Division place 3rd AFC Central | Record 9–7 Playoff finish did not qualify AP All-Pros none Start date 2000 | |
Similar 2002 Pittsburgh Steelers s, 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers s, 1992 Pittsburgh Steelers s | ||
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.
Contents
- Staff
- Week 1 Sunday September 3 2000 vs Baltimore Ravens
- Week 3 Sunday September 17 2000 at Cleveland Browns
- Week 4 Sunday September 24 2000 vs Tennessee Titans
- Week 5 Sunday October 1 2000 at Jacksonville Jaguars
- Week 6 Sunday October 8 2000 at New York Jets
- Week 7 Sunday October 15 2000 vs Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 8 Sunday October 22 2000 vs Cleveland Browns
- Week 9 Sunday October 29 2000 at Baltimore Ravens
- Week 10 Sunday November 5 2000 at Tennessee Titans
- Week 11 Sunday November 12 2000 vs Philadelphia Eagles
- Week 12 Sunday November 19 2000 vs Jacksonville Jaguars
- Week 13 Sunday November 26 2000 at Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 14 Sunday December 3 2000 vs Oakland Raiders
- Week 15 Sunday December 10 2000 at New York Giants
- Week 16 Saturday December 16 2000 vs Washington Redskins
- Week 17 Sunday December 24 2000 at San Diego Chargers
- References
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 as the team's starting quarterback for the season, but after an after 1-3 start, Graham got hurt, and Kordell Stewart, who was a backup, took over the starting job.
Staff
Notable additions include Plaxico Burress, Dan Kreider, Marvel Smith and Clark Haggans.
Week 1 (Sunday September 3, 2000): vs. Baltimore Ravens
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Week 3 (Sunday September 17, 2000): at Cleveland Browns
at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
Week 4 (Sunday September 24, 2000): vs. Tennessee Titans
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Week 5 (Sunday October 1, 2000): at Jacksonville Jaguars
at Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida
Steelers get first ever win in Jacksonville.
During the game, rookie WR Plaxico Burress caught a third down pass and went down without being touched. He spiked the football to celebrate, but since he was never touched down, the ball remained live (in play) and the Jaguars recovered the fumble.
Week 6 (Sunday October 8, 2000): at New York Jets
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Week 7 (Sunday October 15, 2000): vs. Cincinnati Bengals
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Week 8 (Sunday October 22, 2000): vs. Cleveland Browns
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Week 9 (Sunday October 29, 2000): at Baltimore Ravens
at PSINet Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland
Week 10 (Sunday November 5, 2000): at Tennessee Titans
at Adelphia Coliseum, Nashville, Tennessee
Week 11 (Sunday November 12, 2000): vs. Philadelphia Eagles
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Week 12 (Sunday November 19, 2000): vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Week 13 (Sunday November 26, 2000): at Cincinnati Bengals
at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
Week 14 (Sunday December 3, 2000): vs. Oakland Raiders
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Week 14 game against the Raiders was arguably the highlight of the season for the Steelers.
In the first quarter, Kordell Stewart threw a touchdown pass to Bobby Shaw for a 7-0 lead. However, the Steelers fell behind 17-7 in the second quarter. An injury to Stewart forced him to the sidelines, and in his relief appearance, Kent Graham threw a pass that was intercepted by Eric Allen and returned for a touchdown. In the second half, Kordell Stewart returned to play despite his injury and drove the Steelers down to inside the Raiders's 10 yard line. Stewart then threw a pass in the right flat to tight end Mark Bruener at the 1, when a Raiders safety went into Breuner at full speed and shoved him backwards towards the 5. Unwilling to be stopped short, Breuner fought back and dragged the defender into the end zone with him just before he could be shoved out of bounds, making the score 17-14.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Stewart ran for a touchdown for the Steelers to regain the lead, 21-17. Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski kicked a field goal to make it 21-20, but with 4 minutes to play, missed another field goal that would have given the Raiders the lead. The Raiders got the ball back with one last chance to win the game. The game came down to a controversial call. The Raiders had a fourth and one at the brink of Janikowski's range, but the sideline crew was slow to switch the down markers from 3 to 4, so Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon called for a pass out in the flat to fullback Jon Ritchie. The Steelers blitzed and forced Gannon to throw incomplete, when the Raiders began to challenge their turnover on downs. The refs conferred and agreed that because the previous play was in fact fourth down in spite of what was labeled, the Steelers would be awarded the ball.
On the ESPN highlight show NFL Primetime, rather than being shown and recapped with one of the show's standard themes, the highlights were set to the NFL Films songs "A Golden Boy Again" and "Raiders' Theme" to commemorate the final Raiders-Steelers matchup at Three Rivers Stadium, as well as the final game from Three Rivers they would show a highlight from during a regular edition of the show.
Week 15 (Sunday December 10, 2000): at New York Giants
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Week 16 (Saturday December 16, 2000): vs. Washington Redskins
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
This was the last game at Three Rivers Stadium.
Week 17 (Sunday December 24, 2000): at San Diego Chargers
at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California