American Football Wiki
2000 Washington Redskins season
Head Coach Norv Turner (fired December 4, 7–6 record)
Terry Robiskie (interim; 1–2 record)
General Manager Vinny Cerrato
Offensive Coordinator Terry Robiskie
Defensive Coordinator Ray Rhodes
Home Field FedEx Field
Results
Record 8–8
Place 3rd NFC East
Playoff Finish did not qualify
Pro Bowlers 4
RB Stephen Davis
TE Stephen Alexander
CB Champ Bailey
DE Marco Coleman
Timeline
Previous Season Next Season
1999 2001

The 2000 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 69th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 64th in Washington, D.C. The team was looking to improve on its 10–6 mark from 1999, which saw the Redskins win the NFC East for the first time since 1991 and win a playoff game for the first time since 1992. Norv Turner returned to lead the team for a seventh season. However, he got fired after a 7-6 start.

The Redskins rolled to a 6–2 start, but they collapsed in the second half of season, going 2–6, and went 8–8 to place 3rd in the NFC East, unable to improve on their NFC East-winning 10–6 record from 1999 or qualify for the playoffs. This was the final season Eddie Murray and Irving Fryar would play in the NFL.

Background[]

Redskins owner Dan Snyder made it a point during the off-season to stack his team with talent. The Redskins entered the 2000 NFL draft with three first-round selections, the highest of which was the second overall pick which they had acquired in the Ricky Williams trade with the New Orleans Saints. With that pick, the Redskins selected linebacker Lavar Arrington from Penn State, who would go on to be a three-time Pro Bowler for the team. The other two picks were traded to the San Francisco 49ers in order to move up to the third overall pick, which the Redskins used to select Alabama offensive tackle Chris Samuels, a six-time future Pro Bowler and multi-year starter at left tackle.

In addition to these moves, Snyder also made a push for several veteran free agents to bolster the roster, signing quarterback Jeff George from the Minnesota Vikings to compete with Brad Johnson for starting quarterback. Snyder also signed veteran guard Jay Leeuwenberg and future Pro Bowl wide receiver Andre Reed after Reed was released by the Denver Broncos.

On the defensive side, the Redskins made three major acquisitions. Longtime Buffalo Bills defensive stalwart Bruce Smith was signed to play defensive end and add more experience to the front four of the Redskins. The secondary saw the addition of safety Mark Carrier, who Snyder signed from the Detroit Lions, and multi-time All Pro cornerback Deion Sanders, who left the division-rival Dallas Cowboys after five years to join the Redskins. With the new acquisitions, expectations for the season were elevated that the Redskins would compete to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXXV, if not to win their fourth Vince Lombardi trophy outright.

The Redskins started out winning six of their first eight games, living up to expectations with game victories. Their on-field performance, however, belied their record. In those eight games, the Redskins did not score more than 21 points aside from a 35–16 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In their next two games before their bye week, the Redskins faced the defending AFC champion Tennessee Titans, who entered the Monday night matchup having won seven consecutive games, and the Arizona Cardinals, whose 2–5 start had led to the firing of Vince Tobin. The Redskins lost both games, dropping their record to 6–4.

Returning from their bye week, the Redskins managed to beat the defending world champion St. Louis Rams 33–20 in another Monday night matchup. After that, the Redskins lost back-to-back games to their divisional rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants, dropping their season record to 7-6 and all but eliminating them from playoff contention. After the loss to the Giants, Snyder fired head coach Norv Turner and replaced him with offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie, who immediately benched Johnson and named George the starter for the remainder of the year.

The Redskins fared no better under Robiskie or George, as they lost their first game under the new regime to the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium. Washington managed to knock Troy Aikman out of the game with a concussion, which would eventually force him into retirement at the end of the season, but were beaten by Anthony Wright, his backup, 32–14 in what would be their final win of a 5–11 season. The Redskins followed this up by traveling to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final game played at Three Rivers Stadium, which they lost 24–3. The Redskins managed to avenge their loss to the Cardinals in the final week of the season, which brought their final record to 8-8, which was not sufficient for playoff eligibility.

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

Pick # NFL Team Player Position College
2 Washington Redskins (from New Orleans) LaVar Arrington Linebacker Penn State
3 Washington Redskins (from San Francisco) Chris Samuels Tackle Alabama

Personnel[]

Staff[]

2000 Washington Redskins staff

Front Office

Head Coaches

Offensive Coaches

  • Passing Game Coordinator – Terry Robiskie
  • Quarterbacks – Rich Olson
  • Running Backs – Kirby Wilson
  • Tight Ends – Pat Flaherty
  • Offensive Line – Russ Grimm
  • Offensive Assistant – Jason Verduzco
 

Defensive Coaches

  • Defensive Coordinator – Ray Rhodes
  • Defensive Line – Rubin Carter
  • Defensive Line – Mike Trgovac
  • Linebackers – Foge Fazio
  • Defensive Backs – Ron Meeks
  • Defensive Assistant – Kirk Olivadotti

Special Teams Coaches

  • Special Teams – LeCharls McDaniel

Strength and Conditioning

  • Strength – Dan Riley
  • Conditioning Director – Jason Arapoff

[1]

Preseason[]

Game Date Opponent Result Redskins points Opponents Record
1 August 4 at Tampa Bay Loss 12 13 0-1
2 August 11 New England Win 30 20 1-1
3 August 19 at Cleveland Win 24 0 2-1
4 August 25 Pittsburgh Win 17 10 3-1

[2]

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Game site Record Attendance
1 September 3, 2000 Carolina Panthers W 20-17 FedEx Field 1-0
80,257
2 September 10, 2000 at Detroit Lions L 15-10 Pontiac Silverdome 1-1
74,159
3 September 18, 2000 Dallas Cowboys L 27-21 FedEx Field 1-2
84,431
4 September 24, 2000 at New York Giants W 16-6 Giants Stadium 2-2
78,216
5 October 1, 2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 20-17 FedEx Field 3-2
83,532
6 October 8, 2000 at Philadelphia Eagles W 17-14 Veterans Stadium 4-2
65,491
7 October 15, 2000 Baltimore Ravens W 10-3 FedExField 5-2
83,252
8 October 22, 2000 at Jacksonville Jaguars W 35-16 ALLTEL Stadium 6-2
69,061
9 October 30, 2000 Tennessee Titans L 27-21 FedEx Field 6-3
83,472
10 November 5, 2000 at Arizona Cardinals L 16-15 Sun Devil Stadium 6-4
52,244
11 Bye week
12 November 20, 2000 at St. Louis Rams W 33-20 Trans World Dome 7-4
66,087
13 November 26, 2000 Philadelphia Eagles L 23-20 FedEx Field 7-5
83,284
14 December 3, 2000 New York Giants L 9-7 FedEx Field 7-6
83,485
15 December 10, 2000 at Dallas Cowboys L 32-13 Texas Stadium 7-7
63,467
16 December 16, 2000 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 24-3 Three Rivers Stadium 7-8
58,183
17 December 24, 2000 Arizona Cardinals W 20-3 FedEx Field 8-8
65,711

Standings[]

Template:2000 NFC East standings

Best performances[]

  • Marco Coleman, Week 1, 2.5 Quarterback Sacks vs. Carolina Panthers [3]
  • Marco Coleman, Week 5, 3.0 Quarterback Sacks vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [3]
  • Albert Connell, 3rd Best Receiving Performance of Season, 211 Receiving Yards vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, October 22 [4]
  • Bruce Smith, Week 12, 3.0 Quarterback Sacks vs. St. Louis Rams [3]

Roster[]

Player stats[]

Passing[]

Player Comp Att Pct Yds TD Int Rate
Brad Johnson 228 365 62.5 2,505 11 15 75.7

Rushing[]

Player Attempts Yards Average Long Touchdowns
Stephen Davis 332 1318 4.0 50 11
Larry Centers 19 103 5.4 14 0
James Thrash 10 82 8.2 34 0
Skip Hicks 29 78 2.7 12 1
Brad Johnson 22 58 2.6 21 1

[2]

Receiving[]

Player Number Yards Average Long Touchdowns
Larry Centers 81 600 7.4 26 3
James Thrash 50 653 13.1 50 2
Stephen Alexander 47 510 10.9 30 2
Irving Fryar 41 548 13.4 34 5
Albert Connell 39 762 19.5 77 3
Stephen Davis 33 313 9.5 39 0
Adrian Murrell 16 93 5.8 12 0
Andre Reed 10 103 10.3 21 1
Michael Westbrook 9 103 11.4 21 0

[2]

Sacks[]

Player Number
Marco Coleman 12.0
Bruce Smith 10.0
LaVar Arrington 4.0
Dan Wilkinson 3.5

[2]

Awards and records[]

  • LaVar Arrington, PFW/Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team
  • Marco Coleman, NFC Defensive Player of the Week, Week 5 [5]
  • Albert Connell, NFC Offensive Player of the Week, Week 8 [5]
  • Deion Sanders, NFL Defensive Player of the Week, Week 5
  • Chris Samuels, PFW/Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team
  • Bruce Smith, NFC Defensive Player of the Week, Week 12 [5]

References[]

  1. 2009 Washington Redskins Media Guide,2009 Washington Redskins Media Guide pp. 323–324. Retrieved on 2010-03-12. ISBN .
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 151
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 209
  4. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 207
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 202