2000 New Orleans Saints season

The 2000 season was the New Orleans Saints' 34th in the National Football League and their 25th playing home games at the Louisiana Superdome. The Saints were looking to improve on their 3–13 finish from a year earlier under new head coach Jim Haslett.[2] Not only did the Saints do so, but they finished with a 10–6 record to win the NFC West and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 1992. They also won their first ever playoff game in franchise history by defeating the defending Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams in the Wild Card round. The Saints went no further, though, as they lost to the Minnesota Vikings in the next round.

2000 New Orleans Saints season
Head coachJim Haslett
Home fieldLouisiana Superdome
Results
Record10–6
Division place1st NFC West
Playoff finishWon Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Rams) 31–28
Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Vikings) 16–34
Pro Bowlers

This was the only time the Saints made the playoffs under Haslett. For the next four seasons, the Saints fell out of contention. They would not return to the playoffs until 2006.

New wide receiver Joe Horn quickly emerged as a star, catching 94 passes for 1,340 and 9 touchdowns, and he was selected to the Pro Bowl after the season.


It was the only season in which the Saints defeated the Rams in the playoffs, as they were defeated by them in the NFC Championship 18 years afterward.

Offseason

NFL Draft

2000 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 33 Darren Howard  Defensive end Kansas State
4 96 Terrelle Smith  Fullback Arizona State
5 131 Tutan Reyes  Guard Mississippi
5 158 Austin Wheatley  Tight end Iowa
5 166 Chad Morton  Running back USC
6 168 Marc Bulger *  Quarterback West Virginia
6 195 Michael Hawthorne  Defensive back Purdue
6 200 Sherrod Gideon  Wide receiver Southern Miss
7 228 Kevin Houser  Center Ohio State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[3]

Personnel

Staff

2000 New Orleans Saints staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – Al Everest
  • Special teams assistant – Joe Baker

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Rock Gullickson
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Evan Marcus

Roster

2000 New Orleans Saints final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
52 active, 6 inactive, 1 practice squad

[4]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result TV Attendance Record
1 September 3 Detroit Lions L 14–10 FOX 64,900 0–1
2 September 10 at San Diego Chargers W 28–27 FOX 51,300 1–1
3 September 17 at Seattle Seahawks L 20–10 FOX 59,513 1–2
4 September 24 Philadelphia Eagles L 21–7 FOX 64,900 1–3
5 Bye
6 October 8 at Chicago Bears W 31–10 FOX 66,944 2–3
7 October 15 Carolina Panthers W 24–6 FOX 50,015 3–3
8 October 22 at Atlanta Falcons W 21–19 FOX 56,508 4–3
9 October 29 at Arizona Cardinals W 21–10 FOX 35,016 5–3
10 November 5 San Francisco 49ers W 31–15 FOX 64,900 6–3
11 November 12 at Carolina Panthers W 20–10 FOX 72,981 7–3
12 November 19 Oakland Raiders L 31–22 CBS 64,900 7–4
13 November 26 at St. Louis Rams W 31–24 FOX 66,064 8–4
14 December 3 Denver Broncos L 38–23 CBS 64,900 8–5
15 December 10 at San Francisco 49ers W 31–27 FOX 67,892 9–5
16 December 17 Atlanta Falcons W 23–7 FOX 64,900 10–5
17 December 24 St. Louis Rams L 26–21 FOX 64,900 10–6
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(3) New Orleans Saints 10 6 0 .625 354 305 L1
(6) St. Louis Rams 10 6 0 .625 540 471 W1
Carolina Panthers 7 9 0 .438 310 310 L1
San Francisco 49ers 6 10 0 .375 388 422 L1
Atlanta Falcons 4 12 0 .250 252 413 W1

Playoffs

Week Date Opponent Result TV Attendance
Wild Card December 30 St. Louis Rams W 31–28 ABC 64,900
Divisional January 6 at Minnesota Vikings L 34–16 FOX 63,881

Player stats

Passing

Player Completions Attempts Percentage Yards TD Int Rating
Jeff Blake18430260.92,02513982.7
Aaron Brooks11319458.21,5149685.7

Rushing

Player Attempts Yards Avg Yards Long Touchdowns
Ricky Williams24810004.0268
Jeff Blake572434.3201
Terry Allen461793.9182
Aaron Brooks411704.1292

[5]

Receiving

Player Attempts Yards Avg Yards Long Touchdowns
Joe Horn94134014.3528
Ricky Williams444099.3241
Willie Jackson3752314.1536
Chad Morton302137.1350
Keith Poole2129314.0491
Andrew Glover2128113.4394

[5]

Sacks

Player Number
La'Roi Glover17
Joe Johnson12
Darren Howard11
Keith Mitchell6.5
Willie Whitehead5.5

[5]

Interceptions

Player Number Yards Avg Yards Long Touchdowns
Sammy Knight56813.6372
Alex Molden3248.0240
Darren Perry331.030

[5]

Awards and records

  • Jim Haslett, AP Coach of the Year,[6]
  • Jim Haslett, College and Pro Football Newsweekly Coach of the Year,[6]
  • Jim Haslett, Football Digest Coach of the Year,[6]
  • Jim Haslett, Football News Coach of the Year,[6]
  • Jim Haslett, Pro Football Writers Association Coach of the Year,[6]
  • Jim Haslett, Sports Illustrated Coach of the Year [7]
  • Jim Haslett, USA Today NFC Coach of the Year,[6]

Milestones

  • Ricky Williams, 1st 1000 rushing yards season

References

  1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 362
  2. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.129
  3. "2000 New Orleans Saints Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  4. "2000 New Orleans Saints starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  5. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 127
  6. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 201
  7. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 202
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