The New England Patriots rumbled for 185 rushing yards on Sunday and have 355 yards on the ground threw two games.
That's the good news. The bad news is that the passing game has been much less productive, and if you ask former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, the offensive line is to blame.
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett completed just 15 of 27 passes for 149 yards and one touchdown in New England's 23-20 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Gillette Stadium. Seattle's defensive front harassed Brissett to the tune of three sacks and eight QB hits, as the veteran signal-caller took several punishing blows throughout the game.
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"The number one problem with this game, even though they ran the football as much as they did, is pass protection," Johnson said on NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Postgame Live, as seen in the video player above. "The pass protection was terrible. ... (Brissett) was running for his life the whole time."
Johnson noted there wasn't a single culprit on the offensive line, with Michael Onwenu -- the team's best blocker -- on the scene for at least one sack.
"It wasn't just Vederian Lowe. It wasn't just Michael Jordan. It was Mike Onwenu, who you rely on as a guy that you don't think you even have to worry about. He's giving up sacks, he's giving up pressures," Johnson said. "Layden Robinson, who balled out in that first game, gave up a sack."
Head coach Jerod Mayo has insisted the Patriots will be a run-first team, and it's a great sign they've had success on the ground through two games. But they can only go so far with a passing attack that's failed to reach 150 yards in either of the first two games.
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"The offensive line is gonna be the Achilles heel of this team, because the passing game has to get better," Johnson said.
"We know they can run with dominance, but to win games like this and in the future, you have to throw the ball better. And the only way you can do that is to have an offensive line that protects your quarterback better than (how) they protected Jacoby today."
The Patriots face another tough test Thursday night against a fierce New York Jets defensive front that has seven sacks through two games. It's no secret that offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will lean heavily on the run game, but he'll need better pass blocking from his offensive line if he wants to get more out of the aerial attack.
Check out more reaction from Johnson, Tom E. Curran and Michael Holley in the YouTube video below.