Romo's Clutch Performance, Suggs' Clutching Knees Highlight Wild Card Weekend

Cowboys, Panthers, Colts and Ravens advance to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.

NFL wild-card weekend is over, with the Panthers, Ravens, Colts and Cowboys advancing to the divisional round of the postseason. In the process, there were some clear winners and losers in the postseason’s first weekend:

WINNERS

Terrell Suggs: Ravens’ stellar linebacker not only had a big game, helping Baltimore top the Steelers 30-17, to advance to play the Patriots next weekend, but made one of the more memorable playoff interceptions in recent seasons, catching a ball with his knees as he fell to the ground after a pass from Ben Roethlisberger initially went through his hands.  The interception helped set up a second-half TD that sealed the Baltimore win. Ravens coach John Harbaugh told The Balitmore Sun: “It was the greatest catch in football. You’ll never see a greater catch.”

Tony Romo: He’s been branded as erratic and a failure in big games through his Cowboys career, and was saddled with a 1-3 playoff record going into Sunday’s game against the Lions. But Romo was brilliant in the second half in leading Dallas to a 24-20 comeback win over the Lions. After a terrific regular season, Romo still had an encore left and lived up to his offseason promise that the best part of his career was still ahead. He led the Cowboys to two TDs and a field goal in the third and fourth quarters.

NFL fans: How sweet is a Peyton Manning-Andrew Luck matchup for fans who like an extra story line (and plenty of offense) with their games? Very. Indianapolis’ win over Cincinnati sets up a nice playoff duel between the ex-Colt and current Bronco Manning and his replacement, Luck, in the divisional round.

LOSERS

Andy Dalton and the Bengals: Before their game against the Colts on Sunday, Cincinnati offensive coordinator Hue Jackson talked about his team’s recent string of horrible playoff performances and said, “We have to exorcise the elephant in the room.” Instead, the pachyderm won again. Cincinnati’s fourth straight playoff loss, 26-10, was another disappointment. And, Cincy QB Andy Dalton tied the dubious record of former Giants great Y.A. Tittle by losing the fourth straight playoff game to start his career. With the game still in reach, the Bengals punted on five straight possessions to start the second half. For Dalton, the loss also hurts his bank account. A clause in his new contract earns him $1 million per season if he can get his team to the division round while playing 80 percent of his team’s snaps. Ouch.

Ben Roethlisberger: Nobody was harder on the Steelers QB than Roethlisberger. After the loss to Baltimore — in which he completed 31 passes for 334 yards and stayed in the game even after suffering a neck injury — he put the blame for the defeat on his shoulders. Pittsburgh could muster just one TD and Big Ben was picked off twice and took five sacks. “I wish I could apologize individually to everybody because I didn’t play well enough,” he said. “I didn’t play well enough to win.”

Cardinals' offense: Arizona went 11-5 in the regular season but entered the postseason with two arms tied behind its back. No. 1 and No. 2 QBs Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton were both sidelined, leaving the offense in the hands of third-stringer Ryan Lindley. Unfortunately for Arizona, that left the Cards essentially unarmed against a strong Carolina defense. The Panthers sacked Lindley four times, intercepted him twice and held Arizona to just 77 total yards, a record for the fewest allowed in a playoff game.

NFL officiating crew: There were a number of questionable calls all weekend, but the non-interference call on Dallas linebacker Anthony Hitchens late in the game against Detroit tight end Brandon Pettigrew was ugly. Officials threw the flag, then picked it up … and it proved to be a huge boost for the Cowboys in their Sunday rally to a victory.

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