2000 Washington Redskins

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 Owner – Daniel Snyder Director of Player Personnel – Vinny Cerrato Assistant General Manager – Bobby Mitchell Head Coaches Head Coach – Norv Turner 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

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

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

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

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

Sacks

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

Awards and records

• LaVar Arrington, PFW/Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team
• Marco Coleman, NFC Defensive Player of the Week, Week 5
• Albert Connell, NFC Offensive Player of the Week, Week 8
• 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

References

• Redskins on Pro Football Reference
• 2000 NFC Passing Stats