With the NFL's trade deadline now in the rearview mirror, the Jacksonville Jaguars can now focus on the remaining nine games of the regular season.

Boy, was it a busy trade deadline for the Jaguars, though. 

Jacksonville made some waves before the deadline, trading away a big chunk of the team's future to acquire All-Pro safety Jessie Bates III and DT Davon Godchaux before making a stunning blockbuster trade Monday evening with the Philadelphia Eagles for DT Jordan Davis.

In all, the Jaguars traded away their first- and second-round picks in 2027, fifth- and sixth-round picks in 2028, and a second-round pick in 2029.

Jacksonville has an opportunity to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. General manager James Gladstone paid a steep price to help the Jaguars make it happen.

After the trades, the Jaguars have as good a case as anyone to be considered AFC favorites.

Jacksonville owns a comfortable three-game in the AFC South, but the team has its sights set on much more than just repeating as division champs.

ESPN was not a fan of the Jaguars' move for Davis, giving the trade a resounding "F" grade while calling it "reckless" and "a disaster for Jacksonville."

However, ESPN cannot deny that the Jaguars are one of the best teams in the league. In its Week 10 set of NFL power rankings, ESPN has Jacksonville third, trailing only the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers.

With the AFC filled with terrific teams, Jacksonville will be in for a dogfight the rest of the way to earn the conference's top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

In this week's power rankings, ESPN chose each team's biggest remaining game. 

With Jacksonville having already built such a wide lead in the division, Michael DiRocco chose a different AFC opponent as the Jaguars' most important game left.

"Most important game of the second half: Week 14 vs. the Steelers

"The Jaguars play at Chicago in Week 13 in a matchup of two of the NFL's best offensive playcallers, but the Steelers game is more significant because of AFC playoff seeding implications. The Jaguars have better than a 98% chance of making the playoffs, per ESPN's Football Power Index, so a victory over the Steelers could earn them a higher seed in a tiebreaking scenario. It also would give the Jaguars a season sweep of the AFC North for the second time in franchise history (2017). -- Michael DiRocco"

Jacksonville's showdown against the Steelers will have plenty of playoff implications. The Jaguars already own significant victories over a pair of AFC contenders. Their wins over the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots will come in handy come playoff time. Beating the Steelers could also go a long way when it comes to playoff seeding.

The Jaguars proved at the trade deadline that reaching the Super Bowl is the only acceptable outcome this season.

That puts a ton of pressure on the team. Jacksonville has already proven to be one of the NFL's elite teams.

Now, the Jaguars must prove they can meet the highest expectations in franchise history.