The 2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 25th season in the National Football League (NFL).
The season began with the team trying to improve on an 11–5 season from 1999. Shaun King, who took over the quarterback position as a rookie midway through the 1999 season, became the full-time starter for 2000. In April, the Buccaneers acquired wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson via a trade from the New York Jets. It was a highly publicized transaction, which made Johnson the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL, and increased expectations for the club.
The team jumped out of the gate with convincing wins to start 3–0. But they stumbled over the next several weeks and slipped to 3–4. In week 9, Tampa Bay beat the then-undefeated Minnesota Vikings with an explosive game which turned the season in the right direction. They won seven out of their next eight games, and looked poised to return to the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. In Week 16, the Buccaneers won one of the more notable games in the history of Monday Night Football against the St. Louis Rams. It was a rematch of the previous season's NFC Championship Game. However, instead of the defensive struggle of the previous meeting, it was a 38–35 shootout with the Buccaneers prevailing and clinching a wild card spot.
In the final week of the regular season, the Buccaneers faced the Green Bay Packers, with the NFC Central title on the line. With a victory at Lambeau Field, the Buccaneers were poised to win the division, and secure a first round bye for the playoffs. After a rally to tie the game in the fourth quarter, kicker Martin Gramatica missed a game-winning field goal attempt at the end of regulation. The Buccaneers lost the game in overtime, and failed to win the division. The dejected club fell to the #5 seed, and was routed by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Game, 21–3.
Offseason Additions Subtractions WR Keyshawn Johnson (Jets) QB Trent Dilfer (Ravens) G Randall McDaniel (Vikings) TE John Davis (Vikings) C Jeff Christy (Vikings) T Paul Gruber (retirement) DT Brad Culpepper (Bears) WR Bert Emanuel (Dolphins) LB Hardy Nickerson (Jaguars)
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 2000 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeJohn BlickTacklePenn StateChris DanielsWide receiverPurdueDrew O'ConnerWide receiverMaineJeff PopovichSafetyMiami (FL)Mawuko TugbenyohLinebackerCaliforniaTodd YoderTight EndVanderbilt
Personnel Staff / Coaches 2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers staffFront office Owner/President – Malcolm Glazer General manager – Rich McKay
Head coaches Head coach – Tony Dungy Assistant head coach/defensive backs – Herman Edwards
Offensive coaches
Offensive coordinator – Les Steckel Quarterbacks – Clyde Christensen Running backs – Tony Nathan Wide receivers – Charlie Williams Tight ends – Ricky Thomas Offensive line – Chris Foerster Offensive assistant – Wendell Avery Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Monte Kiffin Defensive line – Rod Marinelli Linebackers – Lovie Smith Defensive assistant – Kevin O'Dea
Special teams coaches Special teams – Joe Marciano
Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Mark Asanovich Assistant strength and conditioning – Les Ebert
Final roster 2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers final roster Quarterbacks Joe Hamilton Shaun King Eric Zeier
Running backs Rabih Abdullah Mike Alstott FB Warrick Dunn Charles Kirby FB Aaron Stecker KR
Wide receivers Reidel Anthony Jacquez Green Keyshawn Johnson Frank Murphy Karl Williams KR/PR
Tight ends Patrick Hape Dave Moore Todd Yoder Offensive linemen Jeff Christy C Cosey Coleman G DeMarcus Curry T Kevin Dogins C/G George Hegamin T Randall McDaniel G Frank Middleton G Pete Pierson T Todd Washington C/G Jerry Wunsch T
Defensive linemen Chidi Ahanotu DE James Cannida DT Tyoka Jackson DT Marcus Jones DE Anthony McFarland DT John McLaughlin DE Warren Sapp DT Steve White DE Linebackers Derrick Brooks OLB Don Davis OLB Jamie Duncan MLB Jeff Gooch OLB Shelton Quarles OLB Al Singleton OLB Nate Webster MLB
Defensive backs Donnie Abraham CB Ronde Barber CB David Gibson SS Dexter Jackson FS Brian Kelly CB John Lynch SS Damien Robinson FS Eric Vance SS Floyd Young CB
Special teams Martín Gramática K Mark Royals P Morris Unutoa LS Reserve lists Chris Daniels WR (IR) Jason Odom T (IR) Blake Spence TE (IR)
Practice squad Chuck Darby DT Anthony Midget CB Yo Murphy WR Randy Palmer TE Ted White QB
rookies in italics 53 active, 3 inactive, 5 practice squad
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 3 at New England Patriots W 21–16 1-0 Foxboro Stadium 60,292 2 September 10 Chicago Bears W 41–0 2-0 Raymond James Stadium 65,569 3 September 17 at Detroit Lions W 31–10 3-0 Pontiac Silverdome 76,928 4 September 24 New York Jets L 17–21 3-1 Raymond James Stadium 65,619 5 October 1 at Washington Redskins L 17–20 3-2 FedExField 83,532 6 October 9 at Minnesota Vikings L 23–30 3-3 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 64,162 7 Bye 8 October 19 Detroit Lions L 14–28 3-4 Raymond James Stadium 65,557 9 October 29 Minnesota Vikings W 41–13 4-4 Raymond James Stadium 65,589 10 November 5 at Atlanta Falcons W 27–14 5-4 Georgia Dome 70,097 11 November 12 Green Bay Packers W 20–15 6-4 Raymond James Stadium 65,621 12 November 19 at Chicago Bears L 10–13 6-5 Soldier Field 66,944 13 November 26 Buffalo Bills W 31–17 7-5 Raymond James Stadium 65,546 14 December 3 Dallas Cowboys W 27–7 8-5 Raymond James Stadium 65,621 15 December 10 at Miami Dolphins W 16–13 9-5 Pro Player Stadium 74,307 16 December 18 St. Louis Rams W 38–35 10-5 Raymond James Stadium 65,653 17 December 24 at Green Bay Packers L 14–17 10-6 Lambeau Field 59,692
Standings
Playoffs
NFC Wild Card: at Philadelphia Eagles
at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST Game weather: (Cloudy) TV announcers (FOX): Pat Summerall and John Madden Referee: Mike Carey Game Attendance: 65,813
Tampa Bay could not recover from their devastating loss the week prior as the Eagles defense held Tampa Bay to only 199 total yards and 11 first downs. The Buccaneers scored first early in the second quarter with Martin Gramatica's 29-yard field goal. But late in the period, the Eagles' Hugh Douglas forced Tampa Bay quarterback Shaun King to fumble, and Mike Mamula recovered the loose ball at the Buccaneers 15-yard line. The turnover set up Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb's 5-yard touchdown run. Tampa Bay then punted on their next possession and the Eagles marched 69 yards on 8 plays to take a 14–3 lead on Na Brown's 5-yard touchdown reception with 12 seconds left in the half. Philadelphia then shut out the Buccaneers in the second half, while McNabb threw a 2-yard pass to Jeff Thomason with less than a minute left in the game to seal the victory. The Eagles' victory meant for the 35th consecutive year that the team hosting the Super Bowl would not be playing in it.
Scoring TB – FG Gramatica 29 TB 3–0 PHI – McNabb 5 run (Akers kick) PHI 7–3 PHI – Brown 5 pass from McNabb (Akers kick) PHI 14–3 PHI – Thomason 2 pass from McNabb (Akers kick) PHI 21–3
Game summaries
Week 1 at New England Patriots
With time running out before halftime, Shaun King drove the Buccaneers to the New England 8-yard line. Faking a spike play (the Dan Marino "Clock Play"), King lofted a pass to Reidel Anthony scoring a surprise 8-yard touchdown pass. The Tampa Bay defense sacked Drew Bledsoe six times, and recovered a fumble to hold a 21–16 lead late in the game. With 14 seconds remaining, at their own 22-yard line, the defense forced four straight incompletions, and held on for the victory.
Week 2 vs Chicago Bears
Tampa Bay crushed the visiting Bears 41–0, setting a franchise record for a shutout. After a scoreless first quarter, the Buccaneers scored 20 points in the second quarter. Shaun King finished the day with two touchdown passes and one touchdown run. The Buccaneers won their home opener, and started the season 2–0.
Week 3 at Detroit Lions
Shaun King passed for 211 yards, one touchdown pass, and had a 6-yard touchdown run, as Tampa Bay beat Detroit at the Silverdome. The Buccaneers defense held the Lions to only 17 yards rushing, and made two interceptions.
Week 4 vs New York Jets
Tampa Bay entered Week Four undefeated at 3–0. Wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson had been traded to the Buccaneers over the offseason, and for the first time, would meet his former club, the New York Jets. Johnson was outspoken in the days leading up to the game, publicly ripping former teammate Wayne Chrebet by contrasting himself as "a star while [Chrebet] is a flashlight."
In the rain, quarterback Shaun King struggled, but led the Buccaneers to a 10–6 lead at halftime. In the first quarter, King went long for Jacquez Green, who caught it as two Jets defenders misplayed the ball, and went down the sideline for what appeared to be an 86-yard touchdown. But Green was ruled out-of-bounds at the 11 and Tampa Bay settled for a field goal. The first touchdown of the game came on a sensational one-handed catch by tight end Dave Moore. Near the end of the first half, King threw his first interception of the season in Bucs territory. But two plays later, Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde threw an interception of his own, and King's turnover did not lead to points for the Jets.
In the third quarter, Ronde Barber returned a Testaverde interception 37 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 17–6. It looked like Tampa Bay would hold on as linebacker Jamie Duncan intercepted another pass from Testaverde in the fourth quarter. It was Testaverde's third interception of the game. Testaverde played so poorly that he was benched for one drive and replaced with Ray Lucas, but after he too failed to generate much offense, Testaverde was given one more chance with 5:01 to go. Finally he stepped up, leading the Jets inside the 10. With two minutes to go, Testaverde scored a 6-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Martin. Martin followed with a two-point conversion run to narrow the score to 17–14. On the ensuing drive, Buccaneers fullback Mike Alstott lost a fumble, and it was recovered by the Jets. With 52 seconds remaining, Jets offensive coordinator Dan Henning called for a halfback option pass. Testaverde flipped the ball to Martin, who then executed a halfback option pass to Wayne Chrebet to score an improbable game-winning touchdown, and a 21–17 final score.
After considerable media attention going into the game, Keyshawn Johnson was held to one catch for 1 yard, which came on a shovel pass. In light of the attention that was placed on the matchup, and the embarrassing last-minute loss, the game eventually became known as the "Keyshawn Bowl."
Week 5 at Washington Redskins
With just under 4 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Washington went up by a score of 17–7. With 3:36 to go, Shaun King faced 3rd & 10 at the Washington 46. King was stripped of the ball, and fumbled. He recovered the ball, picked it up, and threw an improbable 46-yard touchdown pass to Reidel Anthony. With 43 seconds remaining, the Buccaneers blocked a field goal by the Redskins, and recovered the ball at the 25. Martin Gramatica kicked a game-tying 42-yard field goal as time expired in regulation, and sent the game to overtime. In the overtime period, Deion Sanders returned a Tampa Bay punt 57 yards, setting the Redskins up for a game winning 20-yard field goal.
Week 6 at Minnesota Vikings
Tampa Bay fell to their division rival Minnesota on Monday Night Football. With 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Buccaneers blocked a field goal attempt. Donnie Abraham returned the ball 53-yards for a touchdown, and a 23–20 lead.