Leaving Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels on the ground 11 yards behind the line of scrimmage, Ravens defensive tackles Travis Jones and Nnamdi Madubuike collided in celebration.

In the moment, Madubuike thought they would both be awarded the sack. Instead, the credit went all to Jones, giving him his first of the season — a moment just as worthy of celebration in Madubuike’s mind.

“I’m just super proud of him,” Madubuike said after a 30-23 Ravens win Sunday. “He had that mentality, even on the sideline, the whole game, like, ‘Man, I don’t know why the offense is out there! I’m ready to go! I’m ready to go right now!’ He was hungry the whole game.”

Despite Jones wanting to be on the field at all times, the Ravens’ offense had an impressive showing, especially on the ground. But the defense’s performance stopping the run was arguably as good — or better — and Jones has so much to do with that, in both obvious and imperceptible ways on a down-to-down basis.

Thanks in part to his inspired play this year, the Ravens are in a rare position. The offense leads the league in rushing yards, while the defense has allowed the fewest in the league.

The defense’s latest performance came against a formidable opponent. In three of their first five games, the Commanders rushed for over 200 yards. They were averaging 178.4 rushing yards per game.

Against the Ravens, they finished with 52.

Granted, their top rusher, Brian Robinson Jr., was sidelined. But 52 yards is right in line with what the Ravens have allowed over the course of the season. They entered the game allowing 60.4 yards per game, which is now down to 59.

That is the second-best performance by a Ravens run defense across the first six games in team history (in 2000, they allowed 304 rushing yards in the first six games, for a 50.7 average), and they’re among the top five of all teams since 2000.

Per TruMedia, the Ravens’ run defense leads the league in three categories: success rate, yards per carry allowed (3.0) and explosive run (12+ yards) rate allowed (2.6%). They are second in rushing yards allowed (354) only because the Minnesota Vikings (336) have a bye this week. The Ravens also rank third in yards before contact allowed per carry (0.93) and fourth in run stuffs (25).

“That’s what we pride ourselves on, stopping the run and then getting to the passer,” nose tackle Michael Pierce said.

“That was a point of emphasis going into the offseason,” Pierce added. “We didn’t do as well as we’d like to do last year, for whatever reason.”

Despite having arguably the best defense in the league last season, they gave up the 14th-most rushing yards (1,860) and 24th-most yards per carry (4.5).

“So, glad to see we got that fixed,” Pierce said.

There is a strong correlation between the run defense’s growth and Jones’ personal growth.

“That’s our starting nose guard; that’s the heart and soul of our defense, right up the middle,” Pierce said.

Jones is entering his third year, which is typically when you find out if a defensive lineman has staying power, according to former Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell. As a rookie, Jones had just one sack, two quarterback hits and three hurries. The following season, he took a step forward with 1.5 sacks, five quarterback hits and 19 hurries. PFF graded him with a 61.7 score for his first season and a 68.1 in his second.

This year, he’s recorded one sack, two quarterback hits and seven hurries in six games. He’s grading out at 77.3, with his highest grades coming in the run game each week. Heading into Sunday, his 12.9% run stop rate ranked fourth among NFL interior linemen. (A stop is a tackle that constitutes a “failure” for the offense.)

Things are clicking for the young lineman, Madubuike said, and there’s no limit to how good he could be. Outside linebacker Odafe Oweh said Jones has been relentless every play. Even if he’s not recording statistics, he’s doing something to affect the play. It’s making life easier for everyone else.

“He’s being dominant in there,” Oweh added. “Like, you see someone that big moving guys that fast, like, there’s nowhere to run. It’s only good because it forces a lot of stuff to the perimeter, where guys like me and KV [Kyle Van Noy] are going. David [Ojabo] is out there and makes plays, too. So he’s helping a lot of guys.”