Dolphins vs. Patriots: Who won the key matchups?

Dolphins pass rush vs. pats QB Tom Brady

Who won: Dolphins.

Impact: Brady will probably need some of those infamous “magic” supplements from trainer Alex Guerrero after this one. He got absolutely crushed Sunday, the result of a leaky offensive line and a resurgent Miami pass rush. Officially, the Dolphins had just two sacks, but they hit the Patriots’ quarterbacks six times legally and at least once more illegally (looking at you, Olivier Vernon). Brady came up lame after an encounter with Ndamukong Suh and was never really comfortable the rest of the game.

QB Ryan Tannehill vs. Miko Grimes

Who won: Tannehill.

Impact: Tannehill got the last laugh of this very public, very ugly feud. A week after Brent Grimes’ wife, Miko, ripped Tannehill on Twitter, calling him a “bum” and saying the entire team hated him, Tannehill had one of his best games of the season. And although no one can argue that Tannehill plateaued in Year 4, his final stats suggest that if he did regress, it wasn’t by much. He set a career high in passing yards (4,208) and his touchdowns to interceptions (24-12) was just off last year’s tally (27-12).

Coach Dan Campbell vs. the field

Who won: Campbell.

Impact: Campbell probably won’t be the Dolphins coach in 2016. The Dolphins are about to embark on an exhaustive search, and although Campbell is going to be considered, his 5-7 record isn’t all that impressive. But he went out on top, throttling the team’s top rival. And his owner took notice. In the postgame locker room, Stephen Ross said: “I love Dan Campbell.” Campbell hasn’t had a ton of good days in the past two months, but this was certainly among the best.

This story was originally published January 3, 2016 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Dolphins vs. Patriots: Who won the key matchups?."