A few weeks ago, a prescient Matthew Slater gushed over the potential of the Patriots special teams units.

And as the Pats have worked through some offensive issues during their four-game winning streak, they’ve gotten some significant contributions from their special teamers to either create points or eliminate scoring opportunities for their opponents.

Just how important is that? The Patriots have averaged 21.8 points per game since Week 5, which marks their fewest points over a four-game winning streak since 2003.

Their marquee special teams performance was obvious Sunday during a 21-13 victory against the Chargers, as Lawrence Guy opened the game by blocking a field goal and the punt coverage unit — thanks to Ryan Allen’s angled 54-yarder and pursuit by Brandon King, Jonathan Jones and Slater — turned the momentum with a safety. And those were just the highlights.

Slater’s optimism has been validated.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a more experienced, proven group as far as guys who have played at a high level in this league, and done it as their primary role,” the seven-time captain told the Herald on Oct. 13, a week after returning from a torn hamstring.

The Patriots knew they had a talented group of special teamers in camp because Slater, Jones, King, Nate Ebner, Brandon Bolden and Jordan Richards all returned. They also added Guy and Rex Burkhead during the offseason and acquired Johnson Bademosi, Marquis Flowers and Cassius Marsh prior to Week 1 due to several injuries from camp and the preseason. Now that the chemistry has improved and the league-leading level of penalties have tapered off, the special teamers are living up to the hype.

Guy, who blocked four kicks before joining the Patriots, shed a double team to deflect Nick Novak’s 51-yard field goal in the first quarter. It was the second consecutive week the Patriots had a blocked kick, and Marsh’s block against the Falcons also kept that game tied at the time.

The coverage has been excellent as well. Jones also created a scoring opportunity in the first quarter when he blocked Rayshawn Jenkins into Travis Benjamin, which caused him to muff the ball at the 12-yard line. It was a heady play by Jones to take advantage of Jenkins’ lack of field awareness, and a more fortunate bounce would’ve given the Patriots the ball on the shadow of the goal line.

The Pats again swarmed on kickoffs, and the Chargers returned four of their six opportunities. Of those four returns, Stephen Gostkowski placed the ball, on average, 1 yard into the end zone, which is usually enticing enough for a returner to be fooled into thinking he can make a play. Gostkowski deserves bonus points for the precise placement throughout the blustery conditions.

And then credit Trevor Reilly, Slater, Jones and Burkhead for making the tackles on those kickoffs. On average, the Chargers started those four possessions at their 17, and they didn’t score on any of them.

This season, the Patriots have allowed 19.2 yards per kick return, which is sixth-best in the NFL. It’s also interesting that teams have returned a league-high 29 kicks against the Patriots, and that’s also largely because of Gostkowski’s placement. For further context, the five teams with a better kick return average have surrendered an average of 11.8 kick returns this season.

While plenty of teams are simply firing the ball through the end zone for a touchback at the 25, the Patriots don’t take kickoff yards for granted. Of those 29 kick returns, Gostkowski’s average placement has been the 1.4-yard line, which obviously forces the returner into the teeth of the strong coverage. Factoring in the 19.2 yards per return, opponents who return kicks are giving the ball to their offense at the 20.6-yard line, so 4.4 yards better than a touchback.

“Not only the location, but the hang time, and he has put a lot of pressure on those returners when they catch the ball right there on the goal line, 1-yard line, whether to bring it out or stay in,” Bill Belichick said.

The Patriots have been stingy on punt returns, too. They’re ranked seventh with an average of 5.6 yards per return allowed.

On the flip side, Dion Lewis has injected some life into the kick return group. He is averaging 24.2 yards per return, and the Patriots are ranked eighth as a team in return average. That’s a marked improvement from the last two seasons, as they ranked No. 27 (18.7 yards per kick return) in 2016 and 31st (18.8) in 2015.

And despite the nonsensical outcry that Danny Amendola should call for a fair catch on every punt, his 11.2-yard average ranks sixth this season among players with at least 10 returns. Health is always a concern for a guy with a bad knee, but football players play football and those 11 yards are important, too.

Of course, Gostkowski’s two misses against the Chargers have caused questions from his detractors to resurface, but consider he was 4-of-6 and entered the game with the second best field-goal percentage of his career. He is now 20-of-23 (87.0 percent), which ranks 16th in the NFL, and Belichick said yesterday the field goals are the priority over the kickoffs. Like everything, there was a purpose behind that comment, but it’s not a long-term concern for Belichick, who hasn’t challenged Gostkowski in training camp in years.

On a larger scale, the Patriots’ special teamers are helping them win games. If the improvements continue the way Slater forecasted, the group could create more game-changing plays in the future.