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.^[1]

Participants

Patriots

Bengals

Colts

Broncos

Jaguars

Steelers

Giants

Bears

Buccaneers

Seahawks

Panthers

Redskins

AFC Teams NFC Teams

Within each conference, the four division winners and the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5–6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth-seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference received a first-round bye. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst-surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5). The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.^[2]

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.

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,^[3] 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.^[4][5]

As of the conclusion of the 2022 NFL season, this remains Washington's last playoff victory, and is the final playoff victory for the "Redskins", as the controversial moniker was retired in 2020.

This was the second postseason meeting between the Redskins and Buccaneers. Tampa Bay won the only prior meeting.^[6]

AFC: New England Patriots 28, Jacksonville Jaguars 3