NFL Playoff Schedule 2012: Predicting Winner of Every Wild Card Contest

On Wild Card Weekend, you won’t be able to tell that the best teams in the league are on a bye.

First-round matchups couldn’t get much tighter, as each game will be decided in the fourth quarter.  Here is the 2012 playoff schedule and predictions for every single game.

Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans—Jan. 7 at 4:30 p.m. EST on NBC

If the Bengals were facing off against a 100-percent healthy Houston team, they’d have no shot, but luckily for Cincinnati, the Texans don’t have two of their most valuable players in Matt Schaub or Mario Williams. 

At first glance, Houston should still be heavy favorites while fielding the three-headed monster that is Andre Johnson, Arian Foster and Ben Tate on offense along with a top-five defensive unit.

What is terrifying about picking the Texans, though, is that they’ve lost three straight games against the subpar Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans. 

Prediction: Cincinnati by 3

Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints—Jan. 7 at 8:00 p.m. EST on NBC

Detroit comes in with what-if circumstances similar to the Texans, because if they had Jahvid Best and Mikel LeShoure, they’d be able to keep the ball out of Drew Brees’ hands with an effective running game. 

The Matt Stafford-to-Calvin Johnson connection will be tested to the max against the New Orleans scoring machine.  This will be the most exciting game of Wild Card Weekend, but the Lions are a year away from being legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Prediction: New Orleans by 10

Atlanta Falcons at New York Giants—Jan. 8 at 1:00 p.m. EST on FOX

In the past, Atlanta and New York were without question run-first football teams, but this season, Eli Manning and Matt Ryan have put their offenses on their backs. 

Those two strong passing attacks will be aided by a poor pass defense on each side.  The contest will ultimately come down to whichever defensive front can generate the most pass-rush, and I wouldn’t bet against Jason Pierre-Paul and the Giants.

Prediction: New York by 7

Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos—Jan. 8 at 4:30 p.m. EST on CBS

What looks like the most lopsided matchup of the entire playoffs will be one of the closest games of the week. 

Pittsburgh joins the handful of teams in these playoffs decimated by injuries, as they’ll be without Rashard Mendenhall and Ryan Clark while Ben Roethlisberger and LaMarr Woodley won’t be at full strength. 

Troy Polamalu and company will still will the team to victory, but the Steelers must be on high upset alert against a hungry Broncos team.

Prediction: Pittsburgh by 6

David Daniels is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels