20 things we learned: Miami Dolphins 20, New England Patriots 10

Campbell had an impressive two-game opening run against Tennessee and Houston, but his performance over the last three months proved he’s in over his head. Very few issues that existed with his predecessor, Joe Philbin, were fixed by Campbell and his staff. It’s polite to consider him as a candidate to be the franchise’s next head coach. -- OK

Parker, the Dolphins’ 2015 first-round pick, caught five passes for 106 yards and one touchdown in his fourth start of the season. Parker’s 46-yard reception, which featured him bringing in a deep ball while double covered by tipping it to himself, showed the rookie has the ability to bring down 50-50 passes. Sunday’s performance was Parker’s first 100-yard receiving performance of his career. -- OK

Either the Patriots were distracted or too injury-decimated. Hard to figure out why New England used a conservative game plan to play a 10-loss Dolphins team. The win may cost New England home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, and will likely mean Miami drafts a spot or two lower in the 2016 NFL draft. -- OK

The undrafted rookie from Marshall held his own as Jelani Jenkins’ replacement at weakside linebacker, contributing six tackles. It’s clear that Hewitt has become the rookie linebacker who deserves a continued investment moving forward. -- OK

New England’s ground game has been inconsistent all season, and has been compromised by injuries. That didn’t stop Bill Belichick from trying to establish the run against a Dolphins defense that came into the game allowing 132 rushing yards on average. The Patriots gained 70 yards on 27 carries. -- OK

In one season, Sheppard transitioned from a special teams contributor to a 100-tackle starting inside linebacker. Not bad for a player who began the season coming off the field on passing downs. Even if the Dolphins don’t re-sign Sheppard, who is a pending free agent, he’s proven he’s a reliable NFL starter. -- OK

This team has been a finesse squad all season, so that that third-quarter run, which gained no yardage and turned the ball over to the Patriots, shouldn’t have too been surprising. It is more evidence that nothing changed during Dan Campbell’s tenure. -- OK

Miami’s strategy was clearly to pound Brady, a 16-year veteran who dislikes getting hit. The Dolphins hit their mark a couple times, but a few of them were late and borderline dirty hits. Vernon got caught with a late and low hit on Brady in the second half. The end result was two sacks and more than a half dozen quarterback hits. -- OK

Coming off a 1,099-rushing-yard 2014, Miller was in position to approach that number this season when, after 13 games, he had 769 rushing yards (on 5.1 yards a carry). However, Miller was stymied, with only 103 yards gained on 43 carries (2.4 yards a rush) in the final three games. -- SS

The first season of the franchise (1966) had Miami going 3-11. Then, a season with more than 10 defeats didn’t happen again for 37 years, when the final year of Dave Wannstedt brought a 4-12 in 2004. Of course, three years later, Miami won a single game with Cam Cameron. Only one other team has only three 11-plus-loss seasons, and that is the Baltimore Ravens, who have been playing for 30 fewer years. -- SS

Despite having his helmet grabbed, Suh surged into the lower legs of Tom Brady. Brady limped off and had his ankle re-taped before continuing. Suh--in what has been is one weakness in 2015--was repeatedly victimized by Brady’s expert hard count. -- SS

Belichick dropped to 21-14 against the Dolphins, with two of those defeats coming in Cleveland. The Broncos and Jets are second on that list with 12 defeats handed out. Denver is 12-8 vs. the future Hall-of-Famer, while the Jets are 12-24. -- SS