The Patriots need a big day from their piecemeal offensive line

When the New England Patriots traveled to Denver for the AFC Championship earlier this week, they left behind Tre’ Jackson and LaAdrian Waddle, two members of an already-depleted group of offensive linemen. It might not even matter. Beset with injuries all season long, we keep waiting for the Patriots offensive line to turn into a liability, but it hasn’t happened yet.

The Patriots have used 13 different starting offensive line combinations this season; that’s more than any NFL team in more than two decades. Most of it was forced by injuries. They lost Nate Solder for the year after only four games. Five other regulars have missed time with injury this year as well. But what’s even more impressive is that the line combinations didn’t stop there. Head coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels used a rotating cast of characters throughout games this season, making for 37 different blocking combinations, according to one count.

Heading into the playoffs, most professional prognosticators predicted that Tom Brady’s pass protection would be the Patriots’ undoing. But that wasn’t the case last week in New England’s Divisional round win over the Kansas City Chiefs, a team with no shortage of pass-rushing pop in its front seven. Brady was pressured just five times last week against the Chiefs.

Part of the solution for New England’s pass protection is the fact that Brady doesn’t need much time in the pocket to make his throws. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s averaged just 2.35 seconds to make this throws, second-quickest in the league. That number drops even lower when Julian Edelman is in the lineup, to just 2.22 seconds. And last weekend against the Chiefs, Brady needed a mere 2.19 seconds, on average, to make his 42 throws.

Belichick hasn’t rotated his offensive linemen as frequently during the playoffs. They only made one substitution last week, and that was because center Bryan Stork rolled his ankle. Still, it’s Brady getting most of the credit -- and he does deserve plenty -- for the pass protection, but the fact is that the Patriots have had significant contributions from a rotating unit that most people have never heard of, even with all the attention this team is used to getting.

They’ll have their hands full in the conference championship. Led by Von Miller, the Broncos have a defense capable of shutting down receivers in man coverage and getting after the quarterback with guys like Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Derek Wolfe, etc. They had five players with at least five sacks this season. If Brady’s quick passes and piecemeal offensive line can’t stem the tide, that could be the difference in this game.