NFL Playoff Schedule 2012: Ranking the Weekend's Most Exciting Matchups

The NFL playoffs are my favorite sports event of the entire year.  Though you don't get the condensed, full-on overload that you get with March Madness, on a game-by-game basis, it just doesn't get any better than the best teams in the best professional sports league on the planet going head to head.

This weekend, there should be no shortage of excitement and drama, as the four matchups, even on paper, are very close by Wild Card Round standards. Click through the slideshow as I rank this week's most exciting NFL playoff games.

1. Detroit Lions @ New Orleans Saints

This game has everything you could possibly want from an NFL playoff game. Two high-powered offenses, two dangerous defenses and one amazing home crowd going absolutely bedlam for 60 minutes.

We saw a glimpse into how I think this game will go when the Lions took on Green Bay at Lambeau last week.  The Lions can put up big points, and give up big points, and that sets a perfect stage for an exciting matchup against the Saints, who score points with reckless abandon at home.

While the margin of the first meeting between these two teams was fairly large, I think the Lions, and particularly their offense, will come in an play a lot better than the first time around.  Calvin Johnson will have to come up huge for the Lions to have a fighting chance, but why wouldn't you assume that Megatron will be in rare form?

Both teams should score up in the 30s and 40s in this one, so if you like offense, this is your game for this weekend.

2. Atlanta Falcons @ New York Giants

This is the game that I think has the most potential to be a late game thriller.  These two teams are fairly evenly matched coming into this game, with ample offensive weapons and solid defenses.  There are also two quarterbacks in Eli Manning and Matt Ryan who know how to get the job done as the clock starts to shrink in the fourth quarter.

This game is the least predictable of the four this weekend, which will make it all the more fun to watch.  In a lot of ways, these teams have a lot in common, from their quarterbacks and dynamic receivers, on down to their unforgiving defensive front sevens.  That should make for a tight game that is still in doubt right up to the final whistle.

3. Cincinnati Bengals @ Houston Texans

The game between the Texans and Bengals will be exciting primarily because it pits two rookie quarterbacks against each other, something you almost never see in the playoffs.  I think this game will go down as the most unpredictable of the four, precisely because we just don't know how those young guys will handle the bright lights of playoff football.

On one side you have Andy Dalton, who has been remarkably steady this season, especially as a rookie. He knows how to spread the ball around, with accuracy, and he also has A.J. Green.  On the other, T.J. Yates has been more erratic over his shorter stint as starting quarterback with the Texans, but he played quite well when these two teams met in a one point thriller during the regular season.  

Whichever rookie QB can best limit his "rookie moments" will likely walk of with a coveted playoff victory in just his first season in the league—no small feat.  

4. Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos

Don't get me wrong, I like last-second dramatics.  But sometimes, the first three quarters are just too ugly to be overcome by some late drama.  

We know all the narratives coming into this game.  Ben Roethlisberger, along with practically every other key player for the Steelers, will come into this game at far less than full health.  And that's just the guys who are healthy enough to play, unlike guys such as Rashard Mendenhall and Ryan Clark.  

For the Broncos, the excitement has really cooled off as the cold hard reality of their situation has set in.  They are, by far, the worst of the 12 NFL playoff teams.  A healthy Steelers team probably would beat them by 20.  But the Steelers aren't even close to healthy, so the game will likely be a lot closer (and duller) than it otherwise might be.

We the key consideration is whether or not a good team has been hampered enough by injuries to be brought down to the level of a bad team, well, that's not what I watch the playoffs for.  Look for a low-scoring, ugly affair with a touch of drama at the end.