NFL Wild Card Sunday: Takeaways from Miami vs. Pittsburgh and NY vs. Green Bay

Wild Card Weekend is complete.

One day after the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks won at home in convincing fashion, four more teams took to frigid playing fields Sunday to determine the final two participants in the divisional round.

It may have been cold in Pittsburgh, but the Steelers came out smoking-hot in their 30-12 dismantling of the Miami Dolphins. Whether it was a Pittsburgh offense that racked up over 200 yards in the first quarter alone or a defense that forced three turnovers, the Steelers rolled to an emphatic win in a weekend filled with them.

The final game of Wild Card Weekend followed the blowout theme. Both the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants were cold offensively early in their game at Lambeau Field. But while the Giants stayed mired in that deep freeze, the Packers got hot through the air in a 38-13 rout.

Now that we know who's playing next week and where, let's take a look back at what we learned from Sunday's wild-card showdowns.

No Rust for Rested Steelers on Offense

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Given the injuries that have beset the Pittsburgh Steelers late in recent seasons, it was hardly a surprise when head coach Mike Tomlin rested his three-headed monster of offensive stars in Week 17.

However, it was fair to wonder if quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, tailback Le'Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown would come out of the gate a bit slow after taking last week off.

That question was answered with a resounding "no" in the first quarter of Sunday's beatdown.

The Steelers' first two drives ended with long scoring strikes to Brown of 50, then 62 yards. The third featured a 25-yard scamper from Bell that set up a one-yard score.

Three drives of 80 yards or more. Three touchdowns. And a 20-3 lead that ended this one early.

Roethlisberger had a relatively quiet day, completing only 13 passes for fewer than 200 yards. Five of those completions went to Brown, who finished the day with 124 receiving yards and that pair of touchdowns.

Bell had an even bigger day, setting a franchise record for rushing yards in a postseason game with 167 on 29 carries. Like Brown, Bell found the end zone twice.

Brown told ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler that the trio of superstars used their time away last week to get together and sharpen their skills in anticipation of their first playoff run together.

"To be on the same page with Ben, go over signals and go over play calls and scheme situationally on routes," Brown said.

The Steelers certainly looked sharp on offense early in Sunday's win.

In fact, they cut Miami to pieces.

Outclassed Dolphins Made Far Too Many Mistakes

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Despite the fact the Dolphins downed the Steelers back in Week 6, Miami entered Wild Card Weekend as the biggest underdog.

Apparently with good reason.

With starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill on the shelf with a knee injury, the Matt Moore-led Dolphins came into the game with precious little margin for error.

Miami had to play well against Bell and the Steelers run game. Given that Bell had the best playoff game ever by a Steelers running back, it's safe to say that goal wasn't met.

Meanwhile, just as they did back in October, the Dolphins had to get running back Jay Ajayi going. In that first meeting, Ajayi topped 200 yards on the ground. Sunday, that number fell all the way to 33 yards on 16 carries.

Two yards a pop is the express lane to getting beat. Ten items or fewer.

The Dolphins had to at least hold Brown and the Steelers passing game somewhat in check. Instead, Brown had 100-plus receiving yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter.

Moore's raw stats don't look bad at first glance. The longtime backup misfired on only seven of his 36 attempts and passed for almost 300 yards.

He also turned the ball over on three consecutive drives, including a pair of back-breaking fumbles deep in Pittsburgh territory.

The Dolphins entered Sunday needing a nearly flawless effort to pull off the upset.

They didn't come close.

The Kansas City Chiefs Are in Trouble

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It doesn't exactly strain credulity to imagine that the second-seeded Kansas City Chiefs were pulling for the Dolphins on Sunday.

Had Miami won, the Chiefs would have hosted the nine-win Houston Texans in the divisional round. Now, the Texans will head to Beantown (where the New England Patriots will most likely destroy them), while the Chiefs get the Steelers.

The same Steelers who dropped a 43-14 hammer on the Chiefs in Pittsburgh in Week 4.

Fowler wrote after Sunday's game that it's the Steelers, and not Kansas City, who represent the biggest threat to New England's coronation as AFC champions.

"The Steelers haven't lost a game since they decided to sell out with extra tackles and tight ends and dared teams to beat their running game," he said. "The plan has worked in eight straight games. Not many people would be surprised if that number continues to rise."

It's quite a bit harder to argue with him after Sunday's game. When the Pittsburgh offense operates at this level, it's nearly impossible to defend. Play back and Bell will shred your defense on the ground. Stack the box and Big Ben and Brown will do the same through the air.

The defense did its part, too. Ageless wonder James Harrison now has at least one sack in three straight playoff games after piling up 10 stops, 1.5 sacks and forcing a fumble against the Dolphins. Veteran linebacker Lawrence Timmons exploded for 14 total tackles and a pair of sacks. Batterymate Ryan Shazier added six tackles and an interception.

It was one of Pittsburgh's most complete games of the season—its best since shelling the Chiefs on that Sunday night in October.

If the Steelers fire on all cylinders like that next week at Arrowhead Stadium, they are going to be hard to beat.

Aaron Rodgers Came to Play Sunday

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Over the second half of the 2016 season, there hasn't been a hotter quarterback in the National Football League than Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.

However, for a time against the New York Giants on Sunday, Rodgers was as cold as the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.

The turf got colder as the game wore on.

Rodgers? Not so much.

Rodgers hit on only six of his first 14 passes for 54 yards. Then he remembered he's Aaron Rodgers.

First came a five-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams in the second quarter that gave the Packers a 7-6 lead.

Then came a 42-yard, half-ending Hail Mary rainbow to Randall Cobb that just about broke Twitter.

That was followed by two more scoring strikes to Cobb, as the Packers took clear control of the game. Both Cobb and Adams went over the 100-yard mark, and Rodgers followed that 6-14-54 line by going 19-26-308 with four touchdown passes the rest of the way.

Before the game, Wes Hodkiewicz of the team's website made the case for Rodgers as the NFL's MVP in 2016:

"

He battled hamstring and calf injuries, and yet his play has been flawless down the stretch. Since uttering "run the table," Rodgers has completed 142-of-200 passes (71 percent) for 1,667 yards, 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions. That's a 121.0 passer rating. He set new career-highs in pass attempts (610), completions (401), and rushing yards (369). He also finished the regular season with a league-high 40 touchdowns.

"

Now you can add carving up the Giants defense like a pot roast in the Wild Card Round to that list of achievements.

The New York Offense, on the Other Hand...

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Where the New York Giants are concerned, much of the talk this year has centered on the marked improvement the team made defensively after ranking last in the league in 2016.

For most of the season, that defense helped compensate for an erratic offense that took a step backward this year. An offense Dan Duggan of NJ.com warned could be an issue in the postseason:

"

The Giants' regular-season finale was a repeat of the 15 games that preceded it. Dominant defense, inefficient offense and some grit down the stretch...It's unclear if that formula will be enough to win in the playoffs, but it's obvious that the Giants' defense will need to carry the team in its quest for a fifth Super Bowl title.

"

Sunday in Titletown, it could not.

Sure, Eli Manning came just one yard shy of a 300-yard game through the air, but it was as ugly an almost-300-yard day as you're going to find. Only 23 of Manning's 44 pass attempts found their mark, Manning turned the ball over twice, and his passer rating for the game was an underwhelming 72.1.

Bad Eli showed up.

It didn't help his cause that the Giants run game was essentially nonexistent. Tailbacks Paul Perkins and Rashad Jennings combined for only 59 yards on 15 carries, and no one for the Giants peeled off a run of even 15 yards.

Things weren't any better for star wideout Odell Beckham. Playing in the coldest game of his life, Beckham looked like a man playing in the coldest game of his life. The third-year pro was targeted 11 times, but Beckham had only 28 receiving yards and dropped almost as many passes as he caught.

The Giants just couldn't sustain drives, and after holding up well in the first one-and-a-half quarters, their besieged defense cracked.

Repeatedly.

Green Bay's Win Came at a Price

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The Packers are no doubt all smiles after shelling the Giants. But amid the celebration, there are a couple of causes for concern as the Packers get ready to take on the NFC's No. 1 seed.

The biggest worry is wideout Jordy Nelson. While Adams and Cobb went nuts Sunday, Nelson was quiet, making only a single reception for 13 yards.

That's because Nelson spent most of the afternoon on the sideline wincing after taking a wicked shot to his ribcage in the first half.

As Marc Sessler of NFL.com reported, Nelson, who led the NFL in touchdown receptions in 2016, sat out an offensive series before grabbing a lift to the locker room on a cart. The ninth-year veteran was ruled out for the night at halftime.

Per the team's Twitter account, head coach Mike McCarthy expressed concern for his No. 1 receiver but admitted he has no information regarding the severity of Nelson's injury.

Things look a little better for tailback Ty Montgomery. The converted wide receiver, who has emerged as Green Bay's most reliable runner, had to be helped off the field in the fourth quarter after being awkwardly twisted to the ground by Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas.

Montgomery made it back onto the field toward the end of the win, so there's room for optimism that he'll be OK to face the Dallas Cowboys next week.

The same Cowboys who downed a shorthanded Packers team by two touchdowns at Lambeau Field back in Week 6.

We're in for Some Great Games Next Week

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The Wild Card Round of the 2017 playoffs didn't have much for fans of the little guy. There weren't any upsets, as the higher seeds went 4-0 over the weekend.

However, that lack of a shake-up has an upside, as it sets up some potentially great divisional-round games.

Next Saturday will open with a classic battle of offense vs. defense when the Seattle Seahawks and their Legion of Boom travel east to face the NFL's No. 1 offense in Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons.

After that comes the weekend's version of David vs. Goliath, as the Houston Texans attempt what many have tried but very few have accomplished—to knock off Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

From there, it's off to Kansas City, where the Chiefs will host the Pittsburgh Steelers. Will the Big Ben-Bell-Brown meat grinder be too much for the Chiefs to handle, or will a Kansas City team that's been underestimated most of this year claw out a win?

Then it's off to Big D. The Dallas Cowboys have been one of the NFL's big stories this season, but drawing a white-hot Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers is a tough first playoff game for rookie quarterback Dak Prescott and first-year tailback Ezekiel Elliott.

If you can't find something to be excited about in that slate, check your pulse.