2000 New Orleans Saints season
OwnerTom Benson
General managerRandy Mueller
Head coachJim Haslett
Offensive coordinatorMike McCarthy
Defensive coordinatorRon Zook
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 BowlersT Willie Roaf
WR Joe Horn
DT La'Roi Glover
DE Joe Johnson
LB Keith Mitchell
LB Mark Fields

The 2000 season was the New Orleans Saints' 34th in the National Football League (NFL) 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.[1] 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.

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.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 2000 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

[2]

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
 53 active, 8 inactive, 5 practice squad

[3]

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue
1 July 29 at New York Jets L 20–24 0–1 Giants Stadium
2 August 5 at Minnesota Vikings W 25–24 1–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
3 August 12 at Indianapolis Colts L 0–17 1–2 Ross–Ade Stadium (West Lafayette)
4 August 25 Miami Dolphins L 17–22 1–3 Louisiana Superdome

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 3 Detroit Lions L 10–14 0–1 Louisiana Superdome 64,900
2 September 10 at San Diego Chargers W 28–27 1–1 Qualcomm Stadium 51,300
3 September 17 at Seattle Seahawks L 10–20 1–2 Husky Stadium 59,513
4 September 24 Philadelphia Eagles L 7–21 1–3 Louisiana Superdome 64,900
5 Bye
6 October 8 at Chicago Bears W 31–10 2–3 Soldier Field 66,944
7 October 15 Carolina Panthers W 24–6 3–3 Louisiana Superdome 50,015
8 October 22 at Atlanta Falcons W 21–19 4–3 Georgia Dome 56,508
9 October 29 at Arizona Cardinals W 21–10 5–3 Sun Devil Stadium 35,016
10 November 5 San Francisco 49ers W 31–15 6–3 Louisiana Superdome 64,900
11 November 12 at Carolina Panthers W 20–10 7–3 Ericsson Stadium 72,981
12 November 19 Oakland Raiders L 22–31 7–4 Louisiana Superdome 64,900
13 November 26 at St. Louis Rams W 31–24 8–4 Trans World Dome 66,064
14 December 3 Denver Broncos L 23–38 8–5 Louisiana Superdome 64,900
15 December 10 at San Francisco 49ers W 31–27 9–5 3Com Park 67,892
16 December 17 Atlanta Falcons W 23–7 10–5 Louisiana Superdome 64,900
17 December 24 St. Louis Rams L 21–26 10–6 Louisiana Superdome 64,900
Note: Intra-division 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

Main article: 2000–01 NFL playoffs
Week Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance
Wild Card December 30 St. Louis Rams (6) W 31–28 1–0 Louisiana Superdome 64,900
Divisional January 6 at Minnesota Vikings (2) L 16–34 1–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 63,881

Player stats

Passing

Player Completions Attempts Percentage Yards TD Int Rating
Jeff Blake 184 302 60.9 2,025 13 9 82.7
Aaron Brooks 113 194 58.2 1,514 9 6 85.7

Rushing

Player Attempts Yards Avg Yards Long Touchdowns
Ricky Williams 248 1000 4.0 26 8
Jeff Blake 57 243 4.3 20 1
Terry Allen 46 179 3.9 18 2
Aaron Brooks 41 170 4.1 29 2

[4]

Receiving

Player Attempts Yards Avg Yards Long Touchdowns
Joe Horn 94 1340 14.3 52 8
Ricky Williams 44 409 9.3 24 1
Willie Jackson 37 523 14.1 53 6
Chad Morton 30 213 7.1 35 0
Keith Poole 21 293 14.0 49 1
Andrew Glover 21 281 13.4 39 4

[4]

Defense

Sacks

Player Number
La'Roi Glover 17
Joe Johnson 12
Darren Howard 11
Keith Mitchell 6.5
Willie Whitehead 5.5

[4]

Interceptions

Player Number Yards Avg Yards Long Touchdowns
Sammy Knight 5 68 13.6 37 2
Alex Molden 3 24 8.0 24 0
Darren Perry 3 3 1.0 3 0

[4]

Awards and records

Milestones

References

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