Some winners and losers from the NFL's wild-card weekend:
WINNER: Houston Texans QB Brock Osweiler You think he knows the Broncos didn’t score 27 points in the playoffs once last last season? We bet he does.
LOSERS: Oakland Raiders WRs When given a chance to help their rookie third-string quarterback ... they dropped it ... then dropped it again.
WINNER: Pittsburgh Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell Once again proves why he is the best running back in the league. Not a bad way to start his postseason career.
LOSER: Concussion protocol Miami Dolphins QB Matt Moore takes that vicious hit and is allowed to return after just one play?
WINNERS: Fans The weekend marked the end of games ESPN color commentator Jon Gruden will work this season.
LOSERS: Fans Can you remember a worse wild-card weekend?
WINNER: Seattle Seahawks RB Thomas Rawls How far can the refreshed runner carry Seattle? We’re about to find out.
LOSERS: Referees They’re not very good even when the normal crews work during the regular season. Even worse when they split up the crews for the playoffs.
WINNER: Texans DE Jadeveon Clowney A bust? He shows a national television audience he is anything but and has turned into a force.
LOSER: Raiders T Menelik Watson If Clowney looked so good, a Raiders lineman had to look bad. We bring you up, Mr. Watson.
WINNER: Seattle assistant Tom Cable The Seahawks offensive line coach is being considered by some for their head coaching opening — 177 rushing yards aided by his patchwork O-line doesn’t hurt.
LOSER: Miami assistant Vance Joseph The Dolphins defensive coordinator remains a hot coaching candidate, but this couldn’t have helped.
WINNER: Atlanta Falcons They get a chance to make amends for that loss to the Seahawks, who were helped immensely by the non-call against Richard Sherman
LOSER: Dolphins CB Tony Lippett Blown coverages and a key offside penalty during a field-goal attempt late in third quarter allowed the Steelers to score a touchdown to all but ice the game.
WINNER: Seahawks WR Paul Richardson Did you even know who he was before Saturday? And now you have seen his one-handed TD catch about 100 times, haven’t you?
LOSER: Oakland assistant Ken Norton Jr. When you are the Raiders defensive coordinator, and there are whispers about Wade Phillips, you don’t want to give up 27 points to Osweiler.
WINNER: Oakland QB Derek Carr People knew the Raiders star had a good season. Maybe they didn’t realize how good until they saw the offense without him.
LOSER: New York Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. We think the whole boat trip criticism is overrated. But it provided optics. And that doesn’t look good when you come up small in the playoffs.
WINNER: Green Packers WR Randall Cobb Think Aaron Rodgers was happy to see him back in uniform?
LOSER: Steelers coach Mike Tomlin Hard to call the winning coach a “loser,” but the decision to leave QB Ben Roethlisberger in a game that was over led to an ankle injury. Have to be smarter than that.
