The Pittsburgh Steelers entered Sunday as the third place team in the AFC North division standings. The day ended with the Steelers being in first place in the division after leapfrogging the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens, who on Sunday fell to the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints, respectively. Pittsburgh (3-2-1) is ahead of Cincinnati (4-3) and Baltimore (4-3) by virtue of winning percentage. The Steelers own a .583 winning percentage, while the Bengals and Ravens own a .571 winning percentage. The Cleveland Browns, who entered Sunday with a 2-3-1 record, fell to 2-4-1 after losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime, the team's fourth overtime game of the 2018 season.

While the North's 0-3 weekend certainly helped, the Steelers have created their own good fortune after winning consecutive games heading into their Week 7 bye. Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin said his defense was starting to find their rhythm two weeks ago following Pittsburgh's 26-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens back in Week 4. While it was hard to see then, Tomlin ended up being prophetic in his statement. In the two games since those comments, the Steelers' defense has allowed an average of just 19 points per game while holding their last two opponents -- the Falcons and Bengals -- to an average of 298 yards per game. In today's NFL, where quarterbacks don't fear being hit by defenders due to the league's new emphasis on protecting the quarterback, holding an offense to under 300 yards in 2018 is the equivalent of the Steel Curtain defense holding a 1970s opponent under 200 total yards.

Pressure has been one of the main reasons for Pittsburgh's recent success on the defensive side of the ball. Over the previous two games, the Steelers sacked Matt Ryan and Andy Dalton a combined nine times, with 3.5 of those sacks coming from Pittsburgh's defensive line. Third year defensive lineman Javon Hargrave, who had 4.0 sacks in his first two NFL seasons combined, already has 3.0 sacks through six games of the 2018 season. In Pittsburgh's 28-21 victory over the Bengals, the Steelers put enough pressure on Dalton to limit him to 229 passing yards while forcing 16 incomplete throws.

"Andy Dalton is having a great season, so we knew we had to bust up some of their stuff and get some pressure on them," Hargrave told 247Sports after last Sunday's game. "I think we're starting to come into our zone. We still need to get better during the week, but like I said, we're starting to come into our zone, starting to make more plays and stopping teams. That's big."

How good does it feel to get a win going into the bye week?

"You see everybody smiling and talking?" Hargrave said with a smile. "You see everybody smiling and talking. I think if we would have lost it would have been a quiet locker room and heads would have been down. It's a great feeling."

Speaking of talking, communication has been one of the biggest days for Pittsburgh's improving defense, particularly in the second. How else can you describe how the team is improving with rookie safety Terrell Edmunds in the starting lineup. Edmunds, instead of being a liability, was one of the biggest reasons why the Steelers headed into their bye week with consecutive wins.

"I'm definitely embracing it," Edmunds said after last Sunday's game when asked about his starting role in Pittsburgh's defense. "Whenever they call my name, my number, I'm ready to go out there get it. You gotta expect the unexpected."

How exciting is it for Edmunds to see the continued improvement of Pittsburgh's defense?

"It's exciting," he said. "Each week we're getting better. Each week we're making new plays, different people making new plays. We just gotta keep on developing because we're trying to get to that common goal where everyone is trying to go."

Terrell Edmunds has stepped up after being placed into the starting lineup.

On the offensive side of the ball, there's plenty of reasons why the Steelers have rebounded to get to 3-2-1 at the bye. James Conner has produced consecutive 100-yard rushing performances after three underwhelming games. Vance McDonald, Jesse James and Xavier Grimble have each made plays in the passing game while contributing to Ben Roethlisberger leading the NFL in passing yards through six weeks. Antonio Brown and Big Ben have found their mojo, while JuJu Smith-Schuster -- with four 100-yard receiving games already under his belt this season -- is showing that he is ready to make the next step as one of the premier receivers in the NFL. But the main thing to emphasize about the offense is Pittsburgh's offensive line, a unit that is playing at en elite level after not allowing Big Ben to get sacked in each of the team's last two games.

"We did a good job executing today," perennial Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey said after last Sunday's game. "I think they put us in a great situation as far as the coaching staff and the offensive line coaches. I'm proud of our guys. They did a good job protecting Ben."

Speaking of Big Ben, Pouncey, when asked about the confidence level of the offense when they took the field down a point with 1:12 remaining in Sundays game, said that he and his teammates were simply following Roethlisberger's lead.

"All of us are pretty confident, but when Ben came up and told us, 'They gave us too much time,' we knew what time it was. We knew he was going to go out, sling it around, and something good was going to come out of it."

Where would Pouncey rank Sunday's Big Ben comeback victory?

"It's too hard to rank them," Pouncey said with a chuckle. "They're all No. 1 to me. When you come back like that, they're all No. 1. They're awesome."