NFL Playoffs: How the 49ers Match Up Against Possible Divisional Opponents

Can Alex Smith, Michael Crabtree and the 49ers find success against their divisional playoff opponent?
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The 2011 San Francisco 49ers earned a well-deserved week off.

Wild Card Weekend will give the Niner Faithful an opportunity to sit back and rest easy. The 49ers will get a chance to lick their wounds and see which NFC team shakes from the trees and onto their Candlestick Park doorstep one week from now.

And while there are no arguments with head coach Jim Harbaugh that anyone has it better than the 49ers, it'll be do-or-die time. No more rebuttals of there being next week to fix problems. Like the NCAA's March Madness, it's win or go home for the NFL's remaining Super Bowl hopefuls.

So San Francisco would be remiss if they didn't have a preference of who to play next weekend.

With the top-seeded Green Bay Packers set to play the lowest remaining seed, that takes the Detroit Lions out of the equation. Too bad. The 49ers would have salivated at getting the Lions and head coach Jim Schwartz deep into Harbaugh Country for a second time this season.

Let's quickly break down the three remaining playoff possibilities for the San Francisco 49ers.

Third-Seeded New Orleans Saints

Drew Brees may not be the league's best quarterback or player, but he's probably the most valuable signalcaller for any NFL team.
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The New Orleans Saints will go marching in wherever Drew Brees can take them.

Their quarterback is the team MVP. Without Brees, this team doesn't win 13 games. He arrived after being cast off from San Diego. He became a symbol for the city during and after Hurricane Katrina. And now Brees hold the record for most passing yards in a season.

Yes, he has weapons. Head coach Sean Payton calls a terrific game for the offense. A running back stable of Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory have all but silenced the calls for Reggie Bush. A receiving corps of Marques Colston, Jimmy Graham, Lance Moore, Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson make you wonder how they consider even running the ball against the vaunted 49ers D.

And defensive coordinator Gregg Williams can dial up a pressure-packed game plan sure to rattle any opposing quarterback. Even one as cool as Alex Smith this season.

The 49ers don't want to play New Orleans if they can avoid it and are rooting for the new rival Detroit to spring the upset on Saturday night of Wild Card weekend.

But getting them in San Francisco, as opposed to the Superdome, gives some hope. The Saints average only 27 points per game outside New Orleans, while they post a gaudy 41 at home. Brees posts big away yardage numbers; but their defense allows 24.5 points per game during these games, en route to all three losses this season.

And for what it's worth, San Francisco lost to New Orleans in this year's first preseason game on the road 24-3.

Fourth-Seeded New York Giants

What are the chances that the 49ers get the G-Men for a second time at home this season?
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Week 10's epic 27-20 triumph over the New York Giants at the 'Stick gave Niners fans hope that the team was for real. San Francisco had to withstand a furious second-half comeback from quarterback Eli Manning, whose had a career season at the helm of one of the league's most potent come-from-behind offenses.

The running game was stalled with the loss of Ahmad Bradshaw, but the tandem of Brandon Jacobs and D.J. Ware have given the G-Men enough of a so-called balance to keep defenses just honest enough to not send the kitchen sink at Manning.

And the receiving arsenal at Manning's disposal is lethal. Hakeem Nicks has quietly produced another solid season, but the emergence of Victor Cruz has proven to be a difference maker. Mario Manningham provides a reliable third option. And Jake Ballard is a bruising tight end who is fast enough to outpace formidable linebackers and too burly in running over would-be defenders from the secondary.

The Giants defense give up over 10 points more per game than the 49ers, at 25 per contest. So the offense is having to recover from earlier first-half deficits before halftime adjustments batten down the hatches.

The 49ers have had good success against the Giants at home and in recent playoff matchups, so they'd be happy to see New Orleans lose and get a second date with the men from Gotham.

Fifth-Seeded Atlanta Falcons

Could former Cal star Tony Gonzalez return to the Bay with the Atlanta Falcons for a playoff date with the 49ers?
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The Atlanta Falcons aren't flash-and-dash or the Dirty Birds anymore. There's no Deion Sanders or Michael Vick or Jamal Anderson.

They've got Matty Ice, as in Matt Ryan, running the show in the ATL. After earning the NFC's top seed last year before an early playoff bow-out, the Falcons return as the top wild card team. They'll travel to New York to face the Giants, and Atlanta is noticeably a less dominant team on the road than in the confines of the Georgia Dome.

At his disposal, Ryan has mainstay wideout Roddy White, who followed up last year's monster season with a solidly productive one. Not that he needed a repeat performance, with other options available; but White is peaking at the right time. A healthy and stable Tony Gonzalez is silencing naysayers who claim he is getting up there in age. And the draft day purge of picks for Julio Jones has given Ryan a 1-2-3 receiving punch.

The running game continues to flow through Michael Turner, whose burners aren't at 100 percent anymore. He is a plodding back, effective late in games when given enough carries.

But Atlanta can't get too far behind and too reliant on the running game, as their defense is stout but not dominant. They can hold down the run but are suspect in the passing game.

The 49ers would rather face the Giants than Falcons, but would take Atlanta over New Orleans when deciding between NFC South foes.