2000 Wild Card · Sat, Dec 30, 2000 · Louisiana Superdome

St. Louis Rams

New Orleans SaintsWinner

STL -5.5 upsetO 55 ✓DomeRams closed -5.5 and lost outright — an upset against the closing number.

New Orleans Saints 31–28 — decided on the final possessions.

Pre-2018 game — box score & context only; play-by-play visuals start in 2018

Who moved the needle

Top performers

Passing · STL

Kurt WarnerQB

24/40, 365 yds, 3 TD, 3 INT

4.4 expected points added

Passing · NO

Aaron BrooksQB

16/29, 266 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT

9.2 expected points added

Rushing · NO

Aaron BrooksQB

10 att, 26 yds, 0 TD

-4.0 expected points added on the ground

Rushing · STL

Marshall FaulkRB

14 att, 24 yds, 0 TD

-5.6 expected points added on the ground

Receiving · NO

Willie JacksonWR

6/9 for 142 yds, 3 TD

31% of team targets · 18.3 expected points added

Receiving · STL

Isaac BruceWR

7/11 for 127 yds, 1 TD

28% of team targets · 3.4 expected points added

Full stat lines

Box score

St. Louis Rams

Passing

Player	C/Att	Yds	TD	INT	Sacked	EPA
Kurt Warner	24/40	365	3	3	2	4.4

Rushing

Player	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	EPA
Marshall Faulk	14	24	1.7	0	-5.6
Kurt Warner	1	5	5.0	1	2.4
Justin Watson	1	5	5.0	0	-0.1

Receiving

Player	Rec	Tgt	Yds	TD	Tgt share	EPA
Isaac Bruce	7	11	127	1	28%	3.4
Marshall Faulk	7	8	99	1	21%	10.2
Ricky Proehl	3	7	46	1	18%	-0.8
Az-Zahir Hakim	2	4	42	0	10%	2.7
Torry Holt	2	6	26	0	15%	-0.2
Roland Williams	3	3	25	0	8%	2.9

Defense (top contributors)

Player	Solo	Ast	Sacks	PD
London Fletcher	4	3	0.0	0
Todd Lyght	5	1	0.0	1
Keith Lyle	5	0	0.0	0
Mike A. Jones	2	2	0.0	1
Dexter McCleon	4	0	0.0	0
Sean Moran	3	1	0.0	0
Grant Wistrom	4	0	1.0	0
Ray Agnew	2	1	0.0	0
Leonard Little	2	0	1.0	0
Adam Timmerman	2	0	0.0	0

New Orleans Saints

Passing

Player	C/Att	Yds	TD	INT	Sacked	EPA
Aaron Brooks	16/29	266	4	1	2	9.2

Rushing

Player	Att	Yds	Avg	EPA
Aaron Brooks	10	26	2.6	-4.0
Terry Allen	16	21	1.3	-7.4
Chad Morton	2	5	2.5	-0.1
Jerald Moore	3	1	0.3	-1.7
Willie Jackson	1	-3	-3.0	-1.3

Receiving

Player	Rec	Tgt	Yds	TD	Tgt share	EPA
Willie Jackson	6	9	142	3	31%	18.3
Robert Wilson	3	4	41	1	14%	4.8
Chad Morton	2	5	34	0	17%	-2.4
Jake Reed	3	6	27	0	21%	-1.2
Andrew Glover	1	3	16	0	10%	0.1
Terry Allen	1	1	6	0	3%	0.1
Joe Horn	0	1	0	0	3%	-1.5

Defense (top contributors)

Player	Solo	Ast	Sacks	INT	PD
Sammy Knight	3	2	0.0	2	4
Kevin Mathis	4	1	0.0	0	0
Chris Oldham	4	0	0.0	1	1
Fred Thomas	2	2	0.0	0	0
Keith Mitchell	3	0	1.0	0	1
Darrin Smith	2	1	0.0	0	1
Norman Hand	1	2	0.0	0	0
Darren Perry	2	0	0.0	0	0
Willie Whitehead	2	0	1.0	0	0
Michael Hawthorne	2	0	0.0	0	0

Closing number vs result

Betting context

Closing spread: STL -5.5
Closing total: 55
STL moneyline: —
NO moneyline: —

Rams closed -5.5 and lost outright — an upset against the closing number.

Total closed 55; the game landed 59 — over by 4.0.

Conditions and crew

Game environment

Venue: Louisiana Superdome
Roof / surface: dome · astroturf
Kickoff weather: Indoors — weather neutralized
Referee: Gerry Austin
Rest: STL 6 days · NO 6 days
Coaches: Mike Martz vs Jim Haslett

Division game — familiarity tightens these matchups; closing numbers tend to be sharper.