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Jaguars remember ill-fated playoff win

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars center Brad Meester remembers every detail of the play.

His snap, his block, his celebration. Every nuance is as clear as David Garrard’s run on a fourth-and-2 play that stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2007 playoffs. Meester also recalls officials failing to flag teammate Khalif Barnes for what seemed like an obvious hold.

“Everybody was talking about that,” Meester said Wednesday. “Luckily, it didn’t get called so we can’t say he held. That’s definitely a play that will be remembered for quite some time — for the run and the hold, too, I guess.”

Equally memorable, and certainly a topic of conversation as the Jaguars (1-4) prepare to return to Pittsburgh, is the aftermath of Jacksonville’s 31-29 victory. It was the franchise’s first postseason victory in eight years, but has since been dubbed the “worst win” in team history.

The Jaguars rewarded Garrard with a six-year, $60 million contract extension that included $19 million guaranteed. They gave Del Rio a four-year, $21 million deal. They kept former personnel director James “Shack” Harris, who was so convinced the team was close to winning a championship that, three months later, he traded seven draft picks to select defensive ends Derrick Harvey and Quentin Groves in the first and second rounds, respectively.

Those moves altered the landscape of the small-market franchise.

“That was a big turn for us, no doubt,” Meester said.

Garrard completed 9 of 21 passes for 140 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions, against the Steelers. It’s certainly plausible to think Garrard would not have gotten the richest contract in franchise history without the following week’s game at New England.

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