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Like many franchises, the Jacksonville Jaguars have made some bad moves in their history. There are quite a few glaring ones that had somewhat of a domino effect going forward and impact future seasons.
So if I could choose which moment to undo, which would it be?
The easy choice would be to say not trading up for and drafting Blaine Gabbert in the 2011 NFL Draft, as the team has been in quarterback purgatory since.
Personally for me, the spark of "The Dark Ages" as we called them was the win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2007 NFL playoffs. That single victory sparked a slew of actions by the franchise that set themselves up for failure going forward.
That one playoff win led to a $60 million extension for quarterback David Garrard, who never seemed to match his 2007 season that saw him throw just three interceptions in the regular season. The only season that came close was three years later, when the team collapsed from an 8-5 start to miss the playoffs. Garrard was released the following season with the Jaguars never finishing above .500 after 2007.
It also led to a five-year contract extension for then head coach Jack Del Rio. I think Del Rio was not nearly as horrible as he was made out to be, especially with what we know now on the roster building end, but the fact remains the team went south after that season.
It also led to the Jaguars thinking they were a player or two away from making a deep playoff run, which led to the team trading up in the draft for Derrick Harvey, signing high-priced free agents like Jerry Porter and Drayton Florence. They took a lot of swings and missed, badly, which the team suffered for still to this day.
So what would I change exactly? Lose to the Steelers in the playoffs, as they probably should have. It's unlikely Garrard and Del Rio get big extensions, if any and the slew of bad free agent signings and the team may not have traded up for Derrick Harvey.
What would you change?
