punt on the opening drive of the second half, Brady led the Patriots 81-yards in 12 plays. On the 11th play, they nearly turned the ball over when tight end Benjamin Watson fumbled the ball on the Jaguars 5-yard line, but receiver André Davis recovered the ball, and Brady threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to David Givens on the next play. Then after forcing a punt, Brady threw a short pass to Watson who broke several tackles en route to a 63-yard score, increasing New England's lead to 21–3. After the kickoff, Leftwich led his team to the Patriots 32-yard line, but on the first play of the fourth quarter, cornerback Asante Samuel intercepted Leftwich's pass and took off for a 73-yard touchdown return, making the score 28–3. After that, Jacksonville mounted two more drives, but could not come away with any points. First they drove to the Patriots 8-yard line. But on third down and 2, McGinest sacked Leftwich for a 15-yard loss and Scobee missed a 41-yard field goal attempt on the next play. Then after forcing a punt, they drove to the Patriots 6-yard line, but ended up turning the ball over downs with five minutes left in the game.
This game also marked three career playoff records: Brady and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick set records with 10 straight postseason victories, eclipsing Vince Lombardi's run with the Green Bay Packers in the 1960s.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Jaguars and Patriots. Both teams split the prior two meetings. Taking advantage of his second chance, Manning completed a 9-yard pass to Clark, a 20-yard pass to Marvin Harrison, and a 24-yard pass to Reggie Wayne, moving the ball to the Steelers 3-yard line. Running back Edgerrin James finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, and then Manning threw a pass to Wayne for a successful 2-point conversion, cutting the Colts deficit to 21–18. The Steelers were forced to punt on their ensuing drive. But with 1:20 left in the game, Manning was sacked on fourth and 16 at the Colts' 2-yard line, and the ball was turned over to the Steelers on downs.
At this point, the game appeared to be over. However, the Steelers were forced to advance the ball towards another score instead of taking a quarterback kneel because the Colts still had three timeouts remaining. But on Pittsburgh's first play, in which Bettis tried to punch it in for an insurance touchdown, he fumbled for the first time all season when linebacker Gary Brackett popped it from Bettis' hands with his helmet. Nick Harper recovered the ball and appeared to be on his way for an Indianapolis touchdown that would have given the Colts the lead when Roethlisberger barely made a season saving tackle at the Colts' 42-yard line, recovering from getting spun around to grab Harper's ankle, which brought him down. Eventually, the Colts then advanced to the Pittsburgh 28-yard line, but Vanderjagt, who had been perfect at home in the playoffs, missed a 46-yard game-tying field goal attempt wide right with 17 seconds left, and the Steelers ran out the clock.
This game marked the beginning of the end for Vanderjagt, who entered the game as the NFL's all-time leader in field goal percentage. The following year, the Colts decided to let his contract expire. He spent the next season with the Dallas Cowboys, where he made just 72% of his field goals before leaving the NFL for good.
This was the fifth postseason meeting between the Steelers and Colts, with Pittsburgh having won all four prior meetings.