Pencils have gone down and the NFL Trade Deadline is past us, setting the stage for an epic stretch run. While the Indianapolis Colts' fire sale didn't quite go full throttle as Jonathan Taylor remains in Indianapolis, we did see two teams load up in big ways.

The Jacksonville Jaguars went all in after Week 9, swinging multiple deals to add big names to their defense, while the Minnesota Vikings cried uncle with their quarterback situation by bringing back old friend Kirk Cousins. Welcome to a post-deadline edition of the NFL Skinny, beginning with the biggest moves from deadline day.

The Big Skinny: Jaguars, Vikings win the deadline

There were a few notable deadline deals outside of Jacksonville and Minnesota, such as Josh Downs going to the Chiefs and Keenan Allen joining San Francisco, but the biggest winners of the deadline were clearly Jacksonville and Minnesota. The most surprising splurges came from the Jaguars, who gave up a 2027 first round pick, 2027 and 2029 second round picks as well as a 2028 fifth and sixth to add Jordan Davis, Jessie Bates and Davon Godchaux to their defense.

It is important to note that Jaguars' GM James Gladstone worked under Les Snead in Los Angeles when the Rams kept dealing away premium picks to land veterans who could help them win now. The choices that Gladstone made certainly were curious, notably his call to invest two top picks in a defensive tackle, but if Jacksonville believes those picks will fall late in the early rounds, it makes such an investment more defensible.

The other big story came out of Minnesota, where the Vikings were seriously threatening to waste an elite defense behind a combination of middling quarterback play from Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz. Giving up a third-rounder for the current version of Cousins is certainly desperate, but he is a pro's pro who is having a good year in Las Vegas and has plenty of familiarity with Kevin O'Connell's offensive system.

The onboarding for Cousins shouldn't take long, potentially putting him in play to start Sunday against the Green Bay Packers in an important NFC North game. There is a lot of heat on Minnesota to get to the postseason considering the historic level their defense can play at, making the call to go get Cousins an important one that could prevent their season from spiraling down the drain.

Biggest NFL Risers After Week 9

Chicago Bears

Things are going swimmingly for the Bears, whose 27-24 victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday night —along with Minnesota's Monday night defeat — propelled them into first place in the NFC North. Even a sloppy day from Caleb Williams, whose four interceptions allowed the Bucs to climb back into a game they once trailed 24-13 in the third quarter, wasn't enough to derail a Bears' team that made its own big deadline investment by trading two first-round picks to free Jeffery Simmons from Tennessee.

The idle week is also well-timed for Chicago, which has both of its losses in division play and plays four more NFC North contests between now and the end of the season. Luther Burden III should be able to clear concussion protocol in that span while Kyle Monangai could be back before a huge Thanksgiving Day showdown in Detroit, setting Chicago up nicely to make a push to defend its division crown.

Buffalo Bills

The Jaguars may have loaded up at the deadline, but the AFC is still Buffalo's to lose as the Bills hit the halfway point at 7-1 following a Monday night win in Minnesota. Josh Allen outlasted the rugged Vikings' defense, scoring 13 second-half points to turn a 10-6 slugfest into a comfortable 23-6 victory.

The schedule offers a nice cool-down period for the Bills as well, offering dates with the struggling Jets and Dolphins before Thanksgiving night's showdown with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. There is a distinct possibility the Bills are 9-1 at that juncture with a chance to cement themselves as the heavy favorites to represent the conference in Los Angeles on Valentine's Day.

Biggest NFL Fallers After Week 9

The NFC South

The Saints are lumped in here by association even though they won in Week 9, outlasting Cleveland in overtime, but the South has jumped past the NFC East for the most dysfunctional division in football. While the New York Giants have comfortably commanded the East with a 5-2-1 record, the South has devolved into a slow-speed train wreck with two 3-5 teams (Carolina and New Orleans) alongside two 3-6 teams (Atlanta and Tampa Bay).

Considering how inept the division has been outside of beating up each other, which accounts for 4 of their 12 wins, it wouldn't be shocking to see an 8-9 record be an upside scenario for their champion. NFL rules require them to host a playoff game, which will likely come hosting an NFC North opponent that has at least three more wins than they do, and further stir calls for revoking the automatic home game that comes with a division title.

Baltimore Ravens

It's getting late for the Ravens, who were pummeled by Jacksonville on Thursday night in Week 9 to drop to 4-5. Undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano was a human punching bag in that game, throwing for just 60 yards and two picks against the elite Jaguars' defense, with the defeat being the fourth in a row for Baltimore after a 4-1 start.

Newly acquired Jacoby Brissett should take over as the starter for the Ravens, raising the floor on an offense that still has capable players like Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews. Lamar Jackson has been hinting to people that he has a shot to come back before the end of the season, but Baltimore needs to play much better for it to be worth Jackson's while to get back on the field.

The Playoff Picture

Now that we've hit the halfway point of the season, this space will update the playoff race every week to see who's making moves. Let's start in the AFC.

AFC Playoff Picture

The loss by New England has certainly made things quite interesting in the wild-card race, keeping Las Vegas, Baltimore and Houston afloat despite their flaws. The Texans, who started 0-4, also have a game in hand here. They have three games against the AFC North in their next four, and can climb right back into the race with a good push here.

The most impactful AFC games in Week 10 are Cleveland-Houston and Steelers-Bengals, with the winner taking first place in the AFC North. New England also has a tough trip to Germany to take on the Lions with a loss there potentially leaving them out of the playoff field entering Week 11.

NFC Playoff Picture

This is a messy picture and it includes nearly the entire conference due to the ineptitude of the South. The entire NFC North is in right now, but that likely won't last because they'll beat each other up in division games down the stretch, while the two NFC Championship Game combatants from last season (Seattle and Los Angeles) are both on the outside looking in.

The Giants can put the NFC East in a vice grip if they can beat Washington on Thursday night while other NFC games of note include Vikings-Packers and 49ers-Cowboys. The team in the most desperation here may well be Dallas, whose most realistic path to the postseason involves keeping pace with the Giants in the division since they appear unlikely to stack the wins necessary to get a wild card.

Week 9 Game Balls

MVP: C.J. Stroud

The Texans slow played Stroud's extension (rightly) in the offseason, and now he's going to make them pay up to keep him around for the long haul. Stroud absolutely shredded the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 9, throwing for 384 yards with five touchdowns and one pick to help Houston improve to 3-5.

LVP: Minnesota's offense

We'll give the collective LVP to the Vikings' offense, which made eyes bleed around the nation by failing to get anything going against a decidely average Buffalo defense that just gave up 30 points to the Raiders two weeks ago. Minnesota is clearly hoping that the return of Cousins can generate enough points to get them back into command of the NFC North down the stretch.