2000 New Orleans Saints season

2000 New Orleans Saints season
Head Coach	Jim Haslett
Home Field	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	10–6
Place	1st NFC West
Playoff Finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (Rams) 31–28 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs (Vikings) 16–34
Pro Bowlers	6 T Willie Roaf WR Joe Horn DT La'Roi Glover DE Joe Johnson, LB Keith Mitchell LB Mark Fields
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1999	2001

The 2000 New Orleans Saints season was the franchise's 34th season in the National Football League and the 25th to host games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints were looking to improve on their 3–13 finish from a year earlier under new head coach Jim Haslett. 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.

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.

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

Personnel

Staff

2000 New Orleans Saints staff
	Front office Owner – Tom Benson General Manager of Football Operations – Randy Mueller Assistant General Manager of Football Operations – Charles Bailey Director of Football Administration – Mickey Loomis Director of Player Personnel – Rick Mueller College Scouting Coordinator – Rick Thompson Head coaches Head Coach – Jim Haslett Assistant Head Coach/Secondary – Rick Venturi Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Mike McCarthy Quarterbacks – Frank Cignetti, Jr. Running Backs – Dave Atkins Wide Receivers – Hubbard Alexander Tight Ends – Bob Palcic Offensive Line – Jack Henry Offensive Assistant/Quality Control – Phil Pettey			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ron Zook Defensive Line – Sam Clancy Linebackers – John Bunting Secondary Assistant – Joe Baker Defensive Assistant/Quality Control – Winston Moss 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 roster
	Quarterbacks  2 Aaron Brooks 12 Jake Delhomme Running backs 20 Terry Allen 26 Fred McAfee 40 Brian Milne FB 32 Jerald Moore 30 Chad Morton 44 Terrelle Smith FB 34 Ricky Williams Wide receivers 87 Joe Horn 88 Willie Jackson 83 Keith Poole 86 Jake Reed 80 Robert Wilson Tight ends 82 Andrew Glover 81 Lamont Hall 89 Dave Stachelski 84 Austin Wheatley		Offensive linemen 69 Tom Ackerman C/G 62 Jerry Fontenot C 65 Chris Naeole G 70 Marcus Price T 77 Willie Roaf T 78 Daryl Terrell T 68 Kyle Turley T 63 Wally Williams G Defensive linemen 92 Martin Chase DT 95 Marques Douglas DE 97 La'Roi Glover DT 99 Norman Hand DT 93 Darren Howard DE 94 Joe Johnson DE 50 Corey Terry DE 90 Jared Tomich DT 98 Willie Whitehead DE		Linebackers 51 Phil Clarke MLB 55 Mark Fields OLB 37 Steve Gleason LB 53 Donta Jones OLB 59 Keith Mitchell OLB 54 Darrin Smith MLB 58 Phillip Ward LB Defensive backs 35 Chris Canty CB 37 Todd Franz DB 26 Corey Harris DB 36 Michael Hawthorne CB 35 Reggie Howard DB 27 Rob Kelly FS 29 Sammy Knight SS 23 Kevin Mathis CB 25 Alex Molden CB 28 Chris Oldham SS 39 Darren Perry FS 22 Fred Thomas CB 24 Fred Weary CB Special teams 10 Doug Brien K  4 Toby Gowin P 47 Kevin Houser LS		Reserve lists 18 Jeff Blake QB (IR) 85 Cam Cleeland TE (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV	Attendance
1	September 3, 2000	Detroit Lions	L 14–10	FOX	64,900
2	September 10, 2000	at San Diego Chargers	W 28–27	FOX	51,300
3	September 17, 2000	at Seattle Seahawks	L 20–10	FOX	59,513
4	September 24, 2000	Philadelphia Eagles	L 21–7	FOX	64,900
5	Bye
6	October 8, 2000	at Chicago Bears	W 31–10	FOX	66,944
7	October 15, 2000	Carolina Panthers	W 24–6	FOX	50,015
8	October 22, 2000	at Atlanta Falcons	W 21–19	FOX	56,508
9	October 29, 2000	at Arizona Cardinals	W 21–10	FOX	35,016
10	November 5, 2000	San Francisco 49ers	W 31–15	FOX	64,900
11	November 12, 2000	at Carolina Panthers	W 20–10	FOX	72,981
12	November 19, 2000	Oakland Raiders	L 31–22	CBS	64,900
13	November 26, 2000	at St. Louis Rams	W 31–24	FOX	66,064
14	December 3, 2000	Denver Broncos	L 38–23	CBS	64,900
15	December 10, 2000	at San Francisco 49ers	W 31–27	FOX	67,892
16	December 17, 2000	Atlanta Falcons	W 23–7	FOX	64,900
17	December 24, 2000	St. Louis Rams	L 26–21	FOX	64,900

Standings

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

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV	Attendance
Wild Card	December 30, 2000	St. Louis Rams	W 31–28	ABC	64,900
Divisional	January 6, 2001	at Minnesota Vikings	L 34–16	FOX	63,881

Player stats

Passing

Player	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Int	Rate
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

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

Defense

Sacks

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

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

Awards and records

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

Milestones

• Ricky Williams, 1st 1000 rushing yards season

References

• Saints on Pro Football Reference
• Saints on jt-sw.com