WATFORD, United Kingdom – The Jaguars are No. 1 again.

And while the members of the Jaguars' defense in no way assume they will have that status when it comes to defending the run, it's a priority and point of emphasis – and a huge reason for a three-game winning streak that has them atop the AFC South through five games.

More than that, it's a major point of pride.

"It's about us imposing our will as a team," linebacker Dennis Gardeck said.

Gardeck spoke Monday, a day after the Jaguars’ 19-17 last-second victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – a game in which the Jaguars allowed 22 rushing yards on 18 carries. That marked the second consecutive game the Jaguars have held their opponent to 25 yards rushing or less.

"For us to be able to do that again was huge," Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen said. "We went into the game saying if we could run it for 100-plus and hold them under that, we would have a good chance at winning the football game.

"Our defense kept us in the game without a question, especially in the second half."

The Jaguars, the NFL's No. 1 run defense in 2025 when they allowed 85.6 yards per game, are ranked No. 1 in the area again this season with 63.8 rushing yards allowed per game through five games. Their performance against the Eagles came after they allowed 23 yards on 15 carries to the Cincinnati Bengals the previous week.

They have allowed a league-low 2.9 yards per rushing attempt this season.

"It's such a cool deal to see the guys get off blocks and fight blocks and strain and buzz around to the football," Coen said. "It really all starts with the guys up front and the way they play the run and how dialed in they are against the run.

"From a culture standpoint and from what we're trying to build, it really speaks volumes of the buy-in. The way that those guys play, snap in and snap out, makes you proud as a head coach."

The Jaguars did not allow a run of longer than six yards Sunday, with the Bengals' longest run also six yards. They are the second team in the Super Bowl era and the first since the 1969 Dallas Cowboys to not allow an opposing running back to run for more than 40 yards in a game in the first five games of the season.

"It's just in the detail," Gardeck said. "The way you kind of bake that into your identity is doing it in practice, talking about it in meetings, finding different ways to attack the blocks or to key, to have your eyes in the right spot.

"It's part of our identity as a defense; it's something every time we take the field that we're planning on doing."

FLAGGING

The Jaguars had 13 accepted penalties for 100 yards against the Eagles a week after having 13 accepted penalties for 125 yards against the Bengals. Had 15 accepted penalties for 111 yards in Weeks 1-3. "The penalties are concerning when you start the season off in the first three weeks as the second-least penalized team in the NFL," Coen said Monday, "and now over the last two weeks, we're arguably one of the most penalized teams in the NFL. What we can control is coaching up hand placement, especially on the perimeter, the fundamentals and techniques inside with some of our hands and where can we get better at that. Alarming that it goes from a few to so many in a short period of time. So, still trying to work through that."

SO CONSISTENT

Wide receiver Parker Washington caught six passes for 124 yards Sunday and scored both Jaguars touchdowns. His 51-yard catch-and-run touchdown from quarterback Trevor Lawrence gave the Jaguars a 7-0 first-quarter lead and his 27-yard one-handed diving reception in the end zone gave them a 16-14 lead with 3:20 remaining. "You're amazed because of the moment and because of how big of a time it was," Coen said of Washington, who has 22 receptions for 352 yards and four touchdowns this season, "but to look back and to continue to see this guy make plays for our team – especially in some of these critical moments – it just speaks to the dude and to make critical plays in critical moments, he's showing that he can step up and do that stuff."