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.

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 Thurman 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. 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 for 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 had 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

Head coach Wade Phillips was fired shortly after the season by owner Ralph Wilson. Wilson cited Phillips's 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.) 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.”

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."

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 2001, a season in which the rebuilding team struggled 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 President – Ralph Wilson Executive Vice President/General Manager – John Butler Vice President of Football Operations – Wade Phillips Vice President of Player Personnel – Dwight Adams Director of Pro Personnel – A. J. Smith Head coaches Head Coach – Wade Phillips Assistant to the Head Coach – Max Bowman Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Joe Pendry Quarterbacks – Turk Schonert Running Backs – James Saxon Wide Receivers – Charlie Joiner Tight Ends – Max Bowman Offensive Line – Carl Mauck Offensive Quality Control – Chris Dickson			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ted Cottrell Defensive Line – John Levra Linebackers – Chuck Lester Defensive Backs – Bill Bradley Special teams coaches Special Teams – Ronnie Jones Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

Roster

2000 Buffalo Bills roster
	Quarterbacks  7 Doug Flutie 11 Rob Johnson 10 Alex Van Pelt Running backs 38 Shawn Bryson 35 Jonathan Linton 33 Sammy Morris 23 Antowain Smith Wide receivers 89 Avion Black 82 Kwame Cavil 86 Jeremy McDaniel 80 Eric Moulds 81 Peerless Price		Tight ends 84 Bobby Collins 88 Sheldon Jackson 85 Jay Riemersma Offensive linemen 79 Ruben Brown G 65 Jon Carman T 63 Bill Conaty C 70 John Fina T 77 Robert Hicks T 74 Jamie Nails G 60 Jerry Ostroski C 72 Joe Panos G 69 Marcus Spriggs T		Defensive linemen 96 Erik Flowers DE 90 Phil Hansen DE 97 Leif Larsen DE 91 Shawn Price DE 92 Ted Washington NT 75 Marcellus Wiley DE 93 Pat Williams NT Linebackers 56 Sam Cowart ILB 55 Jay Foreman ILB 52 John Holecek ILB 99 Fred Jones OLB 54 Corey Moore OLB 53 Keith Newman OLB 51 DaShon Polk ILB 59 Sam Rogers OLB 98 Kenyatta Wright ILB		Defensive backs 29 Keion Carpenter FS 25 Donovan Greer CB 39 Raion Hill SS 24 Ray Hill CB 27 Ken Irvin CB 20 Henry Jones SS 22 Daryl Porter FS 28 Travares Tillman FS 21 Chris Watson CB/RS 26 Antoine Winfield CB Special teams 76 Ethan Albright LS  2 Steve Christie K  9 Chris Mohr P Rookies in italics

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

See also: 2000 Tennessee Titans season

	1	2	3	4	Total
Titans	0	6	0	7	13
Bills	0	7	3	6	16

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

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Titans Bills 2 Bills Peerless Price 15-yard touchdown reception from Rob Johnson, Steve Christie kick good 0 7 2 Titans 38-yard field goal by Al Del Greco 3 7 2 Titans 27-yard field goal by Al Del Greco 6 7 3 Bills 42-yard field goal by Steve Christie 6 10 4 Bills 41-yard field goal by Steve Christie 6 13 4 Titans Eddie George 2-yard touchdown run, Al Del Greco kick good 13 13 4 0:35 Bills 33-yard field goal by Steve Christie 13 16 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 13 16

Week 2: vs. Green Bay Packers

1 2 3 4 Total Packers 0 0 10 8 18 • Bills 0 10 10 7 27 Date: September 10 Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 73°F, wind 7 mph Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 2 Bills Jeremy McDaniel 6 yard pass from Rob Johnson (Steve Christie kick) Bills 7–0 2 Bills Steve Christie 45 yard field goal Bills 10–0 3 Bills Jay Riemersma 6 yard pass from Rob Johnson (Steve Christie kick) Bills 17–0 3 Packers Antonio Freeman 7 yard pass from Brett Favre (Ryan Longwell kick) Bills 17–7 3 Bills Steve Christie 20 yard field goal Bills 20–7 3 Packers Ryan Longwell 24 yard field goal Bills 20–10 4 Bills Jay Riemersma 14 yard pass from Rob Johnson (Steve Christie kick) Bills 27–10 4 Packers Antonio Freeman 18 yard pass from Brett Favre (Tyrone Davis pass from Brett Favre) Bills 27–18

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

• Ruben Brown, AFC Pro Bowl Selection,
• Sam Cowart, AFC Pro Bowl Selection,
• Bob Kalsu's name was added to the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame
• Eric Moulds, AFC Pro Bowl Selection,
• Ted Washington, AFC Pro Bowl Selection,

References

• Bills on Pro Football Reference