You didn’t have to be a former NFL offensive lineman to see that the New England Patriots struggled to protect quarterback Tom Brady and open up run lanes against the Denver Broncos in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.

But the why is a little more complicated. Luckily, former Patriots offensive linemen Matt Light provided his expertise on the situation Friday during an appearance on WAAF’s “The Hill-Man Morning Show.”

“(Denver) is a horrible place to go play, especially in that circumstance,” he said, via WEEI.com. “You’ve got the best defense in the league. You’re in their place. And you don’t practice a snap count? It blows my mind that, really, the game was lost because of a snap count.

“I don’t think that they practiced their snap count at all, really, to any degree. We went into a game being able to snap silent count five different ways. Not two. Five. And in that game, I watched them on the snap count and I was blown away. You’re handcuffing your tackles, and that’s what happens when you don’t effectively run a silent snap count. And it was terrible to watch.”

Unfortunately for the Patriots, they were far away from the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium in their 20-18 AFC title game loss to the Broncos, and it appears they paid the price for it. Well, at least their silent snap count did.

Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images