NFL Playoff Predictions: Red Hot Teams That Will Roll Into Indianapolis

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are destined to return to football's biggest game in 2012. 

Only two NFL franchises can survive the brutal road to Indianapolis this January, but bet that the defending Super Bowl champs will be one of them.

Join Bleacher Report as we take a closer look at the scorching teams sure to roll into Indy this winter.

NFC: Green Bay Packers

No team in the NFL has won more games than the Packers this season, and no team has been more dominant on its home field.

Green Bay went 8-0 at Lambeau Field this season, where they will host their playoff opponents until Super Bowl XLVI. 

The Pack even held Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints to 34 points on opening night in Green Bay. 

The Packers' current two-game winning streak seems insignificant considering how hot teams like the Saints and Patriots have been, but think back to Green Bay's Week 17 finale against the Detroit Lions.

Before Detroit was getting blown out in the Superdome on Saturday night, it was getting lit up by the Packers' second unit, which posted 45 points on the board.

If the third-ranked passing attack in the league can lose an MVP-caliber star and insert a backup without missing a beat, that is one scary team.

The same cannot be said for Tom Brady's Patriots or Drew Brees' Saints.

And when Aaron Rodgers does play, he's hotter and more efficient than any star in the game; he threw for 45 touchdowns and just six interceptions this season. 

Green Bay is without a doubt the hottest team in the NFL right now, having gone 21-1 since Christmas 2010.

The home-field advantage is a critical benefit against other top seeds like New Orleans and San Francisco, and the Packers won't waste it.

AFC: Baltimore Ravens

Like the Packers, the Baltimore Ravens have won two straight games heading into their bye week in Wild Card Weekend.

Defense becomes a way of life for great teams this time of year and nobody does it better than the Ravens.

This season they will be more rested than ever, and hosting their first playoff game since 2006.

The Texans are young and inexperienced as a franchise, so they will be in for a rude welcoming to Baltimore next weekend.

The Ravens are one of only four teams in the NFL to allow less than 300 points this season. (Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Houston being the other three.)

The Ravens also rank at the top of the NFL in point differential—second only to the Patriots in the AFC.

Although Baltimore's road struggles are worrisome, their 8-0 home mark will be nearly impossible for any AFC team to overcome if the bracket gets shaken up by a Pats' loss.

The Ravens were the only AFC team to sweep its division in 2011, which means the Pittsburgh Steelers should also fear coming to Baltimore this month. 

At 12-4, the Ravens are as hot as any team in the AFC, even the Patriots, who Baltimore routed in the postseason back in 2009 at Foxboro.

Defense will win out in the end, and that's why the Ravens are the red hot team poised to make it to Indianapolis this winter.