The NFL’s postseason starts this weekend with a pair of entertaining contests on both Saturday and Sunday. For the first time since 2001, there'll be no Peyton Manning-led offenses for defenses to worry about. Below are the aforementioned matchups with this writer’s picks for victory starting with Saturday’s games:
Saturday 4:30 EST: At (10–6) Houston 14, (9–7) Cincinnati 10—Rookie quarterbacks typically don’t fare well in the postseason and this game features a pair of them starting against two of the better defenses in the league. Houston’s third-string, first-year quarterback T.J. Yates gets home-field advantage, and he'll need it as his final three starts of the season all resulted in losses.
On the other side, Andy Dalton has had a surprisingly decent debut season (3,398 yards, 20 TDs) though he was unable to do much against the Texans defense in the fourth quarter (just two first downs) in their 20–19 loss on Dec. 11.
The difference should be the home-crowd factor as the inexperienced Dalton already has his hands full against the league’s second-ranked defense.
Saturday 8:00 EST: At (13–3) New Orleans 34, (10–6) Detroit 20—Though Detroit had a breakout season this year, the Lions are playing against a stacked deck, going against team that’s determined to erase the bad taste from last year’s embarrassing first-round playoff loss at 7–9 Seattle.
The motivated Saints are back in the hunt this season with home-field advantage (for this game anyway) while quarterback Drew Brees’ mammoth-season (5,476 yards, 46 TDs, 110.6 rating) has flown under the radar thanks to Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay’s season. Detroit’s Matt Stafford is another one whose incredible season (5,038 yards, 41 TDs, 97.2 rating) went under the radar, but is likely to have trouble making his playoff debut on the road.
Sunday 1:00 EST: At (9–7) NY Giants 27, (10–6) Atlanta 21—Like the Saints, the Falcons also had a disastrous playoff appearance last season, losing 48–21, at home, to Green Bay. But unlike New Orleans the Falcons seemed to have lost some confidence this season after going 13–3 in 2010.
Meanwhile, the Giants have the NFL’s best-kept secret in wide receiver Victor Cruz whose 1,536 receiving yards and momentum-altering plays the past two weeks in wins over the Jets and Cowboys somehow weren’t enough for a Pro Bowl invite.
On defense, the Giants boast a ferocious defensive line, featuring second-year defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (16.5 sacks—fourth most in NFC) that should cause plenty of problems for Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.
Sunday 4:30 EST: At (8–8) Denver 21, (12–4) Pittsburgh 20—This one has all the makings of an upset.
No one really takes Tim Tebow and his 46.5 percent completion rate seriously (and why should they), while Pittsburgh is a veteran team with a much better record and a number of key players who have been to multiple Super Bowls. But Denver’s defense has been consistently able to keep their contests close until Tebow somehow morphs into John Elway for a final-minute comeback.
In addition, the Steelers will be without starting running back Rashard Mendenhall (torn ACL) while Roethlisberger’s limited mobility (injured ankle) could very well be exposed by Denver’s Pro Bowl pass-rushers Von Miller (11.5 sacks) and Elvis Dumervil (9.5 sacks).
