NFL Playoffs 2012: 11 Players Most Responsible for Teams' Early Exits

The NFL Wild Card Weekend is over, as four teams have been bounced from the road to the Super Bowl. 

In a shock to me (and most people), all of the home teams wound up winning on Wild Card Weekend—the first time this has happened since 2006.

While some home wins were expected (Saints over Lions), others surprised some (Giants throttling the Falcons, and it's the fact that the Giants destroyed Atlanta that's the real surprise, not the victory) while one surprised everybody (if you're not a Broncos fan or Skip Bayless and you thought the Broncos would beat the Steelers before the game started, please stop lying, that's a sin). 

But what players could you say were the most responsible for each team's early exit among the Bengals, Lions, Falcons and Steelers? Could you even say it's one player, or did the team just quit? 

And along with focusing on the players on each team that lost, why not look at a player on the opposing team that made said loss possible? 

I've decided to do that in this look back on a surprising but for the most part thrilling NFL Wild Card Weekend. 

Andy Dalton's Interceptions Sent the Bengals Back to the Cage in Cincinnati

Andy Dalton was trusted with the game by Cincinnati early and often. 

Dalton went 27-of-42 and threw for 257 yards.

Unfortunately for the best Ginger in the NFL today, none of those 27 completions or 257 yards went for touchdowns. Also of note, three interceptions—and one of those did go for a touchdown. 

Dalton had the chance to guide the Bengals to their first playoff victory since 1990 (ironically against the Houston Oilers). But instead he played horribly when the Bengals could ill afford him to. 

The turning point of the game was his interception from his own 34 with less than two minutes to go. 

With the game tied, Dalton attempted a short pass to AJ Green. However, the pass would instead be caught by JJ Watt, who would return it for the touchdown and give Houston the 17-10 lead. 

After that, the Texans wouldn't relinquish the lead, scoring 21 unanswered points, while Dalton would throw two more interceptions in the second half. Houston would come out victorious 31-10. 

However don't fret for Mr. Dalton—he's in good company along with John Elway, Dan Marino, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers as quarterbacks who lost in their first playoff game.

Each of those players would later go on to the Super Bowl, with four of them winning it. The Bengals are here to stay, so next season Dalton might have the opportunity to redeem himself. 

JJ Watt's Interception Return for a Touchdown Turned the Game in Houston's Favor

JJ Watt embodied the Texans defense on Saturday afternoon. 

In addition to his game-turning interception to end the first half, Watt would sack Dalton once, deflect one of his passes and get two tackles of his own. 

Watt is as responsible as any Texan for the Bengals going home, and it wasn't just what he did (impressive enough as it is) but also the fact that he was always around the ball and struck fear into Dalton and the Bengals offense. 

Johnathan Joseph Locks Bengals AJ Green Up, Helps Texans Ride to Victory

For Johnathan Joseph, the task was simple in theory, but tough in execution—stop Bengals rookie AJ Green. 

At first, Green had come alive with four catches for 42 yards in the first half.

But after that, Green would wind up with only one more catch, going for five yards. In total, Green had five catches for 47 yards. 

But he would not reach the end zone at all on Saturday. Instead, Dalton would wait for Green to get open, but it never came to pass.

The man covering AJ Green: Johnathan Joseph.

Joseph would not only cover Green all day and hold him to his stat line, but he would also deflect two passes, make one tackle for a loss and record an interception during the game. 

A great game by Joseph kept AJ Green quiet and would send the Bengals back home, while the Texans would be on their way to Baltimore. 

Matthew Stafford Was Solid Until His Fourth-Quarter INTs Doomed Lions

Stafford's numbers were much better than Dalton's.

Stafford went 28-of-43 for 380 yards and three touchdowns. 

The only problem is that Stafford also had only one less interception than Dalton had.

The good news is that none of them were returned for touchdowns. 

The bad news is that any turnover against any team is bad. It's even worse when it's against the Saints.

Of course, after a score—unless you attempt (and succeed) to onside kick every time—you eventually have to put the ball back in Drew Brees' hands. You just don't want to do it without scoring and on a turnover, because Brees will turn that interception into points. 

The first one did just that. With Detroit only down 10 in the fourth quarter, Stafford would be picked off by Jabari Greer at the Saints' 39-yard line.

Just four plays later, Brees and New Orleans would score, thus making the game a 38-21 game. 

New Orleans would score twice more after that (with Detroit scoring once), and that's what led to the Saints winning 45-28. 

Despite this, Stafford can't play defense, and had his defense been able to stop the Saints, this is a non-issue. 

But the Lions defense wasn't going to stop New Orleans. They're not built for that. They knew it would be a shootout and had played well for three quarters. Stafford's first interception (he would throw one more with less than four minutes left to Greer once again after the game was already out of hand) was the killer for the Lions, as they wouldn't be able to recover from that. 

Add Stafford to the same illustrious list that Dalton joined, and much like the Bengals, look out for Detroit next season. 

Drew Brees and His Mastery of the Forward Pass Tame the Lions

There comes a point when you just run out of superlatives to describe someone. 

With Drew Brees, I've reached that point. 

I can give you the stats: 33-of-43 for 466 yards, three touchdowns and a 134.4 QB rating. And I can give you the results: New Orleans 45, Detroit 28. 

But how about the fact that he had the Saints clicking to such a degree that he is actually partially responsible for Stafford's interceptions?

Those picks came when Detroit had no other choice but to play catch-up. Detroit's defense wasn't stopping Brees—all you can do is hope to outscore him. 

Note to San Francisco: your defense better have what it takes to stop the Saints.

If you do, you'll have a chance, and if you don't, might as well not show up on Saturday afternoon. For there's no way that you can expect Alex Smith and the 49ers offense to keep up with New Orleans' offense if they're playing like this. None. 

And I'm not saying that the 49ers can't beat the Saints—they can.

I'm just saying that their defense better not let the game become a shootout, because with the Saints offense performing this well, a shootout turns into a blowout in the span of a quarter. 

Just ask Detroit, down only one possession going into the fourth quarter. 

Matt Ryan Did Nothing, Hence Atlanta Flies South After a Giant Beatdown

Why would I put Matt Ryan on this list? He didn't do anything. 

Oh wait, that's exactly why he would be on this list.

When you're your team's starting quarterback, your job is to perform when the rest of the team doesn't.

The Falcons should have beaten the Giants.

They went into their game against the Giants as a better team running the ball and better against the run. They should have won. 

But they didn't, and while their defense and running game did them no favors, neither did Matt Ryan. 

But the real blame goes to head coach Mike Smith. 

Why is Matt Ryan going for a quarterback sweep when you have Michael Turner?

Actually, me blaming Ryan takes some of the blame off of Michael Turner. Let me get to him. 

Michael Turner a Giant Letdown Against New York

There, much better—someone more to blame for Atlanta's issues against the Giants. 

Michael Turner is a workhorse. During the regular season, the Falcons running back rushed for 1,340 yards and 11 touchdowns on 301 attempts.

Yes, he went into the game nursing a groin injury, but during the pregame warmups, Turner looked good to go. 

Oh, good to go he was. Good to go for 41 yards on 15 carries.

That's 2.7 yards per carry. Not very good when you're supposed to be the workhorse. 

Now, it wasn't his decision to not have his number called on both 4th-and-inches in which they attempted a Matt Ryan quarterback sneak, but his performance against the Giants might have had something to do with said decisions. 

Atlanta is a team in trouble right now.

If they don't win a playoff game next season, or worse, fail to make the playoffs, then don't expect Mike Smith to be their head coach any longer. 

This team has been very good in the regular season with four consecutive winning seasons and three out of four playoff seasons since Smith took over in 2008, but zero playoff wins plus losing a game that was a good matchup for them this season has made this team look like a disappointment. 

Mike Smith's Play-Calling Blunders Also Shoot Down the Falcons Mid-Flight

Mike Smith's failure in the playoffs is likely to put him alongside Norv Turner, Andy Reid, Lovie Smith and Rex Ryan on my 2012 "Which Coach's Seat is The Hottest?" slideshow (coming August, 2012).  

Smith has gone 44-20 as Falcons head coach and made franchise history by becoming the first Falcons head coach to have four consecutive winning seasons and two straight playoff appearances (he's had three in his first four years with the team). 

However, Smith is 0-4 in the playoffs, and part of that has to do with his play-calling. 

I already covered how terrible Michael Turner was. However, Smith abandoned the running game too early, instead opting to rely a little too much on quarterback Matt Ryan. 

It's one thing to do that when behind, but not on 4th-and-1. Smith decided to run a quarterback sneak on 4th-and-1 in lieu of using either Turner or Jason Snelling (who on the day rushed twice for seven yards).

To do this one time is one thing—you tried and you failed. To do it twice is insane (the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, to quote Albert Einstein). 

Smith's play-calling in general left much to be desired. He had the stronger running game and the stronger run defense. Stats proved this.

But whose team got run over? His. Whose team couldn't stop the run? His. 

Whose team is watching the divisional round from home next weekend? Here's a hint—not the Giants. 

Ike Taylor Can't Handle Tebow, Specifically Demaryius Thomas

Four receptions for 204 yards and the game-winning touchdown. 

"What are numbers you only see in either high school football with a five-star senior or while playing with the Saints or Packers in Madden while it's on 'Rookie'?" 

If this were Jeopardy and that was your answer, you'd be correct. 

Well partially, you also left out "What were Demaryius Thomas' final numbers on Sunday?" 

Because those were Thomas' numbers.

Look at who he's stiff-arming in the picture: Ike Taylor.

Who was covering him all game? Ike Taylor. 

Would Ryan Clark have helped? Definitely. But the Steelers knew this would be a problem. It's not like this is the first time we've known about Clark's condition.

Pittsburgh should have come in prepared, and in a way they did. 

But Taylor got burned like by Thomas quicker than a fire in the Florida Everglades during dry season, and Thomas' stiff-arm on him would likely be the defining play of the Steelers-Broncos game. 

You know, if anyone else were at quarterback at the time. 

Big Ben and the Steelers Offensive Line Gave Tebow, Broncos a Chance

The Steelers offensive line did well with their running attack.

Despite the absence of Rashard Mendenhall, backup running back Issac Redman was able to contribute 121 yards on 17 carries to lead Pittsburgh's rushing attack. 

But the offensive line failed when they were needed the most: on Pittsburgh's last drive—and Roethlisberger himself is partially responsible as well. 

The Steelers O-Line allowed Roethlisberger to be sacked three times on the final drive, and for the game he was sacked five times and knocked down six times.

Roethlisberger also had seven passes deflected during the game and had a rough time in the pocket all day.

But it was in the final drive when this came to a head, as the Steelers, who had started off the drive at the Pittsburgh 24 with 1:37 left, only had to really travel about 40 yards to get into field-goal range. 

The first sack resulted in a loss of four yards. After that, the Steelers would get down to the Denver 45 thanks to two good completions by Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders.

However, he would then meet Elvis Dumervil on the next play, and Dumervil would not only sack Roethlisberger for a loss of 11, but also force a fumble.

Roethlisberger recovered, but the damage was done, as on fourth down the Steelers would find themselves going for it, and Roethlisberger would again get sacked on what was to be a Hail Mary attempt with time winding down. 

The Steelers wouldn't touch the ball again this season. 

But you have to give credit where credit is due, which is why even the winning teams are represented in this slideshow (save for the Giants, who put on a great collective effort and will be a real challenge to Green Bay on Sunday).

This leads to...

Tim Tebow Does Tim Tebow Things, "Steels" Victory from Pittsburgh

Tebow's numbers on Sunday: 10-of-21 for 316 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions (zero turnovers) and a quarterback rating of 125.6.

That's Tebow passing. Rushing the ball, Tebow had 10 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown. 

Wait, those look more like Michael Vick numbers. 

Tebow was responsible for 366 yards of offense and all three of Denver's touchdowns—in a playoff game, against a team favored by many to win. 

If that doesn't say clutch, I don't know what does.

So sure, I blame Roethlisberger on the Steelers' side for getting sacked, and throwing a pick that led to a Denver score, and his offensive line for allowing him to be sacked.

But in the end, if Tebow doesn't put on a spectacular performance, the Steelers are on their way to New England just as everyone expected them to at the beginning of the week. 

Tebow is the reason the Steelers' season is over. That's the end of the story. 

Great slate ahead next week, and like many of you, I'll be watching and enjoying it.