| Team: | Oakland Raiders |
| Year: | 2000 |
| Record: | 12–4 |
| Division Place: | 1st AFC West |
| Coach: | Jon Gruden |
| General Manager: | Al Davis |
| Owner: | Al Davis |
| Stadium: | Network Associates Coliseum |
| Playoffs: | Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Dolphins) 27–0 Lost AFC Championship (vs. Ravens) 3–16 |
| Pro Bowlers: | Rich Gannon, QB Lincoln Kennedy, OT Steve Wisniewski, G Charles Woodson, CB |
| Shortnavlink: | Raiders seasons |
The Oakland Raiders season was the franchise's 31st season in the National Football League (NFL), the 41st overall, their sixth season of their second stint in Oakland, and the third season under head coach Jon Gruden. The Raiders finished the season 12–4 (the best record in the Gruden era), winning the AFC West for the first time since 1990. They returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1993, when the team was still in Los Angeles.[1] The Divisional Round playoff game versus the Miami Dolphins would be their first home playoff game in Oakland since defeating the Houston Oilers in the 1980 AFC Wild Card Playoffs.
This was the first of three consecutive AFC West titles for the Raiders. As the No. 2 seed in the AFC, the Raiders received a bye into the divisional round of the playoffs. Their four regular season losses were by a combined 16 points. The Raiders held the Miami Dolphins scoreless, winning 27–0. The following week against the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship, starting quarterback Rich Gannon sustained a shoulder injury after being hit by Baltimore's Tony Siragusa early in the second quarter. The loss of Gannon was too steep to overcome as the Raiders lost 16–3. Siragusa was later fined $10,000 for the hit.[2] This was the NFL-record ninth playoff loss in Raiders history with a Super Bowl berth at stake (since tied by the San Francisco 49ers in 2013). The Raiders set a still-standing franchise record for most points scored in the regular season, with 479.[3]
The season was also the first for kicker Sebastian Janikowski. He would play 276 games in the regular season and playoffs as a Raider, a franchise record.
| Additions | Subtractions | |
|---|---|---|
| FS Anthony Dorsett (Titans) | DT Russell Maryland (Packers) | |
| WR Andre Rison (Chiefs) | LB Richard Harvey (Chargers) | |
| LB Elijah Alexander (Colts) | K Michael Husted (Redskins) | |
| LB William Thomas (Eagles) | P Leo Araguz (Rams) | |
| SS Marquez Pope (Browns) | CB Marquis Walker (Lions) | |
| RB Terry Kirby (Browns) | ||
| DE Regan Upshaw (Jaguars) |
| Shamari Buchanan | Wide receiver | Alabama | |
| Jeff Cronshagen | Tackle | Stanford | |
| Joey Hamilton | Wide receiver | Jacksonville State | |
| Jabari Jackson | Running back | USC | |
| Julius Jackson | Linebacker | Nebraska | |
| Brandon Jennings | Safety | Texas A&M | |
| Eric Johnson | Safety | Nebraska | |
| Marcus Knight | Wide receiver | Michigan | |
| Abdul Salam Noah | Defensive tackle | San Jose State | |
| Anthony White | Running back | Kentucky |
Rookies in italics
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | TV Time(PDT) | TV Announcers | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 3 | San Diego Chargers | W 9–6 | 1–0 | CBS 1:15pm | Gus Johnson & Brent Jones | 56,373 | |
| 2 | September 10 | at Indianapolis Colts | W 38–31 | 2–0 | CBS 10:00am | Greg Gumbel, Todd Blackledge, and Armen Keteyian | 56,769 | |
| 3 | September 17 | Denver Broncos | L 24–33 | 2–1 | CBS 1:05pm | Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms, and Armen Keteyian | 62,078 | |
| 4 | September 24 | Cleveland Browns | W 36–10 | 3–1 | CBS 1:15pm | Don Criqui & Steve Tasker | 45,702 | |
| 5 | Bye | |||||||
| 6 | October 8 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 34–28 (OT) | 4–1 | CBS 1:15pm | Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms, and Armen Keteyian | 68,344 | |
| 7 | October 15 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 20–17 | 5–1 | CBS 10:00am | Ian Eagle & Mark May | 79,025 | |
| 8 | October 22 | Seattle Seahawks | W 31–3 | 6–1 | CBS 1:05pm | Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms, and Armen Keteyian | 57,490 | |
| 9 | October 29 | at San Diego Chargers | W 15–13 | 7–1 | ESPN 5:30pm | Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire, and Solomon Wilcots | 66,659 | |
| 10 | November 5 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 49–31 | 8–1 | CBS 1:15pm | Kevin Harlan, Daryl Johnston, and Beasley Reece | 62,428 | |
| 11 | at Denver Broncos | L 24–27 | 8–2 | ABC 6:00pm | Al Michaels, Dan Fouts, Dennis Miller, Melissa Stark, and Eric Dickerson | 75,951 | ||
| 12 | November 19 | at New Orleans Saints | W 31–22 | 9–2 | CBS 10:00am | Dick Enberg, Dan Dierdorf, and Bonnie Bernstein | 64,900 | |
| 13 | November 26 | Atlanta Falcons | W 41–14 | 10–2 | FOX 1:05pm | Ray Bentley & Ron Pitts | 55,175 | |
| 14 | December 3 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 20–21 | 10–3 | CBS 10:00am | Kevin Harlan, Daryl Johnston | 55,811 | |
| 15 | December 10 | New York Jets | W 31–7 | 11–3 | ESPN 5:30pm | Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire, and Solomon Wilcots | 62,632 | |
| 16 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 24–27 | 11–4 | CBS 1:06pm | Dick Enberg, Dan Dierdorf, and Bonnie Bernstein | 68,681 | ||
| 17 | December 24 | Carolina Panthers | W 52–9 | 12–4 | FOX 1:15pm | Curt Menefee, Brian Baldinger, and Mindi Bach | 60,637 | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | ||||||||
This was the first time the Raiders had ever visited Indianapolis. Their previous regular season away game against the Colts occurred as far back as 1975 in Baltimore, although they also played in Baltimore during the 1977 postseason.[5] This anomaly was due to old NFL scheduling formulas in place prior to 2002, whereby teams had no rotating schedule opposing members of other divisions within their own conference, but instead played interdivisional conference games according to position within a season's table.[6]