NFL Playoff Picture: Assessing Title Odds of Every Wild-Card Team

The NFL regular season ended Sunday night with the New York Giants claiming the final spot in the NFL playoffs.

The postseason schedule will begin Saturday in Houston when the Texans host the Cincinnati Bengals at 4:30 p.m. (EST).

The late game on Saturday will be the New Orleans Saints hosting the Detroit Lions at 8:30 p.m. (EST). Both games will be broadcast on NBC.

The Sunday slate of games begins at 1:00 p.m. (EST) when the Atlanta Falcons head to New York to face the Giants. FOX will carry the game. 

The late game on Sunday between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos will begin at 4:30 p.m. (EST) at Sports Authority Stadium at Mile High. The game will be shown on CBS.  

Now that we know which teams will be playing for the Super Bowl, it's time to handicap the field. More specifically, the four wild-card teams.

Last year, the Green Bay Packers peaked at the right time and became just the seventh wild-card team to win a Super Bowl.

Here's a closer look at the four wild-card teams and their chances at the title this postseason.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals have a bright future, but just not this year.

Rookies Andy Dalton and A.J. Green have been brilliant and the Bengals defense has been superb.

However, this team needs a couple of years before they can be considered legitimate contenders.

With that said, the fifth-seeded Bengals can beat the fourth-seeded Houston Texans on Saturday. 

The strength of the Bengals' defense is its ability to stop the run. This season, they've given up just over 96 rushing yards per game, good enough for fifth best in the NFL.

This will serve the Bengals well against the Texans. Houston has the second best rushing team in the league, led by Arian Foster. 

Another thing working in the Bengals' favor is the Texans' quarterback situation.

NFL journeyman Jake Delhomme would get the start at quarterback if T.J. Yates can't play. Yates, who replaced the injured Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart, hurt his shoulder in Week 17 against the Tennessee Titans. 

The Bengals and Texans have already played each other once this season, with the Texans winning 20-19 on a last-second touchdown pass by Yates.

Since that game, the Bengals are 2-1 and the Texans are 0-3. 

Detroit Lions

After a 12-year drought, the Lions are back in the postseason.

Unfortunately for the sixth-seeded Lions, their reward is a trip to New Orleans to face the third-seeded Saints.

The Lions face the near impossible task of slowing down the Saints offense and quarterback Drew Brees. Brees and the Saints enter the playoffs on an amazing roll. During their current eight-game winning streak, Brees has thrown for 2,730 yards, 27 touchdowns and four interceptions.

The Lions' pass defense has struggled at times during the year, including in Week 17. Detroit gave up 480 passing yards and six touchdowns to the Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn.

If Detroit doesn't get pressure on Brees from its front four, it'll be a quick exit for the Lions.  
The Lions offense, meanwhile, is good enough to compete with any defense.

Matthew Stafford finished the season with more than 5,000 passing yards and 41 touchdowns. He also has the best wide receiver in the NFL in Calvin Johnson.

Stafford finished the season on a roll, throwing for 1,270 yards, 12 touchdowns and one interception in his final three games. He'll need to keep that hot streak going to give Detroit a shot in the playoffs.    

New Orleans already beat Detroit 31-17 in New Orleans in Week 13.

Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons remind me a bit of last year's Packers.

They have an offense that can score points and their defense creates turnovers.

Atlanta enters the playoffs as the NFC's fifth seed and winners of six of their last nine games. During that span, the Falcons have averaged 27 points and have scored more than 40 points in two of their last three games.

However, as good as the Falcons have been playing, they're two weeks removed from getting destroyed by the New Orleans Saints.

In Week 16, the Saints scored 45 points en route to a 45-16 victory over the Falcons.

Atlanta will need its defense to stiffen up Sunday when they travel to New York to face the Giants.

The Giants boast the league's fourth-best passing attack led by Eli Manning. The Falcons rank 18th against the pass and have given up 25 touchdown passes this season (20th in the league).

If the Falcons can limit their mistakes and capitalize on opponents' mishaps, they have the talent to compete with most teams.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers are bruised and battered right now, and unfortunately for them, there's no time for rest.

The fifth-seeded Steelers travel to Denver for Wild Card Weekend with the fourth-seeded Broncos.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was healthy enough to play in Week 17, but it's clear that his ankle is still bothering him.

The Steelers also may be without their top running back Rashard Mendenhall. He injured his knee in Week 17 against the Cleveland Browns and early indications are that he'll miss the postseason.

With Mendenhall likely out, the Steelers will lean even more on its defense and passing attack in the postseason.

With that said, backup running back Issac Redman is more versatile than Mendenhall, but has problems sometimes holding onto the ball.

The Steelers have a very favorable matchup this weekend against the Denver Broncos.

The Broncos and Tim Tebow have struggled recently to score points and enter the playoffs losers of three straight.

If there's one wild-card team from this year's playoff field that knows how to win in January, it's the Steelers.

They have a veteran team with enough leaders and capable backups to make a Super Bowl run.

Plus, they have a roster filled with players who played in last year's Super Bowl. They should be considered contenders, regardless of their playoff seed.