FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The turnaround for the New England Patriots (7-2) over the last five weeks has been remarkable. Plenty of factors have come together to push head coach Bill Belichick’s team from a much-questioned middling squad to the top of many NFL power rankings heading into a bye week.

But the biggest factor has been the resurgent offense that went from a stumbling unit to one that’s guided the team to averaging 40 points a game in its five-game winning streak.

The offensive output has obviously been led by quarterback Tom Brady’s 18 touchdowns and one interception, pushing the 37-year-old passer into the MVP conversation midway through the season.

Brady’s own production has been boosted by tight end Rob Gronkowski returning to his dominant self coming off last December’s torn ACL, once again a touchdown machine and major matchup headache for opposing defenses.

But there is a third, less obvious but maybe equally important aspect of the offense that’s shown great improvement: the offensive line.

Through the first month, the group, led by first-year positional coach Dave DeGuglielmo and with Pro Bowl guard and captain Logan Mankins having been traded to the Bucs in a money move, struggled mightily. Brady was under too much pressure. The running game was inconsistent. The entirety of the offense failed in part because the foundation up front was filled with cracks.

Now, nine games into the season, the Patriots have finally settled on a starting five and the result has been improved play. From left to right, Nate Solder, Dan Connolly, Bryan Stork, Ryan Wendell and Sebastian Vollmer now look locked into the lineup, ready to continue to build continuity and comfort working together.

“I think that any time you’re talking about a group of multiple people that need to work well together and be kind of cohesive with a lot of the things that they do, communication is always a very important factor,” Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said of the group’s growth. “I think understanding how the guy beside you reacts to certain things and the strengths and weaknesses of the guys that you’re playing with, and I also think that time spent working together is always something that can’t be understated because through repetition and experience you create good habits.

“I think the offensive line has really come along. And we’ve tried to demonstrate some patience in letting some guys work out some different kinks and getting really familiar with playing with one another and doing a good job of communicating and being on the same page.”