The 2000 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 68th season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League (NFL).
The season began with the team trying to improve on their 6–10 record from 1999 in which they failed to qualify for the playoffs. While Pittsburgh did improve to 9–7 and had their first winning season since 1997, it was not enough for the team to qualify for the playoffs. This season also marked the Steelers' last at Three Rivers Stadium.
Coach Bill Cowher named Kent Graham the team's starting quarterback for the season over former starter Kordell Stewart. After a 0–3 start, Graham was injured and Stewart reclaimed the starting job. Graham was released at the end of the season.
Offseason Additions SubtractionsG Rich Tylski (Jaguars) DT Orpheus Roye (Browns) QB Kent Graham (Giants) S Chris Oldham (Saints) S Myron Bell (Bengals) G Brendan Stai (Jaguars) DE Chris Sullivan (Patriots) LB Carlos Emmons (Eagles) DT Kimo von Oelhoffen (Bengals) DE Nolan Harrison (Redskins) QB Mike Tomczak (Lions)
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents + 2000 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeKyle AtteberryKickerBaylorAinsley BattlesSafetyVanderbiltDemetrius BrownWide receiverWisconsinSedrick CurryCornerbackTexas A&MJonathan FosterLinebackerLouisiana–MonroeHank FraleyGuardRobert MorrisJoey GoodspeedFullbackNotre DameDan KreiderFullbackNew HampshireDonnel ThompsonLinebackerWisconsin
Personnel
Roster Notable additions include Plaxico Burress, Dan Kreider, Marvel Smith and Clark Haggans.
Preseason
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue 1 July 30 at Dallas Cowboys W 38–10 1–0 Texas Stadium 2 Miami Dolphins W 13–10 2–0 Three Rivers Stadium 3 Carolina Panthers W 13–0 3–0 Three Rivers Stadium 4 August 19 vs. Indianapolis Colts L 23–24 3–1 Estadio Azteca (Mexico City) 5 at Washington Redskins L 10–17 3–2 FedExField
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue 1 September 3 Baltimore Ravens L 0–16 0–1 Three Rivers Stadium 2 Bye 3 September 17 at Cleveland Browns L 20–23 0–2 Cleveland Browns Stadium 4 September 24 Tennessee Titans L 20–23 0–3 Three Rivers Stadium 5 October 1 at Jacksonville Jaguars W 24–13 1–3 Alltel Stadium 6 October 8 at New York Jets W 20–3 2–3 Giants Stadium 7 October 15 Cincinnati Bengals W 15–0 3–3 Three Rivers Stadium 8 October 22 Cleveland Browns W 22–0 4–3 Three Rivers Stadium 9 October 29 at Baltimore Ravens W 9–6 5–3 PSInet Stadium 10 November 5 at Tennessee Titans L 7–9 5–4 Adelphia Coliseum 11 November 12 Philadelphia Eagles L 23–26 (OT) 5–5 Three Rivers Stadium 12 November 19 Jacksonville Jaguars L 24–34 5–6 Three Rivers Stadium 13 November 26 at Cincinnati Bengals W 48–28 6–6 Paul Brown Stadium 14 December 3 Oakland Raiders W 21–20 7–6 Three Rivers Stadium 15 December 10 at New York Giants L 10–30 7–7 Giants Stadium 16 Washington Redskins W 24–3 8–7 Three Rivers Stadium 17 December 24 at San Diego Chargers W 34–21 9–7 Qualcomm Stadium
Game summaries
Week 1 (Sunday September 3, 2000): vs. Baltimore Ravens
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather: (Mostly Sunny) Game attendance: 55,049 Referee: Phil Luckett TV announcers: (CBS) Don Criqui (play by play), Steve Tasker (color commentator)
Week 2 (Sunday September 10, 2000): Bye Week The Steelers had a record of 0-1 on their bye week.
Week 3 (Sunday September 17, 2000): at Cleveland Browns
at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather: Game attendance: 73,018 Referee: Bob McElwee TV announcers: (CBS) Gus Johnson (play by play), Brent Jones (color commentator)
The low point for the Steelers's season was probably their Week 3 loss to the Browns. Against a team that would eventually finish 3–13, the usually stout Steelers defense allowed Tim Couch to throw for over 300 yards while failing to sack him once. Furthermore, the game ended with probably the Steelers's biggest gaffe of the season.
The Browns's woeful offense drove down for touchdowns on each of their first two possessions, giving them an early 14–0 lead. A four-yard touchdown run by Richard Huntley helped the Steelers to narrow the deficit to 14–10 at the half, and Jerome Bettis's 10 yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave the Steelers a 20–17 lead. However, a Phil Dawson field goal tied it at 20, and a 79 yard pass from Couch to Kevin Johnson set up a 19-yard chip shot by Dawson to give the Browns a 23–20 lead with 2:48 to go. With the Steelers needing at least a field goal to force overtime, Kent Graham found Bobby Shaw for a 28-yard completion, then a 20-yard run by Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala put the Steelers inside the 10-yard line when they called their final timeout with 30 seconds left. The Steelers decided to go for the win, and Graham spiked the ball before making the worst play of the day. On third and goal from the six-yard line, Graham dropped back with the Browns pass rush closing in. Rather than throwing incomplete to stop the clock, however, Graham allowed rookie DE Courtney Brown to sack him, meaning that the Steelers had no way to stop the clock without running another play. In the ensuing chaos, the Steelers sent out kicker Kris Brown to attempt a game-tying field goal (with Graham as the holder since he was already on the field), and they failed to get their formation set before time ran out, resulting in a loss.
Week 4 (Sunday September 24, 2000): vs. Tennessee Titans
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather: (Cloudy) Game attendance: 51,769 Referee: Walt Coleman TV announcers: (CBS) Ian Eagle (play by play), Mark May (color commentator)
After their humiliating loss to the Browns, the Steelers were in a must-win situation upon returning home to face the Titans. With Steve McNair suffering a bruised sternum in the Titans's previous game, it would be former Steelers QB Neil O'Donnell getting the start against his former team.
While the defense harassed O'Donnell, who completed less than half his passes (13-27) with three interceptions, the Steelers trailed for much of the game with the team down 13-6 late in the third. However, Kent Graham completed a 17-yard pass to Hines Ward, who went down just before the goal line. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Kordell Stewart subbed in for Graham and jumped over the Titans line for the game-tying touchdown. A five-yard touchdown run by Jerome Bettis made it 20-16 Steelers late. With three minutes to go, Jason Gildon sacked O'Donnell, knocking him out of the game. With O'Donnell hurt, Steve McNair, who dressed for the game but was not expected to play with a bruised sternum, came in despite his injury. All McNair did was drive the Titans down the field in four plays, hitting Erron Kinney for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:31 to go. On the next play from scrimmage, Graham was hit after completing a 20 yard pass to Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala and also had to leave the game due to injury, forcing Kordell Stewart to take over at QB. Although Stewart only went 1–4 on the drive, he did manage to put the Steelers in field goal range with a 16 yard run. However, kicker Kris Brown's potential game-tying 50-yard field goal was short.
Week 5 (Sunday October 1, 2000): at Jacksonville Jaguars
at Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather: Game attendance: 64,351 Referee: Jeff Triplette TV announcers: (CBS) Kevin Harlan (play by play), Randy Cross (color commentator), Beasley Reece (sideline reporter) Steelers get first ever win in Jacksonville.
With Kent Graham out with an injury, Kordell Stewart received his first start of the season coming off losing his starting job after two much-maligned seasons. However, to the pleasant surprise of the team and the fans, Stewart demonstrated his form of old, completing 10 of 16 passes (albeit for only 132 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception) and running for 61 more. Jerome Bettis added 97 yards rushing with 2 touchdowns, and the Steelers jumped out to a 24-6 lead.
During the game, rookie WR Plaxico Burress caught a third down pass and went down without being touched. He spiked the football to celebrate (confusing NCAA rules with NFL rules), but since he was never touched down, the ball remained live (in play) and the Jaguars recovered the fumble with linebacker Danny Clark returning the ball 44 yards to the Steelers' 27 yard line. In spite of this miscue being one of the worst plays of the NFL season, the Steelers even survived this setback without further damage; on 4th and 3 inside the 10, Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin elected to go for it with his team down 18, and Earl Holmes upended Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell, leaving him a yard short of a first down.
Week 6 (Sunday October 8, 2000): at New York Jets
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather: Game attendance: 78,441 Referee: Gerald Austin TV announcers: (CBS) Ian Eagle (play by play), Mark May (color commentator)
Week 7 (Sunday October 15, 2000): vs. Cincinnati Bengals
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather: (Cloudy) Game attendance: 54,238 Referee: Phil Luckett TV announcers: (CBS) Don Criqui (play by play), Steve Tasker (color commentator)
Week 8 (Sunday October 22, 2000): vs. Cleveland Browns
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 4:05 p.m. EDT Game weather: (Sunny) Game attendance: 57,659 Referee: Ed Hochuli TV announcers: (CBS) Ian Eagle (play by play), Mark May (color commentator)
Week 9 (Sunday October 29, 2000): at Baltimore Ravens
at PSINet Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: Game attendance: 69,405 Referee: Bernie Kukar TV announcers: (CBS) Ian Eagle (play by play), Mark May (color commentator)
Week 10 (Sunday November 5, 2000): at Tennessee Titans
at Adelphia Coliseum, Nashville, Tennessee Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: Game attendance: 68,498 Referee: Ron Blum TV announcers: (CBS) Gus Johnson (play by play), Brent Jones (color commentator), Marcus Allen (sideline reporter)
Week 11 (Sunday November 12, 2000): vs. Philadelphia Eagles
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: (Cloudy) Game attendance: 56,702 Referee: Dick Hantak TV announcers: (FOX) Kenny Albert (play by play), Tim Green (color commentator)
Week 12 (Sunday November 19, 2000): vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 8:30 p.m. EST Game weather: (Clear) Game attendance: 50,925 Referee: Gerald Austin TV announcers: (ESPN) Mike Patrick (play by play), Joe Theismann & Paul Maguire (color commentators), Solomon Wilcots (sideline reporter)
Week 13 (Sunday November 26, 2000): at Cincinnati Bengals
at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: Game attendance: 63,925 Referee: Larry Nemmers TV announcers: (CBS) Bill Macatee (play by play), Charles Mann (color commentator)
Week 14 (Sunday December 3, 2000): vs. Oakland Raiders
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: (Sunny) Game attendance: 54,881 Referee: Tom White TV announcers: (CBS) Kevin Harlan (play by play), Daryl Johnston (color commentator)
With an AFC-best 10–2 record heading into Pittsburgh, the Raiders were favored to win their first game there against the Steelers since 1980. The game that followed was closely contested and featured several hard hits and a controversial ending, renewing attention to the teams’ rivalry from the 1970s.