FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — So the New England Patriots won’t have linebacker Jerod Mayo, their leading tackler, and running back Stevan Ridley, their leading rusher, for the rest of the year because of injuries.

And defensive end Chandler Jones, their sacks leader, will be out for 4 to 6 weeks because of a hip injury.

And yet they put on their most impressive performance of the season Sunday, beating the Chicago Bears 51-23. How did this happen?

Because a guy like Jonas Gray – he of three career carries for 12 yards – rushed for 86 yards, averaging 5.1 yards per carry.

Because rookie defensive ends Dominique Easley, the Patriots’ first pick this year’s draft out of Florida, and Zach Moore, a sixth-round pick out of Division II Concordia-St. Paul, filled in nicely for Jones, each getting credit for a half-sack. Moore forced the Jay Cutler fumble that led to Rob Ninkovich’s touchdown and effectively ended the game before the first half was over, giving New England a 38-7 lead.

Because a guy like linebacker Akeem Ayers, acquired in a trade from Tennessee last Wednesday, stepped in and made five tackles and a sack.

Yes, Tom Brady was nearly perfect, completing all but five of his 35 pass attempts (and four of the incompletions were dropped) for 354 yards and five touchdowns. And tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Brandon LaFell were unstoppable, catching all 20 balls that were thrown their way. LaFell caught 11, Gronkowski had three touchdown receptions.

But this team is only as good as the last guy on the roster. And Sunday everyone could feel like they contributed to the win, which was the Patriots’ fourth in a row since they got whacked by Kansas City 41-14 in a Monday night nightmare.

“(The win) doesn’t surprise me,” said defensive tackle Vince Wilfork. “I mean, guys coming from everywhere, free agents, guys we just picked up a couple days ago, beginning of the season, they came in and fit in right away, they understand what we need and what we want from them and they work hard.

“We all work hard. That’s what we have to do to be successful at this level and it showed tonight.”

Throughout the postgame press conferences and locker room interviews, the Patriots spoke about a team victory, and how this is how they need to play to keep going.

“It was good to see the whole team ready to go, playing with that kind of energy and execution” said Coach Bill Belichick. “It was a pretty good game for us out there today.”

Wilfork said he sensed Friday at the conclusion of practice that the Patriots were ready to break out. Ninkovich said the outcome was simply a result of a great week of practice.

“When you have a good week and everyone’s on the same page, that’s when you have those good team victories,” he said. “The more weeks we can do that, the better we’re going to do.”

They will need another week like that. The Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning come into Gillette Stadium next Sunday. It’ll be Brady vs. Manning, the NFL’s marquee matchup once more.

Sunday’s win, as impressive as it was, is already forgotten by the Patriots.

“Days like this, they don’t always happen,” said Brady. “So you enjoy it for a short period of time, then we move on like we always do.”

Ninkovich, who has a knack for making big plays on defense, was asked if the Patriots were playing their best ball of the season. They have averaged 42 points in their four victories while allowing 21.7.

“I don’t think we’re playing our best football at all,” he said. “I mean, it’s halfway through the year. We’ve got to be playing our best ball at the end of the season.”

Well, are you happy with where the team is, he was asked in a follow-up?

“You can never be happy where you’re at,” said Ninkovich. “There’s always room for improvement. There’s definitely a few things out there we can tighten up. It’s constant improvement and constantly working to get better.”

Then he added, “Offensively we’re clicking right now. Again when we’re doing our job (on defense) and they’re doing their job (on offense) we’re hard to beat.”

They were unstoppable Sunday on offense in part because Gray – all 5-foot-10, 225 pounds of him – pounded away inside, giving the Bears reason to pause on Brady’s play-fakes. They stopped the Bears because Easley, Moore and Ayers joined the mainstays to corral a potent Chicago offense.

The secondary, led by cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner and safety Devin McCourty, stepped up against Chicago’s dangerous wideouts and wouldn’t let them beat them.

The Patriots won Sunday because this is what they do. Even with the superstars on the team playing at their highest level, it’s also about the guys on special teams and the reserves.

“That’s football,” said Ninkovich. “You get your opportunity you’ve got to make the most of it.”

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