2000 St. Louis Rams season
| 2000 St. Louis Rams season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Georgia Frontiere |
| General manager | Mike Martz and Charley Armey |
| Head coach | Mike Martz |
| Offensive coordinator | Bobby Jackson |
| Defensive coordinator | Peter Giunta |
| Home stadium | Trans World Dome |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–6 |
| Division place | 2nd NFC West |
| Playoffs | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Saints) 28–31 |
| All-Pros | RB Marshall Faulk (1st team) OT Orlando Pace (2nd team) PR Az-Zahir Hakim (1st team) |
| Pro Bowlers | QB Kurt Warner RB Marshall Faulk WR Isaac Bruce WR Torry Holt OT Orlando Pace |
The 2000 season was the St. Louis Rams' 63rd in the National Football League (NFL) and their sixth in St. Louis. For the first time in franchise history, the Rams entered the season as the defending Super Bowl champions, and started 6–0 for the second straight season. The Rams finished the regular-season with a record of 10–6 but would go on to lose to the New Orleans Saints 31–28 in the wild-card round of the playoffs. They led the NFL in scoring for a second straight year with 540 points. The Rams became the first team in NFL history to score more than 500 points on offense while allowing more than 450 points on defense. They allowed more than 30 points in seven of their games and less than 20 points only once all season, a 16–3 loss to the Carolina Panthers in week 14.
Running back Marshall Faulk was named the MVP of the regular season. It was the second straight time a Rams player was named MVP.
After the resignation of Dick Vermeil, who had been the Rams' head coach through St. Louis' 1999 championship season, Mike Martz took over as head coach, and attempted to defend the Rams' Super Bowl XXXIV title. The Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf" continued its offensive dominance, scoring 33.8 points per game.
Statistically, Football Outsiders calculates that the 2000 Rams had the most efficient rushing attack of any single-season NFL team from 1993 to 2010. The 2000 Rams are one of only three teams in NFL history to score 35 points or more nine times in a single season. The Denver Broncos did it 10 times in 2013. The Rams' offense offset the team's defensive struggles: St. Louis' 471 points allowed in 2000 is the most ever surrendered by an NFL team with a winning record. The Rams had the best offense in the league, but had the worst defense in the league.
The season saw the Rams change their logo and uniforms. The team traded their blue and yellow uniforms for "New Century gold" and "Millennium blue" ones. St. Louis' new logo depicted a charging blue ram with a gold outline, matching the ram's horn. This logo would be in use for the rest of their tenure in St. Louis. After the season, Ray Agnew, Todd Collins, Steve Everitt, D'Marco Farr, and Pete Stoyanovich decided they had played their final NFL games. Troy Pelshak and Fernando Smith did, too, but they left St. Louis in the middle of the season, to go to Jacksonville for Pelshak, and back to Minnesota for Smith.