INDIANAPOLIS -- After the New England Patriots played musical chairs with their offensive line in the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs six games ago, they have settled on a winning combination up front.

With the interior trio of left guard Dan Connolly, rookie center Bryan Stork and right guard Ryan Wendell, the Patriots drastically turned it around in the trenches, especially with pass protection.

But in Sunday night’s 42-20 win over the Colts, the Patriots’ offensive line established itself as a true force in the run game.

Quarterback Tom Brady was proud of his offensive linemen.

“I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage, which was huge, and Jonas [Gray] ran great,” Brady said during his postgame news conference. “But it all starts with the big guys up front and they played a great game.

“We had great protection. I thought they played really well up front, so that’s what we are going to need.”

Brady said the offense will do whatever it takes to win, but when the offensive line is able to create that amount of push, it makes winning a lot easier.

“There are games where you go in and we are not sure how well we are going to run it, but when it is going well you just want to keep giving it to him,” Brady said. “They were creating holes, and Jonas was finding yards whether it was cutting back or staying with his blocks. He just had great vision tonight. He almost ran for 200 yards, so it was a pretty sweet night for a running back to be able to do that.”

Behind the Patriots’ big guys, Gray rushed for 199 yards and four touchdowns, a franchise regular-season record. The line kept opening up holes and getting to the second level with blocks.

Rookie offensive lineman Cameron Fleming played a major role as a blocking tight end who helped provide an extra boost in the run game.

After the loss to the Chiefs, which seems like a distant memory now, Brady said it would take weeks or months to see where this team is. After Sunday night’s win, he again was asked where the team stands; he answered by citing the Patriots’ toughness.

“You have to be able to find different ways to win,” Brady said. “It depends on the matchup that you get, and you have to devise a game plan that you think is going to work. Once you get in there, you see if it works and if it’s going good you stay with it, but you have to be able to adjust to not be one-dimensional.

“I thought tonight we showed great toughness certainly on both sides of the football.”

Brady noted that one of the keys to winning outside of the strong performance by the offensive line and the run game was the offense’s effectiveness on third down. The Colts came into the game as the NFL’s top defense on third down by stopping teams 30.2 percent of the time.

“This is a team that gave up like three third downs in their last 33 attempts,” Brady said. “So I thought we did a pretty good job.”

Even with a huge performance from his offensive line and Gray, and a key road victory that sets the Patriots on course for home-field advantage in the playoffs, Brady is right back to work after the win.

“It was a great win on the road against a damn good football team,” Brady said. “They all get bigger from here and we will enjoy it, but it’s back to work tomorrow.”