Column: 3 Years Ago Today, the Jaguars Were Kicking Down the Door

What a difference a three year makes, and what a three years it has been in the Sunshine State.

On this date three years ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars were doing something the franchise hadn't done in nearly a decade and hasn't done since: announce their arrival to the top.

On Dec. 10, 2017, the 8-4 Seattle Seahawks came into TIAA Bank Field for a Week 14 clash against the 8-4 Jacksonville Jaguars. For the brash and upstart Jaguars squad, it was a chance to provide a changing of the guard of sorts. Their entire franchise model had been molded after Seattle, so what better way to make your name known than to take down the kings?

That is exactly what the Jaguars did on that cold December evening. In a game that is as remembered now for its late-game antics in which a Seahawks player was ejected and nearly confronted fans in the stands, the Jaguars likely remember it differently.

They remember it instead as the night the Jaguars grew up. The night they, for a lack of a better term, kicked the NFL's door down and loudly said they were a genuine threat to any team.

Jacksonville beat the Seahawks and Russell Wilson in an exciting 30-24 game that evening. Blake Bortles threw two touchdowns and had one of his cleanest games as a pro. Leonard Fournette ran for 101 yards and a touchdown. Keelan Cole, Jaydon Mickens, and Dede Westbrook all found the end zone.

By beating the Seahawks, the Jaguars looked like the little brother who had finally grown big and strong enough to beat his older brother. It should have been the game that launched the Jaguars into a new era of success, a window of playoff teams and Super Bowl aspirations.

But jump forward three years and the franchise has done everything but that. Instead, they sit at 1-11 on the third anniversary of the Seahawks game.

The Jaguars are currently in the middle of the longest single-season losing streak in franchise history, an 11-game skid that has shown fractures throughout the roster. General manager Dave Caldwell has been fired, and the Jaguars are 12-32 since the start of the 2018 season. Most of the players who took the field that night in December in 2017 now play elsewhere.

We have spent plenty of time talking about what went wrong with the Jaguars since 2017. Poor decisions at quarterback, consistent misses in free agency and the draft, and a disruptive relationship between Tom Coughlin and the team's best players have all taken the Jaguars from the mountaintop to the NFL's cellar.

But what can the Jaguars do to get back to where they were on this night three years ago? What can they do to once again kick down the door and take down one of the NFL's marquee teams?

It is a long answer in many ways. In many other ways, it is as simple as can be.

If the Jaguars want to get back to their 2017 form, the only winning season in team history under owner Shad Khan, then they can't depend on the same strategy they used last time. An elite defense made of big-money free agents and top draft picks is a great idea in theory, but history has shown us that can only get a team so far.

Instead, the Jaguars need to place an emphasis on building their team from the ground up and, for once, focusing it on the quarterback position.

The reason the Jaguars won in 2017 was the defense, not their quarterback. Bortles played well against the Seahawks, but his inability to carry the team and its offense is a big reason he was released after his terrible 2018 season.

This simply isn't sustainable. The Jaguars have maybe realized this, but they didn't take the proper steps to amend this. In the last two years, they have signed Nick Foles to the largest guaranteed contract in team history and have thrown sixth-round quarterback Gardner Minshew into the franchise's top roster spot.

If the Jaguars are to turn the clock back and return to their winning ways, they will need to make a series of smart moves at general manager, head coach, on the defense, and beyond. But the biggest move is how they find a franchise passer. If the Jaguars are ever going to play meaningful December football in the coming years, it is a triggerman worth building around that they need to obtain.

"I think anywhere you look around the league, if you’re not stable at that position it’s going to be difficult, it’s going to be challenging. We’re trying to make sure we’re trying to find the right fit, the right guy to lead this team and lead this franchise," Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said on Wednesday.

"We have guys that we just keep trying and just keep putting them in there. But I think if you look at teams that don’t have that [stability], it’s the most important position. It doesn’t matter where you are or what coach you are. They’re going to say, ‘What’s the most important position?’ And first one’s always quarterback, it’s not even close. It’s an important position and it’s one that we continue to keep working on and keep trying to get it right.”

Get it right they must. If the Jaguars are wondering why their window shut so quickly, look no further than the quarterback position. If they're wondering how they can get back to being a bully on the block instead of being beaten up on every Sunday, the quarterback is the same place they should look.