Staff Writer
Wild-card
weekend is over and only eight teams have their Lombardi dreams still alive.
From the AFC, it is the same final
four from last year: the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Houston Texans,
and Baltimore Ravens. The Atlanta Falcons are the no. 1 seed in the NFC and
have to contend with the San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, and Seattle
Seahawks. With just seven games left in the 2012 season, every team has a
reasonable chance of reaching New
Orleans on February 3.
Divisional
weekend kicks off on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. when the Ravens travel to Denver to
play the 13-3 Broncos. Baltimore is coming off an emotional victory over the
Indianapolis Colts where legend and future Hall-of-Famer Ray Lewis played his
final home game. Lewis saw his first action since Week Six when he tore his
right triceps, but came back strong and led the team in tackles. Meanwhile,
Denver had an extra week to prepare for this contest. Peyton Manning, who has
the second most playoff losses of all time, will look to improve his 9-10 record.
The key here will be if the Ravens defense can put pressure on Manning and get
him slightly out of his comfort zone.
The
showdown between the 49ers and Packers on Saturday night may be the most
exciting of the four matchups. It pits Green Bay’s fifth ranked offense against
San Francisco’s second ranked defense. The 49ers look to complete unfinished
business from last season when they were a couple of fumbled punts away from
the Super Bowl. The 49ers had an NFL-best nine pro bowlers this season, a
category they also led the league in last year. Coming off their 24-10 blasting
of the Vikings, the Packers are trying to recapture the magic of 2010 where
they won it all. This game will come down to the wire, with a few key plays
being the difference makers.
Falcons
quarterback Matt Ryan and head coach Mike Smith can ill-afford another early
exit from the playoffs. Since 2008 this tandem has led the Falcons to three
playoff appearances in four years, a good mark. However, Ryan’s postseason
record of 0-3 is well below expectations and the young signal caller
desperately needs a clutch performance in playoff time. On the other side,
rookie quarterback Russell Wilson has dazzled this year and led the Seahawks
with unexpected poise. The Seahawks have all the pieces: a great rushing game,
a shutdown secondary, and a game-changing kick returner in Leon Washington.
Both teams will bring it all to Atlanta
on Sunday.
The
final game of the weekend sees the Texans travel to Gillette Stadium to do
battle with the Patriots. New England has been a model of consistency for years
and has made the playoffs nine of the last eleven years, going to five Super
Bowls in that span. The Patriots rolled over the Texans 42-14 in a regular
season game in which Houston offered little resistance. Running back Arian
Foster and company hope things are different this time as the Texans are
finally back on track after beating the Cincinnati Bengals in the wild-card
round, a feat they also accomplished last year. If Matt Schaub can keep the
quarterback play between he and Tom Brady close, the Texans have a good shot to
be victorious.
The
contenders are just two wins away from playing in the biggest sport event of
the year. The divisional round should be very intense and, by Sunday night,
only four teams will remain.
