CHARLOTTE, N.C. » Much was made of the Carolina Panthers winning the NFC South division title. How could a team with a losing record make the playoffs while a 10-win team like the Philadelphia Eagles did not? Shouldn’t the NFL overhaul its playoff format?

But the Panthers showed that records do not matter at this stage, as they defeated the Arizona Cardinals in a rain-soaked, mistake-filled wild-card playoff game, 27-16. The Panthers (7-8-1 in the regular season) will now face the Seattle Seahawks or the Green Bay Packers, depending on the outcome of the Dallas Cowboys-Detroit Lions game on Sunday.

The Cardinals, who had the best record in the league for much of the regular season before finishing at 11-5, will return home and wonder how they might have performed if they had fewer injuries.

"We just did the things we needed to do," coach Ron Rivera said of the Panthers, who won a playoff game at home for the first time since the 2003 season. "We caught them at a good time."

Still, the game was not pretty. The Panthers established a solid running attack, but turned the ball over — one interception and one fumbled punt return in the first half — and had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns early in the game. They also missed one field-goal attempt and committed several penalties that stalled drives and gave the Cardinals second chances.

The Cardinals’ defense, which had allowed the fifth-fewest points in the league, did their best to slow thePanthers’ drives and give their offense an opportunity to compete.

But ultimately, the Cardinals offense failed to produce. The pressure, it seemed, also proved too much for Ryan Lindley, the Cardinals’ third-string quarterback who just six weeks ago was living with his grandmother and playing on the San Diego Chargers practice squad.

With an anemic running game, Lindley, who threw his first two career touchdowns just last weekend, had little margin for error. Yet he overthrew receivers and could muster only two completions of more than 10 yards. He failed to scramble out of the pocket on several occasions and was sacked four times. Trailing by 27-14 and presented with a golden opportunity to score after a Panthers’ fumble early in the fourth quarter, Lindley threw an interception that all but ended the Cardinals’ hopes.

The Cardinals finished with only 78 total yards, a record low for an NFL postseason game, and eight first downs. The Panthers amassed 386 total yards.

"We didn’t look great, I don’t think, but our defense was putting us in good positions," Lindley said. "The momentum swung a little bit there in the second half and I think we just kind of pressed to make some plays, and that’s on me."

Although they finished the regular season with four more wins than the Panthers, the Cardinals were 6 1/2-point underdogs largely because they were playing with backups at quarterback, running back and tight end. Cardinals coach Bruce Arians got the most out of his squad, preaching a "Next Man Up" philosophy.

"The end is never fun," Arians said. "You never want a season like this to end especially with some of the great things that this team has accomplished and what they overcame."

During the last month of the season, the Panthers and the Cardinals headed in opposite directions. The Pantherswon their last four games to capture their division and earn a home playoff game despite a losing record. The Cardinals lost four of their last six games, and scored fewer than 20 points in each of their last seven games.

The Panthers’ resurgence is almost as inexplicable. Quarterback Cam Newton, who finished his fourth straight season of more than 3,000 yards passing and 500 yards rushing, missed only one game after sustaining a back injury in a car accident.

"Our big thing was just to get in by hell or high water," Newton said of the Panthers’ late surge. "There were a lot of guys who were happy for the opportunity."

Jonathan Stewart, the longtime Panthers running back who ran for 401 yards total during the team’s four-game winning streak late in the season, racked up 123 yards and a touchdown on Saturday. His biggest runs came in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals defense started to wither.

Carolina jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, thanks to a field goal and a nifty 13-yard touchdown run by Stewart.

But the Cardinals, who failed to put together any sustained drives, scored after the Panthers muffed a punt return. Starting on the Panthers’ 30, the Cardinals moved the ball on short runs and a defensive penalty. After missing wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald alone in the end zone, Lindley hit Darren Fells for a touchdown.

Later in the second quarter, Antonio Cromartie intercepted a Newton pass and returned it 50 yards to thePanthers’ 17-yard line. Cardinals running back Marion Grice fumbled the ball at the goal line, but it was later determined that the ball crossed the line before the ball fell loose. The Cardinals went into the locker room at halftime leading, 14-13.

But in the third quarter, the Panthers ran away with the game. Often starting drives with good field position, they relied on runs by Stewart and running back Fozzy Whittaker, who eluded two tacklers and ran 39 yards for a touchdown on a screen pass.

The Cardinals’ Ted Ginn Jr. then fumbled a kickoff return, which the Panthers recovered at the 3. Newton then hit fullback Mike Tolbert with a 1-yard touchdown pass that seemed to drain whatever wind was left in the Cardinals’ sails.

As sloppy as it was, the Panthers’ victory was a big lift for Newton, a No. 1 draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner. Despite his gaudy statistics in the NFL, he has been criticized for his inconsistent play. But after the game, he dismissed those who said the Panthers did not deserve to be in the playoffs.

"Simply, winning is fun," he said. "Losing doesn’t feel too good."