NFL Playoffs 2012: 6 Teams Writing Their Own Destinies

The NFL playoffs are finally here, and we are a month away from crowning a champion following the 2012 Super Bowl. 

Some teams are in a unique position to win more than just a championship. By writing their own destiny all the way the big game, they can cement themselves in NFL lore in more ways than going down as the 46th Super Bowl champion. 

Here are six teams staring destiny in the face as the playoffs begin. 

Green Bay Packers

What's In Their Way

The Green Bay Packers will have to go through the most loaded conference in recent memory.

All six teams have a claim as a Super Bowl favorite.

Even the Atlanta Falcons (whom I personally count as the weakest of the six) are loaded on offense and capable of getting on a roll. 

What's At Stake

A position in the argument as The Greatest Team of All Time. By going 18-1, the Packers would have the second-greatest season in NFL history, behind the perfect 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Of course, the Packers would have back-to-back Super Bowl championships to help their case. 

Supposing the Packers finish the job, history will have a hard time finding a team more stacked than this one. From Aaron Rodgers to B.J. Raji, good luck finding a squad with more Player of the Year candidates complemented by super role players. 

New England Patriots

What's In Their Way

It is more like what is not in their opposition's way: The New England Patriots defense.

The Patriots again have a first-round bye and home-field advantage on their side, but that has not been enough to win them a playoff game since 2007. 

Through the years, the Pats have gone from a team-first mentality (remember when they all came out together before upsetting the St. Louis Rams?) to living and dying by Tom Brady's right arm. They come into the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak, but came back from early double-digit deficits in each of their last three games.

If they fall behind early again, playoff defenses will put the heat on Brady and not allow a big comeback. 

What's At Stake

Increasing Tom Brady's argument as the greatest quarterback of all time, and Bill Belichick as the greatest coach.

A fourth Super Bowl championship would tie Brady with Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana for the most rings, with a big statistical edge to Brady. Belichick would be tied with Chuck Noll as the only coaches with four championships. 

From a team standpoint, the Patriots would shut up writers like me who have said all season you cannot win a championship without a defense. 

New York Giants

What's Standing In Their Way

Themselves. The New York Giants have been one of the most frustrating teams in all of football.

Capable of beating the best teams in the game, the Giants lost to the Washington Redskins (twice) and the Seattle Seahawks, and they were blown out by the New Orleans Saints with everyone watching on Monday Night Football.

What's At Stake

Status in NFL lore as the greatest "David" team ever.

Four years ago, the Giants went on the road as the sixth seed all the way to the Super Bowl, where they stopped Tom Brady and the previously unbeaten New England Patriots. 

This year, the Giants were again the last team to clinch a playoff berth. After facing the Atlanta Falcons at home, a game I expect the G-Men to win, the Giants will likely face the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

If the Giants win that game en route to the Super Bowl, Eli Manning (who just set the record for most fourth-quarter touchdowns in a season) will go down as one of the great pressure quarterbacks of all time.

In that respect, he will have surpassed big brother Peyton. 

Baltimore Ravens

What Stands In Their Way

The Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Houston Texans and the Steelers beat the Denver Broncos, the Baltimore Ravens will come off the bye to face their hated rivals.

Ravens fans believe earning the first-round bye will be the difference between them making a playoff run and winning the Super Bowl, and I cannot disagree with that perspective.

More likely than not, they will have to beat the Steelers for the third time this season to get there.

What's At Stake

Sending Ray Lewis out on top. Lewis is still playing at a high level, but I would not be surprised if the 16-year vet calls it quits after winning his second Super Bowl 11 years after winning his first. 

Outside of Lewis is getting the rest of these veterans their first Super Bowl ring. Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs have had to watch their friends from Pittsburgh hold up the Lombardi Trophy twice during their Ravens careers.

A Super Bowl would put an instant stop to Joe Flacco's reputation as a big-game choker and could set this team up for more championships in the future. 

New Orleans Saints

What's In Their Way

A difficult postseason path. The Detroit Lions are one of the most dangerous teams in football, and that's the New Orleans Saints' "easy" game.

Assuming the Saints get through the first two rounds in the Super Dome, the Saints will likely have go visit the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. 

All three of the Saints' losses this season have come on the road. In the playoffs last year, the heavily favored defending Super Bowl champs lost on the road to the Seattle Seahawks in embarrassing fashion.

What's At Stake

With two Super Bowls in three years, the Saints would set themselves up to create a dynasty. It would also strengthen Drew Brees' argument as the best quarterback of the generation. 

For the better part of the past decade, the best-quarterback-in-the-game debate consisted of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

A second Super Bowl championship would put Brees one behind Brady and one ahead of Manning, including a head-to-head win against Peyton. Statistically, there has been no one better than Brees since he became a Saint. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

What's In Their Way

Injuries. When 100 percent, this team is as loaded as any in football.

The problem is they have not really been at that point all season.

Now Rashard Mendenhall is out, and Ben Roethlisberger is dinged up.

The good news is that while Mendenhall and Roethlisberger have dominated headlines, the rest of the team is doing well. Assuming the Steelers beat the Denver Broncos, the 20 other starters are healthy.

The defense is as whole as it has been all season, with bookend outside linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley finally set to play together in Denver. 

What's At Stake

A chance to go down as one of the great underdog stories in NFL history. This team is generally thought of as too old and too hurt to go on the road and make a run at a seventh Lombardi Trophy.

Granted, the occasional fan or analyst gives the Steelers a chance to come out of the AFC, but almost all that do have them falling to the New Orleans Saints or Green Bay Packers. 

Mike Tomlin recently instructed Ben Roethlisberger to drop the John Wayne act. The irony in his instruction is no team in football resembles the script of an old cowboy movie more than the Steelers. 

With a team full of 30-somethings (especially on that top-ranked defense) this is likely Pittsburgh's last run with this core of players. Old and wounded, Team Wayne needs to hope they have enough bullets left in the holster take out the new gunslingers.

Alexander is a featured columnist for bleacherreport.com You can follow Alexander on Twitter @thesportsdude7 or become a fan on his bleacher report profile.