Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

The New England Patriots entered Sundays Week 12 matchup against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium as underdogs, and they showed exactly why, losing the battle 34-15.

New England was down in this game 31-0 at one point, and they were lucky to bring it back to a somewhat respectable score. However, its very obvious that they were outclassed by the second-place team in their own division.

After the loss, the Patriots second of the year to Miami, lets give some credit to the few who performed well and point out who needs more work (or who shouldnt be on the field) going forward.

WINNER: RB Antonio Gibson

While Rhamondre Stevenson was ineffective in Sundays loss (totaling just 13 yards on 1.6 yards per rush), Gibson was the better option. The free agent signing rushed for 31 yards on 5.0 yards per attempt and caught one pass for 14 yards.

It may be worth giving him more looks going forward.

LOSERS: OT Vederian Lowe AND Demontrey Jacobs

New Englands two starting tackles had an abysmal afternoon. The pair combined for six penalties in the contest and were beaten pretty consistently by Miamis rush.

Dolphins rookie Chop Robinson was embarrassing Jacobs so frequently that he was benched later in the game for Sidy Sow.

WINNER: Run defense

The Patriots defensive front has struggled throughout the year, but on Sunday, they stood their ground. Miami rushed for 65 yards on 2.7 yards per attempt. However, that includes the kneel-downs by Tua Tagovailoa at the end of the game and a couple of end-arounds by Jonnu Smith and Malik Washington.

New England still held the Dolphins trio of running backs (DeVon Achane, Jaylen Wright and Raheem Mostert) to just 65 yards on 3.4 yards per rush. This was their second-fewest rushing yards allowed in a game this year (behind the 46 surrendered to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2).

LOSER: Pass defense

As good as DeMarcus Covingtons defense was at containing the run, they were much worse against the pass.

Tagovailoa, who is now 7-0 against the Patriots in his career, completed 72.5% of his passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns. There were very few times that Tagovailoa felt any pressure, and it was far from frequent enough to cause many mistakes.

Even when Tagovailoa did try to give the Patriots the ball, New England couldnt come up with it.