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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson insists this is where he envisioned his team being at its bye week: atop the AFC South and with one of the best records in the NFL.
How the Jaguars got to this point? Well, that's surprised everyone, including Pederson.
The Jaguars (6-2) have become a defense-first oddity in an offense-friendly league. It's helped Jacksonville win five consecutive games and improve to 5-0 away from home.
The latest was a 20-10 victory at Pittsburgh in which Jaguars safety Dewey Wingard grabbed a "Terrible Towel" following a late interception and mockingly waved it on the field to celebrate. The Jaguars lead the NFL with 18 takeaways, including two in the fourth quarter on Sunday to prevent Pittsburgh from mounting any sort of comeback.
Jacksonville is now 13-4 over its last 17 games, tied with San Francisco for the second-best record in the league (behind Kansas City) over that span.
"It's just confidence in our guys, confidence in the team," Pederson said Monday. "As a coach looking at our schedule and looking at the season and how things started out -- it was a little rough -- but to be here at 6-2, I expected that, the guys expected that."
But with the offense leading the way, right?
"You would think so with the weapons and the firepower," he quipped.
Instead, defense has been Jacksonville's calling card. The Jaguars have allowed 81 points, 16.2 a game, during their winning streak. They've been stout against the run all season and arguably just as good against the pass thanks to 11 interceptions.
Steelers receiver George Pickens provided extra motivation by calling Jacksonville a "hope defense" leading into the game, saying the defense hoped its pass rush could get to the quarterback in time to save a shaky secondary.
"I don't know how they thought we were going to come in and play, but we would have HOPED they would put up a better fight than that," Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins chirped afterward.