# 2000 Detroit Lions season

The 2000 season was the Detroit Lions' 71st in the National Football League (NFL). After a wildcard playoff appearance with an 8–8 record in 1999, the Lions improved to 9–7 in 2000, but missed the playoffs thanks to a Christmas Eve home loss to the 4–11 Chicago Bears, where they blew a 10-point lead in the second quarter.
In the first 12 games, the Lions were 8-4. But, after that, they only won one more time. Nonetheless, this was the Lions' sixth winning season in 10 years, capping one of the best decades in the franchise's history. It was also the franchise's last winning season until 2011.
Head coach Bobby Ross resigned after the ninth game of the season and was replaced by Gary Moeller.
After beating the Jets, 10–7, at Giants Stadium on December 17, the Lions would lose 24 road games in a row and go 0–8 on the road for the coming three years.

## Offseason

| Additions | Subtractions |
| RB James Stewart (Jaguars) | QB Gus Frerotte (Broncos) |
| QB Mike Tomczak (Steelers) | CB Robert Bailey (Ravens) |
| S Kurt Schulz (Bills) | S Mark Carrier (Redskins) |
| | RB Ron Rivers (Falcons) |
| | WR Iheanyi Uwaezuoke (Panthers) |

### NFL Draft

2000 Detroit Lions draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 20 | Stockar McDougle | OT | Oklahoma |
| 2 | 50 | Barrett Green | LB | West Virginia |
| 3 | 81 | Reuben Droughns | RB | Oregon |
| 5 | 145 | Todd Franz | S | Tulsa |
| 6 | 181 | Quinton Reese | DE | Auburn |
| 7 | 253 | Alfonso Boone | DT | Mt. San Antonio |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

2000 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Andrew Bayes | Punter | East Carolina |
| Steve Brominski | Tight end | Syracuse |
| Henry Douglas | Wide receiver | North Carolina A&T |
| Larry Foster | Wide receiver | LSU |
| Pete Garces | Kicker | Idaho |
| James Hall | Defensive end | Michigan |
| Leroy Hodge | Wide receiver | Texas A&M |
| Casey Jensen | Center | Michigan State |
| Jeremy Mankins | Guard | Boise State |
| Nick O’Brien | Guard | Texas A&M–Kingsville |
| Joe O’Neill | Linebacker | Bowling Green |
| Sean Powell | Defensive end | New Mexico State |
| Charlie Sanders | Running back | Emporia State |
| Andy Vincent | Tackle | Texas A&M |
| Jimmy Wyrick | Cornerback | Minnesota |

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | August 4 | New England Patriots | L 10–13 | 0–1 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| 2 | August 12 | Buffalo Bills | W 15–13 | 1–1 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| 3 | August 18 | at Oakland Raiders | L 17–23 | 1–2 | Network Associates Coliseum | Recap |
| 4 | August 25 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 21–13 | 2–2 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 3 | at New Orleans Saints | W 14–10 | 1–0 | 64,900 |
| 2 | September 10 | Washington Redskins | W 15–10 | 2–0 | 74,159 |
| 3 | September 17 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 10–31 | 2–1 | 76,928 |
| 4 | September 24 | at Chicago Bears | W 21–14 | 3–1 | 66,944 |
| 5 | October 1 | Minnesota Vikings | L 24–31 | 3–2 | 76,438 |
| 6 | October 8 | Green Bay Packers | W 31–24 | 4–2 | 77,549 |
| 7 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 8 | October 19 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 28–14 | 5–2 | 65,557 |
| 9 | October 29 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 18–30 | 5–3 | 56,971 |
| 10 | November 5 | Miami Dolphins | L 8–23 | 5–4 | 77,813 |
| 11 | November 12 | Atlanta Falcons | W 13–10 | 6–4 | 74,309 |
| 12 | November 19 | at New York Giants | W 31–21 | 7–4 | 77,897 |
| 13 | November 23 | New England Patriots | W 34–9 | 8–4 | 77,923 |
| 14 | November 30 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 17–24 | 8–5 | 64,214 |
| 15 | December 10 | at Green Bay Packers | L 13–26 | 8–6 | 59,854 |
| 16 | December 17 | at New York Jets | W 10–7 | 9–6 | 77,513 |
| 17 | December 24 | Chicago Bears | L 20–23 | 9–7 | 71,957 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Packers | 0 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 24 |
| • Lions | 10 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 31 |

## Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(2)}$ Minnesota Vikings | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 397 | 371 | L3 |
| $^{(5)}$ Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 388 | 269 | L1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 353 | 323 | W4 |
| Detroit Lions | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 307 | 307 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 216 | 355 | W1 |