WEEKEND RUNS THE GAMUT
WINNERS
Cam Newton: A solid effort, less than a month removed from his traffic accident, on a bum ankle allowed him to become the third quarterback from the 2011 draft class to win a playoff game, following — wait for it — T.J. Yates and Colin Kaepernick. Maybe next year, Andy Dalton.
Reggie Wayne: He had one catch Sunday, but the venerable Indianapolis Colts wideout tasted victory in what might have been his final home game. Wayne, 36, who has won more games in a Colts uniform than anyone else, is not under contract for 2015 and has said he doesn’t want to play for another franchise.
Terrance Williams: With the Detroit Lions blanketing all-pro Dez Bryant, Williams did his best Alvin Harper impression, burning the Lions for two touchdowns — a 76-yarder before halftime and what turned out to be the gamewinner with 2:32 to go.
John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin: It’s hard to argue their teams aren’t waging the fiercest border war in the NFL these days. Yet both coaches simultaneously threw bouquets to each other Saturday, speaking of the immense respect they have for each other’s teams after the Baltimore Ravens’ playoff victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers. A rivalry with respect. How refreshing.
Dan Herron: The Colts’ top tailback provided 141 yards from scrimmage and a TD, providing nice balance to an offense that can rely too heavily on QB Andrew Luck (376 yards, TD on Sunday).
Bruce Arians: The Arizona Cardinals did not enter January with a playoff-caliber roster. That probably was true in December, too. But Arians got every last drop out of this decimated team, and he deserves kudos — as do his players — for his team surviving as long as it did.
Ravens linebackers: Terrell Suggs, Elvis Dumervil, Daryl Smith and C.J. Mosley combined for 28 tackles, two sacks and Suggs’ knee-locked interception as Baltimore notched its first playoff victory without the greatest Ravens linebacker of them all, Ray Lewis.
Jonathan Stewart: The often-injured but now rejuvenated back continues to fuel the Carolina Panthers offense, turning in his third 100-plus-yard rushing day (123 yards, TD) in his past five games.
Ndamukong Suh: He had two playoff sacks after his midweek suspension reprieve and probably further drove up his price in free agency in a few months.
Fozzy Whittaker: Because he’s got such a great name — waka, waka, waka — and he also scored on a 39-yard pass play that gave Carolina a lead it never relinquished.
AFC special teams: It was quite a show in Indy. Bengals K Mike Nugent drilled a 57-yard field goal, second longest in playoff history, and the Colts’ Adam Vinatieri went 4-for-4 from
three-point range. Pro Bowlers Pat McAfee and Kevin Huber each boomed punts beyond 60 yards. McAfee also managed touchbacks on four of his seven kickoffs, limiting the damage done by all-pro returner Adam Jones, who averaged nearly 27 yards on his three runbacks. Saturday, kickers Justin Tucker and Shaun Suisham both were 3-for-3 on field goal tries in Pittsburgh.
Embattled Dallas quarter
back: Tony Romo shrugged off Detroit’s urelenting pass rush — not to mention the critics who were ready to pounce — by leading the Cowboys to 17 points over the final 18 minutes Sunday to get his second career playoff win. Romo stood tall, avoided mistakes and fired the game-turning TD pass before the two-minute warning in the best postseason showing in his nine years as Dallas’ starter.
LOSERS
Matthew Stafford: Things didn’t turn out as rosy for the Dallas native, who couldn’t sustain the Lions’ first-half success nor lead Detroit to its second playoff win of the Super Bowl era. And worse, Stafford dropped to 018 on the road against winning teams in his six NFL seasons.
Cowboys offensive line: Despite all the accolades and Pro Bowl honors, it rarely got DeMarco Murray (75 yards) loose and allowed a season-high six sacks of Romo. It had better tighten up with Clay Matthews and, potentially, the Seattle Seahawks lying in wait.
Golden Tate: The Lions receiver did his part, scoring on a 51-yard TD catch, in efforts to get a shot at the Seahawks, who let him go in free agency.
Dalton and Marvin Lewis: How much longer can this Bengals marriage last? Dalton dropped to 0-4 in the playoffs after another subpar performance (in fairness, he didn’t have No. 1 weapon A.J. Green). Lewis fell to 0-6 in the postseason, tied for worst in league history among head coaches, and remained unable to give Cincinnati its first playoff victory since 1990. Mike Brown might be the most loyal owner in the league, but at some point he might have to determine that this duo has taken the Bengals as far as it can.
Ben Roethlisberger: No one was more affected by the absence of all-pro Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell than Roethlisberger, who was sacked five times and picked off twice as the Ravens devoured Pittsburgh’s one-dimensional offense, which produced 68 rushing yards.
Trent Richardson: The Indianapolis tailback did not start because of illness and never touched the ball. General manager Ryan Grigson’s trade for the Cleveland Browns’ 2012 firstrounder seems a total flop given the Colts essentially opted not to use him in the season’s biggest game. They should probably cut him loose.
Cardinals offense: It finally reached the point where even Arians couldn’t save it, gaining a
playoff record-low 78 yards, not to mention an average of 1.7 yards per play. Eventually, and most likely in the postseason, not having your top tailback or top two quarterbacks is going to catch up to you. It was a remarkable season-long run for Arizona capped by an almost equally remarkable demise.
Phoenix, etc.: Sorry, Phoenicians and Arizonans, but you won’t be the first to enjoy a Super Bowl featuring the home team.
Steelers offensive line: The Pittsburgh front five knew the onus would be on it to power the offense with Bell being inactive. But the substitute running backs never got going — it’s hard to wholly hang that on the blocking — and Roethlisberger took quite a few licks. Not enough when more was needed.
Larry Fitzgerald: If this was the star wideout’s last game for Arizona, he won’t remember it fondly. Fitzgerald was targeted eight times but finished with three catches for 31 yards. It wasn’t representative of the career of the man who arguably is the greatest Cardinal of all time.
Ed Hochuli: The league’s most well-known referee had a rough Saturday in Charlotte, from a botched coin toss to an open mic revealing inside officiating jokes.
Patriots: The Ravens, who have won in two of their three playoff trips to Gillette Stadium while narrowly missing a clean sweep, are probably not the team Tom Brady and Co. really wanted to see Saturday.
Panthers: At a collective 88-1, you’re finally back to even. Your reward? A trip to Seattle. You better not get used to being .500 for long.