FOXBORO — In Week 12, the Patriots run defense hit rock bottom against the Denver Broncos.

Knowshon Moreno led the way, averaging 6.1 yards a carry en route to his 224-yard performance. Out of his 37 carries, the running back was stuffed for no gain just twice and only once was he tackled for a loss. The 280 total rushing yards were the most a team has rushed against Bill Belichick in the coach’s career.

Heading into this weekend’s AFC Championship Game against the Broncos, the Patriots defensive line has made ample improvements since getting gashed by Denver. Though all eyes will be on quarterback Peyton Manning, defensive tackle Chris Jones knows the line can’t have a repeat performance.

“You saw him, they put 280 up against us,” Jones said. “Knowshon, he had a great game. He plays with a lot of energy. He’s a great running back, he’s had a great year this year and he’s definitely a guy we’ve got to stop.

“Their offense as a whole is the best in the league. There’s a lot of factors we’ve got to take in, but we definitely have to slow down Knowshon. We can’t let him get out like he did last time.”

Prior to their game against the Broncos, the Pats run defense was ranked 27th in the NFL. They dropped to 31st after that game, and stayed there after the following week when Houston running back Ben Tate ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns.

The run defense finished the season ranked 30th, but things started to turn around in Week 14 against Cleveland. Starting tackle Sealver Siliga for the first time, the Patriots held the Browns to 108 rushing yards. The next week, Miami ran for 89 yards and then held Baltimore running back Ray Rice to 40 yards on 11 carries.

The improvements were shown last weekend against the Colts, allowing only 69 rushing yards.

Siliga has stayed in the starting spot since the Browns game. Jones said the young defensive linemen have started to come together at the right time.

“The more and more we played, the better and better we got,” Jones said. “We’ve just got to keep improving. Together as a group, we’re really molding. We’re understanding how each other plays. We’re able to read off each other.”

In Week 12, Moreno hurt the defensive line everywhere. He had six rushes for 11 or more yards. Three of those rushes went right, two to the left and one up the middle. In his last 10 carries, he ran for three 18-yard gains.

Rookie Joe Vellano said the defensive line is playing with confidence and hopes it will continue this weekend.

“I think we’ve gotten better as a defensive line,” Vellano said. “I think we’ve got to continue it this week, make sure everybody’s on the same page and come out fast.”