Matchups to Watch For: NFL Wild Card Weekend

On Saturday, the No. 5 seed Arizona Cardinals will take on the No. 4 Carolina Panthers to lead off Wild Card Weekend. Later that day, the No. 6 Baltimore Ravens will face the No. 3 Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC North showdown. 

The action will continue Sunday with the No. 5 Cincinnati Bengals facing the No. 4 Indianapolis Colts, before the No. 6 Detroit Lions square off against the No. 3 Dallas Cowboys to determine which teams will advance to the second round. 

Season-long storylines will be on feature this weekend, some coming to a head and costing a team its chance at making a run for the Lombardi Trophy, while other teams will keep up their winning ways. Can the Cardinals continue to win games in spite of their rotating quarterback carousel? Will Andy Dalton and the Bengals finally advance past the Wild Card round after three consecutive losses? And do the Ravens have a chance of stopping the seemingly unstoppable Antonio Brown?

Let's take a look at eight compelling matchups that will be on display during Wild Card Weekend and break down the implications they will have on each team's chances of advancing. 

Steelers WR Antonio Brown vs. Ravens Secondary

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In 2014, Antonio Brown has become one of the NFL's best playmakers. The 5'10" receiver has set career highs in receiving yards (1,698) and touchdowns (13) while emerging as Ben Roethlisberger's go-to weapon. 

Brown has received the far majority of snaps for a Steelers wide receiver this season: his 1,085, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required) is 325 more than Pittsburgh's second-most used pass-catcher, Markus Wheaton. 

He has also blown games open with his punt return skills. 

Now, the player who has been the key factor in multiple Pittsburgh wins this season will face the Baltimore Ravens' 24th-ranked passing defense, and whether that unit can slow him could be the key to Baltimore's hopes of beating Pittsburgh.

The last time Brown faced Baltimore, he had 11 receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. 

The Ravens haven't allowed an opposing receiver more than 100 yards since Keenan Allen in Week 13. They'll need to do the same to Brown on Saturday if they hope to advance past Wild Card Weekend. 

Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray vs. Lions Front 7

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In Week 17, as if there were any doubts he wouldn't, DeMarco Murray broke the Dallas Cowboys' single-season rushing record, ending the season with 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns, a career high. 

Murray's 392 attempts were far and away the most he's had in a single year, in the first season of his career he has been healthy enough to play a full 16 games. With Tony Romo starting the season recovering from a back injury, the Cowboys adjusted their offense to spotlight Murray—and did he ever deliver.

Now, he'll look to keep his incredible season going against the Detroit Lions and their vaunted No. 1 rushing defense. To end the regular season, Detroit allowed an average of just 69.3 rushing yards per game, while Murray was amassing an astounding 115.3. 

Something has to give in that matchup, and surely whichever side wins out will have an enormous effect on the outcome of this game, as holding off Dallas' rushing attack could push the Lions toward victory so long as Matthew Stafford doesn't make any costly mistakes. 

But with the threat of Romo's arm and potential big-time connections between him and favorite target Dez Bryant, Detroit won't be able to commit all its defenders to loading up the box against Murray, and that could mean trouble for the Lions. 

Lions Pass Rush vs. Cowboys Offensive Line

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If Detroit's front seven can't stop DeMarco Murray, it will absolutely need to disrupt Tony Romo early and often in order for the Lions to advance past the Cowboys to the second round of the playoffs.

Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranks Detroit's pass rush ninth in the NFL—not as strong as its No. 1 run defense, but certainly formidable. At the close of the regular season, the Lions had 42 total sacks on the season, coming in eighth place. They also have 93 passes defended and have been adept at getting after opposing quarterbacks all season. 

Romo, on the other hand, has taken just 30 sacks this year, the 16th-most among quarterbacks. Dallas' offensive line has done a fine job keeping him upright this season, especially important in light of his back surgeries last offseason.

Pro Football Focus gave Dallas' offensive line a Pass Blocking Efficiency grade, which measures pressures per snap allowed, of 84.2, the fifth-highest in the league during the regular season.

Thus, as the matchup between Murray and Detroit's run defense will be decidedly evenly matched, so too will the one between the Lions pass rush and Dallas' offensive line. It's another matchup that could decide the outcome of the game, depending on which unit outperforms the other. 

Panthers WR Kelvin Benjamin vs. Cardinals Secondary

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Kelvin Benjamin closed out the regular season as the Carolina Panthers' clear top receiver; his 73 receptions were close to twice that of Jerricho Cotchery's. 

But though he's been Cam Newton's favorite target, Benjamin isn't playing at the level of a No. 1 receiver—yet. His 11 dropped passes on the season, per Pro Football Focus' (subscription required) count up to be the second-most among all wide receivers.

He had two drops in the Week 17 contest against the Atlanta Falcons, including one that would have been a 40-yard completion. He was targeted five times in the game and caught just one pass. 

Benjamin has had three games of 100-plus yards this season, and the Panthers will need him to have a fourth on Saturday when they take on the Arizona Cardinals. Cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Patrick Peterson have both allowed opposing receivers catch rates under 60 percent this season: 59.3 for Cromartie and 56.8 for Peterson, per Pro Football Focus. 

Both also have three interceptions on the season,and have allowed opposing quarterbacks ratings of less than 100 when throwing into their coverage. 

But both corners can be torched by strong receiver play; we've seen that happen this season against opponents like Julio Jones and Dez Bryant. Arizona has steadily been decreasing how many passing yards per game they've been allowing this season, but they still finished at an average of 260.

Benjamin may not be a No. 1 receiver yet in the NFL, but the Panthers will need him to play like one going up against Arizona.

Bengals Pass Rush vs. Colts QB Andrew Luck

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Will the Cincinnati Bengals be able to get any kind of pressure at all on Andrew Luck Sunday? Pro Football Focus (subscription required) grades the Bengals pass rush as the worst in the NFL, while Luck is one of the better quarterbacks at using his legs to escape pressure. 

Luck has been sacked just 27 times in 2014, 22nd among all quarterbacks. And that's not for lack of quality opponents—this season, the Colts have faced the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles, all teams with top-five pass rushes, per Pro Football Focus. 

The Bengals, by contrast, had just 20 sacks in 2014. Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston has 22 on the season alone. 

Carlos Dunlap leads Cincinnati...with eight. 

If Cincinnati can't stop Luck, it won't matter how well Andy Dalton plays, or whether A.J. Green clears concussion protocol. They need to get pressure on the passer to even think about advancing to the second round of the playoffs. 

Panthers Run Game vs. Cardinals Front Seven

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Led by Jonathan Stewart who finished the regular season with 809 rushing yards, averaging 4.6 yards per carry, the Carolina Panthers currently boast the league's No. 7 rushing offense heading into Wild Card Weekend. 

Stopping Stewart, of course, isn't the only thing the Arizona Cardinals will need to worry about on Saturday. Cam Newton added another 539 yards to Carolina's rushing total on the season, helping propel them to the top 10 in that category. 

Newton has also rushed for five touchdowns in 2014, two more than Stewart, the team's leading halfback.

Arizona's run defense, meanwhile, has fallen to 13th in the league—nothing to sneeze at, certainly, but notably worse than the unit's start to the season. After finishing the 2013 season ranked No. 1 against the run, the Cardinals were off to the same lofty start in 2014, only to fall down the rankings as technical mistakes and injuries had their effect on the unit. 

In the first eight games of the season, the Cardinals allowed opponents to rush for more than 100 yards in a game just once. In the second half of the season, it happened five times—including the first and only two games of the season with more than 200 rushing yards per game allowed in Weeks 16 and 17. 

If the Panthers are going to best the Cardinals, they're going to look to do it on the ground. The team's leading receiver, Kelvin Benjamin, is still struggling with drops, and while Carolina will look to remain two-dimensional on offense, Stewart and Newton may be able to exploit Arizona's unit. 

Bengals QB Andy Dalton vs. Himself

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Andy Dalton may not only be his own worst enemy heading into his fourth consecutive Wild Card game, but he may be the Cincinnati Bengals' as well. 

Just take a look at the splits between Dalton's regular season performance and his playoff appearances. His regular-season completion percentage is 61.60; in his playoff showings, that falls to 56.91 percent, per Pro-Football-Reference.com. 

Though in the regular season, his touchdown-to-interception ratio is 3-to-2 (99 touchdowns to 66 interceptions), in the playoffs that falls to 1-to-6 (one touchdown to six interceptions over three games). 

Dalton has had his share of struggles in the regular season, but his playoff performances, accounting for the difference in quantity of games, are even worse. Whether the Bengals advance past the Wild Card Round for the first time in four years on Sunday will largely depend on him.

And it won't be easy. The Indianapolis Colts enter the matchup ranked third in total offense and 11th in total defense. The Bengals, meanwhile, are 15th in total offense and 22nd in total defense. 

Dalton can't control how well the Bengals defense performs against the Colts, but he can help: by playing at a higher level, Dalton can keep Andrew Luck off the field, and that may be the key to winning this game for Cincinnati. 

Cardinals QB Ryan Lindley vs. Panthers Pass Rush

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Unless Drew Stanton regains his health quickly, Ryan Lindley will make his first career playoff start and only his third start of the 2014 season. 

He will face a Carolina Panthers pass rush that grades out at 15th in the league by Pro Football Focus (subscription required)—not a terrifying prospect, but certainly a strong enough unit to cause some serious disruptions. 

In his three regular-season games, Lindley went 45-of-93 for 562 yards, two touchdowns (both of which were thrown Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers) and four interceptions. 

That's a completion percentage of 48.4 and a passer rating of 56.8. And yet it is Lindley who must overcome the Panthers' front seven, not to mention their No. 11 passing defense, and lead the Cardinals, once favorites to make the NFC championship earlier this season, past the Wild Card Round. 

Carolina is 13th in the league in total sacks on the season with 40, while the Cardinals offensive line has allowed just 14 sacks on the season (not counting sacks attributed to the quarterback or primary blocker on a given snap if not an offensive lineman, per Pro Football Focus.  

That's the seventh-fewest sacks an offensive line has allowed this year on any team. 

If that offensive line can keep Lindley protected and keep him upright, and if the Cardinals can get a ground game going, maybe he has a chance of leading this team past the Panthers and into the second round of the playoffs. But if he throws three interceptions again on Saturday, as he did in Week 17, he might give this game away.