2012 AFC Divisional Playoffs Keys and Predicitions

With Wild Card weekend over, the best teams in the AFC start to come out. The four best teams in AFC will play this weekend.

The Baltimore Ravens will take on the AFC South champion Houston Texans, who are coming off their first playoff win. And the No. 1-seeded New England Patriots will face the Denver Broncos.

Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens

This will be a rematch of Week 6, which the Baltimore Ravens won 29-14.

While the Ravens have practically played the same style of football the whole year, the Texans have been ravaged by injury having lost both starter Matt Schaub and back-up Matt Leinhart.

Last week the Texans got their first ever playoff victory against another AFC North team in the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Ravens have one of the best defenses in the NFL with having the fourth-rated pass defense and second-rated rushing defense in the NFL.

This game will be won on the ground, as the Texans have the second-ranked rushing offense in the NFL with Adrian Foster. The defense has also played well, as it ranks third and fourth in opposing passing and rushing defense respectively in the NFL.

The X-factor in this game will be how does rookie quarterback T.J. Yates handle the Baltimore defense and crowd. The Ravens are playing their first home playoff game under the Harbaugh and Flacco era, so they will be pumped to finally play at home.

Though the defense for both teams has been good, I believe the offense of the Baltimore Ravens, which is sometimes overlooked, will rule the day.

In the first meeting, quarterback Flacco threw for 305 yards. Look for the Ravens to capitalize on the week of and send them to the AFC championship game.

PREDICTION: Baltimore 28, Houston 10

Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots

This will be a rematch of the Week 15 showdown, in which the Patriots ended the Tebow magic and won 41-23.

After coming off a dramatic overtime win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime, the Broncos face the No. 2 passing offense in the NFL. They face quarterback Brady, who amassed 5,235 yards and 39 touchdowns.

The Patriots have the 31st worst defense in the NFL, and the Broncos have the No. 1 ranked rushing offense, which comes as no surprise with the option attack of both Willis McGahee and Tim Tebow.

The defense for the Broncos, which ranks 18th and 22nd in both rushing and passing defense respectively, will have to play better than it did the first time against the high-octane offense of the New England Patriots.

Though closer than the last game, I believe the Tebow magic runs out against Brady and the Patriots.

PREDICTION: Patriots 24, Broncos 14