Where is the finish, Patriots? – BostonHerald.com

There are two types of stories you’ll read this week, ones about the secondary or ones about how they can’t finish on either side of the ball.

Finishing is really less of a concern to me. It’s something that has to be learned every season somewhat, and just because this team is taking a little longer to gain that killer instinct doesn’t overly concern me. Yet.

Brady in particular had his shaky moments when he most needed to be a steady hand, throwing two interceptions — and Seattle safety Earl Thomas dropped a third that was a potential pick-six had he held on. But this was not simply about Brady or the running backs. This was a systemic cratering at crunch time. The offense faced a third-and-2 at the Seattle 17 with nine minutes to play and the offensive line got buried; Stevan Ridley was flattened for no gain before the Patriots settled for a field goal. They led 23-10, so their growing offensive struggles did not seem significant, but the game was trending the way the Arizona and Baltimore ones had. The later it got, the less the offense produced. When something was needed most, it did the least.