10 Takeaways from NFL Wild Card Weekend

After NFL Wild Card Weekend, only eight teams remain with an opportunity to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in Arizona next month. While it wasn’t a stellar weekend of football by any stretch of the imagination, some pretty interesting drama unfolded throughout the weekend.

From the 7-8-1 Carolina Panthers completely shutting down the Arizona Cardinals in a record-setting performance to the Baltimore Ravens going into Pittsbrugh and laying the hammer down against the AFC North champions, we learned a lot about some of the playoff teams around the league.

Here is our look at 10 takeaways from NFL’s Wild Card Weekend.

1. The Seattle Seahawks will Coast to the NFC Championship Game

You have to imagine that Seattle was rooting for Dallas to pull off the home win on Sunday, especially after watching the dumpster fire of a football game between the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals on Saturday. With the Cowboys win, Seattle will now play host to a Panthers squad that finished the regular season with a 7-8-1 record instead of a tough Lions team that won 11 games during the regular year.

In reality, Detroit would have been a pretty tough matchup for Pete Carroll’s squad. Its pass-rush heavy defensive scheme could have made life much more difficult for Russell Wilson and company. Even with Carolina’s defensive performance against an injury-riddled Cardinals offense, it’s hard to imagine the NFC South champions going into CenturyLink and making much of a dent.

2. It Will be At Least a Quarter Century Between Cincinnati Bengals Playoff Wins

Courtesy of Bengals.com: Cincinnati simply can't seem to pick its game up when it matters the most.

By virtue of its horrendous display on Sunday against Andrew Luck and the Colts, Cincinnati still hasn’t won a playoff game since 1991. To put that into perspective, Andy Dalton was three years old the last time this organization accomplished that feat.

As it relates to Dalton, he will surely be blamed for a fourth consecutive playoff loss to start his career. But the enigmatic signal caller was already behind the proverbial eight-ball heading into Sunday’s playoff game. A.J. Green and Jermaine Gresham, the team’s two top pass catchers during the regular season, were inactive. That’s not necessarily an ideal scenario against a high-octane Colts offense. The larger question at hand here has to be head coach Marvin Lewis, who simply hasn’t led this team to contention status during an era in which Cincinnati boasts the most talent since its Super Bowl years of the 1980’s.

3. NFL’s Product Was Lacking This Weekend

Prior to the close outing between Dallas and Detroit on Sunday evening, the first weekend of NFL Playoff action left a lot to be desired. Carolina and Arizona matched up in a game that had a closer resemblance to a preseason opener than a postseason outing. Although hard hitting, Baltimore and Pittsburgh didn’t necessarily live up to the hype. And in reality, the Colts-Bengals game wasn’t much better.

While Dallas and Detroit may have saved Wild Card Weekend around the NFL, the sad fact is that we weren’t privy to the close initial-round matchups that we had seen in previous seasons. Unfortunately, this may lead the league into believing that more playoff teams is the long-term solution.

4. Fans Get Manning-Luck Bowl, Part 1.0

Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. The old guard versus the new guard. Mr. Indianapolis going up against a player that could one day overtake him in the Colts record books. The two matching up for the first time in postseason action. The storylines in anticipation of this matchup promise to annoy us during the week. But make no mistake about it, both quarterbacks are thinking about this game. Both realize that there is a whole heck of a lot on the line.

For Luck, it’s his chance to prove that he can lead the Colts to the AFC Championship game. For Manning, it’s all about showing Colts owner Jim Irsay and the rest of the organization what they are missing. It’s going to be one heck of a football game, ladies and gents.

5. Things Continue to Set Up Nicely for Tom Brady and the Patriots

Not that they weren’t set up nicely prior to the start of the playoffs. But it really is hard to imagine Baltimore going into Gillette Stadium and beating a rested Patriots squad. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco would have to continue his ridiculous January play and the team’s defense would have to match the performance we saw Saturday night in Pittsburgh. If one of these two things don’t happen, the Patriots will be punching their ticket to yet another AFC Championship game. That’s what you get for winning home-field advantage in the playoffs.

6. Arizona Cardinals’ Injuries Doom a Surprising Season

Courtesy of AZCardinals.com: Larry Fitzgerald was left helpless as his top two quarterbacks were sidelined.

Let’s face some reality here. Every single team in the NFL can point to injuries as playing a major role during a given season. Pittsburgh was without star running back Le’Veon Bell. Cincinnati was missing Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green. Both lost.

The issue with clumping all injuries together is that one position (quarterback) is more valuable in today’s NFL than any other. This was quite evident as Ryan Lindley attempted to play the role of quarterback for the Cardinals on Saturday. Going up against a stout Panthers defense, Lindley led the Cardinals offense to the worst yardage output in the history of the NFL Playoffs.

Despite this, Arizona remained in the game until Carolina racked up two third quarter touchdowns to take the lead for good. This really makes us wonder whether the Cardinals would have lost if either Carson Palmer or Drew Stanton were able to suit up. While neither are at the top of their profession, the complete lack of actual quarterbacking ability on Saturday really did doom the Cardinals chances. As much as that, Arizona was also without star running back Andre Ellington, who could have made a big difference in Carolina.

7. Time to Stop with the Tony Romo Narrative 

With a win next week against the Green Bay Packers, Romo will find himself with just a couple less playoff wins than Aaron Rodgers. His team is undefeated on the road this season. He has the most fourth quarter comebacks in the NFL over the past two seasons. He has been one of the least intercepted quarterbacks in the NFL during that span. And yes, Romo is among the most underrated players in the NFL.

Dallas may have received some help from the officials on Sunday, but it did the job when it counted the most. Down by three points with about a half quarter remaining, Romo led the Cowboys down the field for the game-winning touchdown in a January football game. This spits in the face of the played-out narrative that the veteran signal caller struggles in crunch time. And now going up against the Packers in Lambeau, Romo has an opportunity to show the entire world that he is among the best quarterbacks in the NFL. If nothing else, Sunday’s game puts him squarely in that conversation.

8. Trent Richardson is Done

The former top-five pick didn’t attempt a single rush attempt and failed to see the field in the Colts win over Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon. This came on the heels of him being listed on the injury report late in the week due to an illness. But the reality is that Indianapolis simply benched Richardson in lieu of a talent-stricken running back by the name of Dan Herron, who helped the Colts put up 114 yards on 25 attempts. It was this type of balance that allowed Luck to avoid the mistakes that plagued him throughout the season.

The question now becomes whether Indianapolis will retain Richardson in the offseason. Since coming over from the Cleveland Browns in a trade early in the 2013 season, Richardson is averaging just 3.1 yards per attempts in 29 games. He’s been among the biggest busts at the running back position we have seen in some time. And by virtue of Indianapolis’ rush attack on Sunday, it’s possible that he’s played his last game for the organization.

9. Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh Continue Near Unprecedented Postseason Success

Courtesy of NFL.com: Is this the newest quarterback-head coach dynamo?

John Harbaugh is now tied with Bill Walsh at 10-4 during the postseason. All 14 of those games have one thing in common, Joe Flacco has been his starting quarterback. After a solid two-touchdown performance against Pittsburgh on Saturday evening, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback has now thrown 21 touchdowns compared to eight interceptions in his playoff career.

While stopping short of calling this the new Tom Brady-Bill Belichick, it’s important to note just how much the Ravens up their game when it counts the most.

10. Officiating Has Now Become a Part of the Conversation

The only two times in recent NFL Playoff history that we can point to a game being impacted by officials more than the Cowboys-Lions matchup on Sunday was the famous “tuck game” between New England and Oakland back in 2001 and Super Bowl XLVII between Baltimore and San Francisco.

Simply put, the officials dropped the ball big time in Dallas’ favor against a Lions team that is now reeling after yet another playoff loss. With Detroit possessing the football and three points ahead of Dallas midway through the fourth quarter, the officials called pass interference on Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens. But after announcing the penalty, the call was reversed. This forced Detroit into a punting situation, and four minutes later Tony Romo hit Terrance Williams for the game-winning touchdown.

It would be utterly foolish to say that the officiating cost Detroit this game. But it would be equally foolish to say that it didn’t play a role in the outcome. Without many answers outside of actually being able to review penalties, this could continue to be a long-term issue around the NFL. More than that, it could become a big issue as these playoffs continue.

Photo: Dallas Cowboys

An editor here at Sportsnaut. Contributor at Forbes. Previous bylines include Bleacher Report, Yahoo!, SB Nation. Heard on ESPN ... More about Vincent Frank

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