The 2005 season was the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

' 86th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), their 107th overall and their 18th in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. The team was unable to improve upon their 6–10 record from the previous season, and failed to make the playoffs for the seventh year in a row. The October 2 game was the first regular season game to be played outside the United States and was known as NFL Futbol Americano. The game was a Cardinals home game, and the Cardinals defeated their division rivals, the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

, 31–14. For the first time since moving to the NFC West in 2002, the Cardinals swept division rivals the 49ers and won in

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium located in the Bayview-Hunters Point, Hunters Point area of San Francisco, California, United States. It was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 S ...

for the first time since

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

. The Cardinals, as a team, had a paltry 1,138 rushing yards in 2005, only 71.1 yards per game. Remarkably, the Cardinals only had one 100-yard rushing game, when they ran for 129 yards in the season finale against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. Arizona's season total is the fifth-fewest rushing yards by a team in a 16-game season. The Cardinals passing offense, however, led the league, with 4,437 yards.

Kurt Warner Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, whi ...

's 271.3 passing yards per game were third in the NFL, and his 24.2 pass completions per-game led the league. Wide receiver

Larry Fitzgerald Larry Darnell Fitzgerald Jr. (born August 31, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the ...

tied for the league lead in receptions, with 103, edging out his teammate

Anquan Boldin Anquan Kenmile Boldin Sr. (; born October 3, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and w ...

, who had 102 (tied for third in the NFL)Tied with the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

Torry Holt Torry Jabar Holt (born June 5, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was named to the Pro Bowl seven times and retired with the 10th most receiv ...

. Fitzgerald's 1,409 yards, and Boldin’s 1,402 yards receiving were fourth and fifth in the NFL, respectively, in 2005. Boldin’s 100.1 receiving yards per game led the NFL. The season also saw the Cardinals change their logo and uniforms, which remained until

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. It was also their final season playing at

Sun Devil Stadium Mountain America Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in Tempe, Arizona, located on the campus of Arizona State University (ASU). It is the home of the Arizona State Sun Devils football team of the Big 12 Conference. The stadium o ...

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

In the 2005 regular season, the Cardinals’ non-divisional, conference opponents were primarily from the

NFC East The National Football Conference – Eastern Division or NFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It has four members: the Dallas Cowboys, New Yo ...

, although they also played the Carolina Panthers from the

NFC South The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season when th ...

, and the Detroit Lions from the

NFC North The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and toug ...

. Their non-conference opponents were from the

AFC South The American Football Conference – Southern Division or AFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season, 200 ...

. Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1: at New York Giants

Week 2: vs. St. Louis Rams

Week 3: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 4: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Fútbol Americano "Fútbol Americano" was the marketing name used for the first National Football League (NFL) regular season game held outside the United States. Played on October 2, 2005, at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, the Arizona Cardinals defeated the San ...

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Season summary

Week 1: at New York Giants

Week 2: vs. St. Louis Rams

Week 3: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 4: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Week 5: vs. Carolina Panthers

Week 7: vs. Tennessee Titans

Week 8: at Dallas Cowboys

Week 9: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week 10: at Detroit Lions

Week 11: at St. Louis Rams

Week 12: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 13: at San Francisco 49ers

Week 14: vs. Washington Redskins

Week 15: at Houston Texans

Week 16: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 17: at Indianapolis Colts

Standings

Notes

References