2005 Washington Redskins season
In their return to the postseason, the Redskins defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the opening round, but a loss to the Seattle Seahawks the following week ended their season.
During the offseason, the Redskins lost cornerback Fred Smoot and starting linebacker Antonio Pierce to free agency.
The Redskins signed the following free agents: center Casey Rabach, wide receiver David Patten, and strong safety Pierson Prioleau.
The Redskins restructured the contract of Pro Bowl left tackle Chris Samuels, with the "seven-year deal is worth roughly $47 million and includes the richest signing bonus in franchise history.
On one crucial drive for the Bears, when they needed a field goal to win, the Redskins forced three false starts and a sack to make it third-and-38.
On top of that, Flozell Adams committed a key holding penalty which negated a first-down catch by Keyshawn Johnson on 3rd-and-8.
On 4th-and-5, Dallas punter Mat McBriar fielded a low snap and punted it into the endzone for a touchback, giving Washington the ball at their 20-yard line with 2:52 remaining.
The Cowboys made one final push to win the game, but the Redskins stopped them on fourth down to complete what is known as the "Monday Night Miracle".
After Mark Brunell was sacked for a 9-yard loss, Santana Moss tied the game on a quick pass to the left flat as he ran 78-yards for a touchdown.
Trent Green hit Holmes on a 60-yard touchdown catch to seal the deal for the Chiefs as Brunell and the Redskins failed in an attempted comeback in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
After two close, consecutive, and heartbreaking AFC losses in the last two weeks, the Redskins returned home to welcome the lowly 49ers to town and unleashed a scoring barrage, winning 52–17.
After forcing another San Francisco punt, the Redskins drove another 60 yards for another score, this time a 5-yard run from Clinton Portis.
Following their lopsided blowout win over the 49ers, the Redskins headed to the Meadowlands for an NFC East duel with the New York Giants.
Looking to rebound from a 36–0 shutout against the Giants, Washington returned home for a second consecutive NFC East matchup, this time against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Washington responded with a John Hall field goal and a Mike Sellers touchdown run to lead 10–7 at the half.
In the third, the Eagles added a David Akers field goal, and the Redskins responded with a Clinton Portis touchdown run to make the score 17–10.
In the fourth quarter, with time winding down, the Eagles driving, safety Ryan Clark intercepted a McNabb pass with 1:25 remaining, sealing the win and improving the Redskins to 5–3 at the halfway point in the season.
Tampa Bay responded with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Chris Simms to Joey Galloway, making the score 21–10.
With the game on the line, Simms led Tampa Bay to a game-winning touchdown drive with a 30-yard pass to Edell Shepherd.
As a result, Tampa Bay elected to go for two, and successfully converted on a controversial run by Alstott, handing the Redskins a 36–35 loss and dropping them to 5–4 on the season.
