NFL wild card winners and losers: A tale of two Dallas QBs

Wild-card 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 only had one catch Sunday, but the venerable Colts wideout tasted victory in what may have been his final game in Indianapolis. Wayne, 36, who's won more games in a Colts uniform than anyone, is not under contract for 2015 but has said he doesn't want to play for another franchise.

Terrance Williams: With Detroit blanketing all-pro Dez Bryant, Williams did his best Alvin Harper impression, burning the Lions for two TDs — a 76-yarder before halftime and the game winner with 2:32 to go.

John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin: 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 night, speaking of the immense respect they have for one another's teams following the Ravens' playoff defeat of the Steelers. A rivalry with respect. How refreshing.

Boom Herron: The Colts' top tailback provided 141 yards from scrimmage and a TD, establishing nice balance to an offense that can rely too heavily on QB Andrew Luck (376 passing yards, TD on Sunday).

Bruce Arians: The Cardinals did not enter January with a playoff-caliber roster. That was probably true in December, too. But Arians got every last drop out of this decimated team and he — and his players — deserve kudos all around for surviving as long as they did.

Ravens linebackers: Terrell Suggs, Elvis Dumervil, Daryl Smith and C.J. Mosley combined for 28 tackles, two sacks and Suggs' knee-locked INT as Baltimore notched its first playoff victory without the greatest Raven LB of them all, Ray Lewis.

Jonathan Stewart: The oft-injured but now rejuvenated back continues to fuel the Panthers offense, turning in his third 100-plus-yard rushing day (123 yards, TD) in his past five games.

Ndamukong Suh: He picked up 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 that gave Carolina a lead it never relinquished.

AFC special teams: Quite a show in Indy. Bengals K Mike Nugent drilled a 57-yard field goal, second-longest in playoff history, while 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 still averaged nearly 27 yards on his three runbacks. On Saturday night, kickers Justin Tucker and Shaun Suisham were both 3-for-3 on field-goal tries at rainy Heinz Field.

Embattled Dallas quarterback: Tony Romo shrugged off an unrelenting Detroit 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 before the two-minute warning in the best postseason showing in his nine years as Dallas' starter.

Wild-card losers

Embattled (native) Dallas quarterback: Things didn't turn out as rosy for Dallas-raised Matthew Stafford, who attended the same local high school as Bobby Layne, the last quarterback to lead Detroit to a championship. But Stafford couldn't sustain the Lions' first-half success nor lead them to their second playoff win of the Super Bowl era. Worse, Stafford dropped to 0-18 on the road against winning teams to conclude his sixth NFL season.

NFC special teams: Arizona and Carolina conspired to set football's third phase back 20 years Saturday. From Brenton Bersin's botched handling of a punt to Ted Ginn's fumbled kickoff to Drew Butler's horrid punting, it was ugly all the way around. Sunday, Dallas' Dan Bailey, the second-most accurate kicker in league history, missed a 41-yard field goal, and teammate Dekoda Watson gave Detroit a first down after roughing punter Sam Martin in the end zone. But matters were worse for the Lions, who got a 10-yard shank from Martin and saw returner Jeremy Ross muff a punt and get buried on a kickoff return at his own 5-yard line.

Cowboys O-line: Despite all the accolades and Pro Bowl honors, it rarely got DeMarco Murray (75 yards) loose while allowing a season-high six sacks of Romo. Better tighten up with Clay Matthews and, potentially, the Seahawks lying in wait.

Golden Tate: The Lions receiver did his part, scoring on a 51-yard TD and throwing a block to spring Reggie Bush for another, in efforts to get a shot at the Seahawks, who let him go in free agency. Wasn't enough.

Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis: How much longer can this Bengals marriage last? Dalton dropped to 0-4 in the playoffs after another uninspired performance (in fairness, he didn't have No. 1 weapon A.J. Green). Lewis fell to 0-6 in postseason, tied for worst in league history among head coaches, and remained unable to give Cincinnati its first playoff victory since 1990. Mike Brown may be the most loyal owner in the league, but at some point he may 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 Big Ben, who was sacked five times and picked off twice as the Ravens devoured Pittsburgh's one-dimensional offense, which produced just 68 rushing yards sans Bell.

Trent Richardson: The Indianapolis tailback did not start because of illness and, ultimately, never touched the ball. GM Ryan Grigson's trade for the former Browns first rounder now 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 — 78 yards. That's a playoff record-low 78 yards, not to mention an average of 1.7 yards per play. Eventually, and most likely in postseason, not having your top tailback or top two quarterbacks is going to catch up to you. A remarkable season-long run for Arizona capped by an almost equally remarkable demise.

Phoenix, etc.: Sorry, Phoencians and Arizonans, but you won't be the first to enjoy a Super Bowl featuring the home team.

Steelers O-line: The Pittsburgh front five knew the onus would be on them to power the offense with Bell inactive. But the substitute backs never got going — hard to wholly hang that on the blocking — while 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 just three catches for 31 yards. It certainly wasn't representative of the career for the man who is arguably the greatest Cardinal of all time.

Ed Hochuli: The league's most well-known ref had a rough Saturday afternoon in Charlotte, from a botched coin toss to an open mic revealing inside officiating jokes.

New England Patriots: The Ravens, who have won 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.

Carolina Panthers: At a collective 8-8-1, you're finally back to even, fellas. Congratulations. Your reward? A trip to Seattle. Better not get used to being .500 for long.

***

Follow Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis