# 2000 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 2000 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 33rd year in professional football and its 31st with the National Football League. Corey Dillon would rank fifth in the NFL with 1,435 rushing yards and set a franchise record for most rushing yards in one season. On October 22, 2000, Dillon set a franchise record by rushing for 278 yards in one game. After being shut out in two of their first three games and a home loss to the Browns 24–7 in week 1, Coach Bruce Coslet resigned; he was replaced by former All-Pro Detroit Lions DB and Bengal defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. Under LeBeau, the Bengals dropped their first three games, with an eventual long losing streak finally coming to an end on October 22 against the Denver Broncos at the new Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals defeated the Broncos 31–21 as RB Corey Dillon set a single-game record by rushing for 278 yards. The Bengals used it as springboard to win their next game in Cleveland despite not scoring a touchdown. The Bengals offense would continue to struggle as 2nd year quarterback Akili Smith, the team's No. 1 draft pick out of Oregon, was overwhelmed by the NFL game. Corey Dillon set a team record by rushing for 1,435 yards, but with Smith's struggles as starting quarterback, the team floundered with a season-ending record of 4–12.

## Offseason

| Additions | Subtractions |
| DE Vaughn Booker (Packers) | QB Jeff Blake (Saints) |
| T John Jackson (Chargers) | WR Carl Pickens (Titans) |
| DT Tom Barndt (Chiefs) | S Myron Bell (Steelers) |
| S Darryl Williams (Seahawks) | G Jay Leeuwenburg (Redskins) |
| | DT Kimo von Oelhoffen (Steelers) |

### NFL draft

2000 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 4 | Peter Warrick | Wide receiver | Florida State |
| 2 | 34 | Mark Roman | Defensive back | LSU |
| 3 | 66 | Ron Dugans | Wide receiver | Florida State |
| 4 | 97 | Curtis Keaton | Running back | James Madison |
| 5 | 133 | Robert Bean | Defensive back | Mississippi State |
| 6 | 169 | Neil Rackers * | Placekicker | Illinois |
| 7 | 210 | Brad St. Louis | Tight end | Southwest Missouri State |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

2000 undrafted free agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| LaVell Boyd | Wide receiver | Louisville |
| Ricky Brown | Fullback | Texas |
| Alan Buckwalter | Linebacker | Northwest Missouri State |
| Marvin Chalmers | Wide receiver | Wake Forest |
| Ben Clampitt | Wide receiver | Western Washington |
| Doug Dorley | Center | Bowling Green |
| Dave Fleischhauer | Defensive tackle | Penn State |
| Brian Gray | Defensive back | BYU |
| Eddie Hardaway | Wide receiver | C. W. Post |
| Tariq McDonald | Wide receiver | Arizona State |
| Roger Roesler | Guard | Texas |
| Gary Thompkins | Defensive back | West Virginia |
| Jeff Walker | Kicker | Mississippi State |
| Mark Willetts | Defensive end | Boston College |

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue |
| 1 | August 4 | at Buffalo Bills | L 20–21 | 0–1 | Ralph Wilson Stadium |
| 2 | August 11 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 16–31 | 0–2 | Georgia Dome |
| 3 | August 19 | Chicago Bears | W 24–20 | 1–2 | Paul Brown Stadium |
| 4 | August 25 | Detroit Lions | L 13–21 | 1–3 | Paul Brown Stadium |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 2 | September 10 | Cleveland Browns | L 7–24 | 0–1 | Paul Brown Stadium | 64,006 |
| 3 | September 17 | at Jacksonville Jaguars | L 0–13 | 0–2 | Alltel Stadium | 45,653 |
| 4 | September 24 | at Baltimore Ravens | L 0–37 | 0–3 | PSINet Stadium | 68,481 |
| 5 | October 1 | Miami Dolphins | L 16–31 | 0–4 | Paul Brown Stadium | 61,535 |
| 6 | October 8 | Tennessee Titans | L 14–23 | 0–5 | Paul Brown Stadium | 63,406 |
| 7 | October 15 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 0–15 | 0–6 | Three Rivers Stadium | 54,328 |
| 8 | October 22 | Denver Broncos | W 31–21 | 1–6 | Paul Brown Stadium | 61,603 |
| 9 | October 29 | at Cleveland Browns | W 12–3 | 2–6 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | 73,118 |
| 10 | November 5 | Baltimore Ravens | L 7–27 | 2–7 | Paul Brown Stadium | 54,759 |
| 11 | November 12 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 6–23 | 2–8 | Texas Stadium | 62,170 |
| 12 | November 19 | at New England Patriots | L 13–16 | 2–9 | Foxboro Stadium | 60,292 |
| 13 | November 26 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 28–48 | 2–10 | Paul Brown Stadium | 63,925 |
| 14 | December 3 | Arizona Cardinals | W 24–13 | 3–10 | Paul Brown Stadium | 50,289 |
| 15 | December 10 | at Tennessee Titans | L 3–35 | 3–11 | Adelphia Coliseum | 68,498 |
| 16 | December 17 | Jacksonville Jaguars | W 17–14 | 4–11 | Paul Brown Stadium | 50,469 |
| 17 | December 24 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 7–16 | 4–12 | Veterans Stadium | 64,902 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

## Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ Tennessee Titans | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 346 | 191 | W4 |
| $^{(4)}$ Baltimore Ravens | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 333 | 165 | W7 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 321 | 255 | W2 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 367 | 327 | L2 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 185 | 359 | L1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 161 | 419 | L5 |

## Team leaders
### Passing

| Player | Att | Comp | Yds | TD | INT | Rating |
| Akili Smith | 267 | 118 | 1253 | 3 | 6 | 52.8 |

### Rushing

| Player | Att | Yds | YPC | Long | TD |
| Corey Dillon | 315 | 1435 | 4.6 | 80 | 7 |

### Receiving

| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
| Peter Warrick | 51 | 592 | 11.6 | 46 | 4 |

### Defensive

| Player | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FF | FR |
| Takeo Spikes | 109 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Carter | 43 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Oliver Gibson | 52 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Foley | 43 | 4.0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Cory Hall | 41 | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

### Kicking and punting

| Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | XPA | XPM | XP% | Points |
| Neil Rackers | 21 | 12 | 57.1% | 21 | 21 | 100.0% | 57 |
| Player | Punts | Yards | Long | Blkd | Avg. |
| Daniel Pope | 94 | 3775 | 57 | 0 | 40.2 |

### Special teams

| Player | KR | KRYards | KRAvg | KRLong | KRTD | PR | PRYards | PRAvg | PRLong | PRTD |
| Tremain Mack | 50 | 1036 | 20.7 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Yeast | 7 | 106 | 15.1 | 29 | 0 | 34 | 225 | 6.6 | 27 | 0 |

## Awards and records

* Corey Dillon, AFC Offensive Player of the Week (Week 8)
* Corey Dillon RB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
* Corey Dillon, Franchise Record, Most Rushing Yards in One Game (278 yards on October 22, 2000)
* Corey Dillon, Franchise Record, Most Rushing Yards in One Season (1,435 rushing yards)

### Milestones

* Corey Dillon, 4th 1000 yard rushing season (1,435 rushing yards)
* Tremain Mack, 3rd 1000-yard return season (1,036 yards)

### Best performances

* Corey Dillon, October 22, 2000, 278 rushing yards vs. the Denver Broncos
* Corey Dillon, December 3, 2000, 216 rushing yards vs. the Arizona Cardinals