2000 Buffalo Bills season

2000 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach Wade Phillips
General manager John Butler
Owner Ralph Wilson
Home field Ralph Wilson Stadium
Results
Record 8–8
Division place 4th AFC East
Playoff finish did not qualify
Pro Bowlers 4

The 2000 Buffalo Bills season was the team's 41st and 31st as part of the National Football League. The Bills total offense ranked 9th in the league and their total defense ranked 3rd in the league.[1] The 2000 season was the first since the 1987 season that long-time Bills players Bruce Smith, Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas were not on the team together, as all were released just days after the Bills were eliminated from the 1999 playoffs. Smith and Reed signed with the Redskins, while Thomas signed with the Dolphins. The Buffalo Bills finished in fourth place in the AFC East and finished the National Football League's 2000 season with a record of 8 wins and 8 losses. Though the Bills were 7-4 after eleven games, they lost their next four in a row, only avoiding a losing season in the final game of the year. The 2000 season marked a turning point in Buffalo's history. From 2000 to present, the Bills have failed to make the playoffs.[2] After the 2000 season ended, general manager John Butler left the team to take the same position with the San Diego Chargers.

Quarterback controversy

Doug Flutie led the Bills to a 10–5 record in 1999 but, in a controversial decision, was replaced by Rob Johnson for the playoffs by coach Wade Phillips, who later said he had permission from Bills owner Ralph Wilson to do so. The Bills lost 22–16 to the eventual AFC Champion Tennessee Titans in a game that has become known as the Music City Miracle, where the Titans scored on the penultimate play of the game-- a kickoff return following the Bills' apparent game-clinching field goal. After the season ended, Flutie was named the Bills' backup and only played late in games or when Johnson was injured; the two split playing time in seven games. Despite getting his chances in December to help the team, Flutie was unable to get the team key wins in December, sealing his fate as a casualty to a roster cut. Flutie would be released at the end of the 2000 season and Johnson would spend an injury-plagued 2001 season with the Bills before also being released.

Special teams futility

Phillips was fired shortly after the season by Wilson, citing Phillips' refusal to fire special teams coach Ronnie Jones. (Football statistics site Football Outsiders calculates that the 2000 Bills had the worst special teams unit of any single-season team from 1993–2010.)[3] Said Wilson at the time, ""Buffalo special teams’ record was among the worst in the National Football League last season. ... I felt we needed a change and that my request was reasonable... I did not want to release Wade, but his refusal left me with no option."[4] Said Football Outsiders of Buffalo's special teams in 2000, "Could special teams possibly be that negative? Oh, yes. They could. The 2000 Buffalo Bills had the worst special teams of any team in any season for which [Football Outsiders has] data. I would not be shocked if they had the worst special teams of all time, except maybe for some expansion teams in the sixties and seventies. Everything about special teams was horrible for the Bills that year, but Steve Christie was the biggest black hole among a galaxy of sucking black holes. ...Christie's average kickoff went only 55.6 yards, 7.5 yards less than the league average. And the bad kickoffs didn't just come late in the season in Buffalo's usual snow and wind. ...On the season, 18 of his kickoffs went for 50 yards or less. No other kicker had more than 10 kicks that short. ...Buffalo allowed opponents kick returns worth 22 points more than the league average. ...So the average opposing drive after a Buffalo kickoff started at the 37-yard line. Wow."[5] Buffalo hired Tom Donahoe to become the new general manager the following season. Donahoe hired Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams to be the head coach in a season which saw the rebuilding team struggle to a 3–13 record.

NFL Draft

Main article: 2000 NFL Draft
2000 Buffalo Bills draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 26 Erik Flowers  DE Arizona State
2 58 Travares Tillman  FS Georgia Tech
3 89 Corey Moore  LB Virginia Tech
4 121 Avion Black  WR Tennessee State
5 156 Sammy Morris  RB Texas Tech
6 194 Leif Larsen  DE UTEP
7 233 Drew Haddad  WR Buffalo
7 251 DaShon Polk  LB Arizona
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

2000 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Wade Phillips
  • Assistant to the Head Coach – Max Bowman

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

Roster

2000 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

 Tight ends

Offensive linemen

 Defensive linemen

Linebackers

 Defensive backs

Special teams


Rookies in italics

[6]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Location Record Attendance
1 September 3, 2000 Tennessee Titans W 16–13 Ralph Wilson Stadium
1–0
72,492
2 September 10, 2000 Green Bay Packers W 27–18 Ralph Wilson Stadium
2–0
72,722
3 September 17, 2000 at New York Jets L 27–14 The Meadowlands
2–1
77,884
4 Bye
5 October 1, 2000 Indianapolis Colts L 18–16 Ralph Wilson Stadium
2–2
72,617
6 October 8, 2000 at Miami Dolphins L 22–13 Pro Player Stadium
2–3
73,901
7 October 15, 2000 San Diego Chargers W 27–24 Ralph Wilson Stadium
3–3
72,351
8 October 22, 2000 at Minnesota Vikings L 31–27 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
3–4
64,116
9 October 29, 2000 New York Jets W 23–20 Ralph Wilson Stadium
4–4
72,861
10 November 5, 2000 at New England Patriots W 16–13 Foxboro Stadium
5–4
60,292
11 November 12, 2000 Chicago Bears W 20–3 Ralph Wilson Stadium
6–4
72,420
12 November 19, 2000 at Kansas City Chiefs W 21–17 Arrowhead Stadium
7–4
78,457
13 November 26, 2000 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 31–17 Raymond James Stadium
7–5
65,546
14 December 3, 2000 Miami Dolphins L 33–6 Ralph Wilson Stadium
7–6
73,002
15 December 11, 2000 at Indianapolis Colts L 44–20 RCA Dome
7–7
56,671
16 December 17, 2000 New England Patriots L 13–10 Ralph Wilson Stadium
7–8
47,230
17 December 23, 2000 at Seattle Seahawks W 42–23 Husky Stadium
8–8
61,025

Week 1: Tennessee Titans

1 2 34Total
Titans 0 6 0713
Bills 0 7 3616

at Ralph Wilson Stadium

  • Date: September 3
  • Game time: 8:20 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 70°F, wind 7 mph
  • TV: ESPN
  • Box Score

[7]

Week 2: vs. Green Bay Packers

1 234Total
Packers 0 0108 18
• Bills 0 10107 27

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(3) Miami Dolphins 11 5 0 .688 323 226 W1
(6) Indianapolis Colts 10 6 0 .625 429 326 W3
New York Jets 9 7 0 .563 321 321 L3
Buffalo Bills 8 8 0 .500 315 350 W1
New England Patriots 5 11 0 .313 276 338 L1

Awards and records

References

  1. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 215
  2. ↑ As of 2015
  3. ↑ Final 2010 DVOA Ratings
  4. ↑ ABC News – Bills Fire Coach Phillips
  5. ↑ 2000 DVOA Ratings and Commentary
  6. ↑ "2000 Buffalo Bills starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Bills Barely Keep Titans From Repeating Miracle." LATimes.com. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 362
  9. ↑ Rockin’ the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League, p.513, Jeffrey J. Miller, ECW Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1-55022-797-0
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