Quarterback

Ryan Tannehill was on something of a roll, going 136 passes without throwing an interception, which was the NFL’s longest streak when Sunday dawned. But that came to an end in the first quarter when the rookie threw into double coverage and it resulted in a pick. The mistake led to New England’s first touchdown. Tannehill was also charged with a fumble that seemed to cost the Dolphins another TD because the Patriots recovered at their own 1-yard line. The inability to step up and throw decisively and the inability to run on the spread option turned Tannehill into a weapon with few options. Grade: C-

Running backs

The Patriots have an ability to pick certain players from the opposing team and shut them down, and then it’s up to other players to step up and perform and fill the void. Well, New England erased Reggie Bush — limiting him to 26 yards on eight carries and keeping him from eclipsing 1,000 yards on the season. And the Dolphins had no other answer. Lamar Miller averaged only 2.6 yards per rush, and Ryan Tannehill was too busy running for his life to actually gain any yards on spread-option runs. Grade: D

Receivers/tight ends

Armon Binns had three drops, which matched his number of receptions. Brian Hartline was again Miami’s most effective player, but he and Tannehill couldn’t connect often enough or on deep enough passes to make a difference. Rishard Matthews is a complementary player and played like it. Same with Anthony Fasano. Let’s face it, this group needs upgrading. Grade: D

Offensive line

Nate Garner had a holding call that wiped out a first-down completion. It was one of the better moments for the Dolphins tackles, who had perhaps their worst game as a tandem since Jonathan Martin went to left tackle and Garner went to right. It gets worse. The middle of the Miami line totally collapsed. They couldn’t create any holes on running plays, and on pass plays, they caved in and that didn’t allow Tannehill to step up and throw. Grade: F

Defensive line

The Patriots averaged 4.4 yards per rush. Some of the holes were enormous. That pretty much overcame the work of Paul Soliai, who had two tackles for losses. He was the most visible defensive lineman. Even Cameron Wake, who had an outstanding season, had four tackles but didn’t add a sack. Jared Odrick got only one tackle, but he played sparingly while the Patriots went with three-wide packages. Grade: C-

Linebackers

Kevin Burnett and Karlos Dansby found themselves atop the tackle chart for the Dolphins, as they usually are, but of their 23 combined tackles only one was for loss — that by Dansby. Koa Misi returned after missing the last three games with an injury, but was a non-factor in notching only one tackle. Grade: D

Secondary

The Dolphins delivered a stern message for a couple of past stalwarts. Nolan Carroll says he was healthy after practicing all week and wanted to play but was held out, inactive for the game while Bryan McCann was active ahead of him. McCann’s finest moment was a sack of Tom Brady. Meanwhile, Sean Smith might have played his last game for Miami. There is one report the Dolphins would franchise him, but a source said Sunday that is not happening. The team got a very short look at Dimitri Patterson, because he went out of the game in the first half with an ankle injury. The Dolphins need to upgrade at cornerback. Grade: D

Special teams

Nate Kaeding was billed as the most accurate field-goal kicker ever when he arrived in South Florida two weeks ago. He missed his second field goal in three tries Sunday and is no longer the most accurate kicker in NFL history. Grade: D

Coaching

Miami’s coaches were wary of having players quit before the season actually ended. Seems their fears were, in some respects, well-founded. The Miami offense, which has been unsteady and inconsistent this year, was exactly that, while the defense wilted under the pressure of playing a franchise quarterback. Grade: D

Overall

As coach Joe Philbin said, the Dolphins have a lot of work to do. Grade: C