NFL Playoff Picture: 3 Games We're Salivating for

While the playoff bracket is not even fully set yet, there are already several tantalizing matchups that have me incredibly excited. 

The 2011 NFL season has given us a ton of great games and a few of them might get a second act in the postseason. In addition to potential sequels to great games from the regular season, a chance for two high-powered offenses to go head-to-head also has me fired up.

Here is a look at three potential playoff matchups that I am most looking forward to.

Green Bay Packers vs New Orleans Saints

Way back on September 8, the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints opened the NFL season with a bang, as their explosive first game was everything football fans had been waiting for during the lockout. The Packers emerged with a 42-34 win in a game that wasn't decided until the final play. 

That game was beautiful and, way back then, I remember thinking that I hoped those two teams would meet again.

Well, it could very well happen as the Saints and Packers have established themselves as clearly the top two teams in the NFC. While New Orleans (12-3) needs some help to earn a bye in the first-round, the 14-1 Packers have locked up home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

Still, if all goes according to plan, the last two Super Bowl champions should meet in the NFC title game with another trip to the big game on the line.

It would be almost poetic if they met again. The matchup would pit two quarterbacks playing at their absolute best against each other, as Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees are really the league's only MVP candidates this season.

The prospect of seeing this game in the playoffs has me positively giddy. 

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens

To say the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens are bitter rivals would be selling it ridiculously short. The Ravens and Steelers just flat-out don't like each other and their games are always a violent reminder of that.

During the regular season, the two sides met twice with the Ravens winning both times. Baltimore ripped Pittsburgh 35-7 in Week 1, and then snuck by with a 23-20 win in Week 9. Anybody else ready for Round 3 in the playoffs?

While it hasn't been determined where in the bracket they would meet, both teams are 11-4 heading into Week 17 and both are capable of reaching the Super Bowl. But to do so, they will likely have to hook up and do battle at some point. 

They say the hardest thing to do in the NFL is beat a team three times in one season. The Ravens will likely have to if they want to win the AFC. And that game us guaranteed to be violent, nasty and incredibly entertaining. 

Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys or New York Giants

Whoever wins the NFC East tonight during the showdown between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys will, in all likelihood, have to host the 10-5 Detroit Lions in the opening round of the playoffs.

After a 5-0 start, the Lions struggled, losing five of their next seven games, but they rebounded from that and have won three straight heading into today's contest with the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

Detroit possesses one of the most explosive and exciting offenses in the NFL and going on the road to face either the Cowboys or the Giants would be a really interesting test for quarterback Matthew Stafford and his young weapons.

Make no mistake, Stafford and the Lions will be wide open in the playoffs, as their running game ranked 29th in the NFL (96.7 yards per game) this season. 

Both the Giants and Cowboys also rely heavily on the passing game to get things done and that means we could be headed for a good old-fashioned shootout if the NFC East champ tangles with Detroit.

That would be must-see television and I'm definitely looking forward to it.