FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED:

Beat writer Omar Kelly’s and Steve Svekis’ five takeaways from Sunday’s game.

QB Ryan Tannehill was dealing in the Dolphins’ season finale

Ryan Tannehill completed 25-of-38 passes, throwing for 350 yards and two touchdowns in his 64th NFL start. The Patriots kept giving Miami’s offense a single safety high look, and Tannehill consistently pulled the trigger, throwing aggressive passes — which the Dolphins capitalized on for a change.

Dan Campbell finished Miami’s longest-ever stint as interim coach at 5-7

Dolphins interim coach Dan Campbell had an impressive two-game opening run against Tennessee and Houston, but his performance over the last three months proved he was 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.

Ideally, Tannehill will take half the sacks in his next four years that he has so far

His 184 sacks in his first four seasons represent a dangerous number, but let Ryan Tannehill’s teammates know how tough a player he is. By comparison, Dan Marino was sacked only 100 times in the four years where he took his most sacks (28 in 1992, 27 in 1991, 23 in 1998 and 22 in 1995).

DeVante Parker’s string of games with big plays has been rare in Miami

In the final six games the Dolphins played, the rookie had a catch of at least 33 yards in five of them. The last Dolphins receiver with that sort of string of long-play games was Mark Duper in 1992, his final NFL season, when the Dolphins played five games in a row where he had a reception of at least 39 yards.

Two Patriots who showed up vs. Dolphins are locals

James White, who had a 68-yard catch and run to set up the Patriots’ touchdown, attended St. Thomas Aquinas, while Jabaal Sheard (93), who was omnipresent on defense, went to Hollywood Hills.