NFL Playoff Bracket 2012: Denver Broncos and Teams with Toughest Paths

Reaching the Super Bowl is never an easy task for an NFL team, nor should it be. Any worthy champion should have to earn its stripes in tough games before playing for the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy.

For these three teams, though, the road to Indianapolis appears particularly daunting.

Denver Broncos

The Broncos were fortunate to back into the playoffs as AFC West champions after three consecutive losses to close out the regular season. They were even more fortunate to come up against a badly hobbled Pittsburgh Steelers squad at home in the Wild Card Round, and to have Tim Tebow muster up just enough magic to but away Ben Roethlisberger and Company in a hurry to start the overtime period on Sunday.

Now, the Broncos will need the fates to be particularly kind and gentle as they head east to play the New England Patriots.

Yes, the very same New England Patriots by whom they were dominated at Mile High Stadium in Week 15. The Pats defense is still terrible, but Tom Brady is, well, Tom Brady. What's more, they'll have the added benefit of playing this one at Gillette Stadium, where the Pats went 7-1 this season.

Two words come to mind for Denver: "check" and "mate."

Houston Texans

Speaking of road teams heading into rematches, the Texans figure to follow up the joy of their first-ever playoff victory—a 31-10 trouncing of the Cincinnati Bengals—with their first-ever playoff defeat.

That is, unless they're to be the first team this season to go into M&T Bank Stadium and beat the Baltimore Ravens.

Good luck. Houston already tried to pull off that stunt in Week 6 and slunk away with a 29-14 loss, with five Billy Cundiff field goals constituting the margin.

And that was back when Matt Schaub was healthy. There's no telling how rookie T.J. Yates will react to the likes of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata gunning for his noggin.

Other than poorly, anyway. 

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers have all the ingredients a team needs to win a Super Bowl: a great defense, a physical running game, a quarterback who doesn't make mistakes and a smart head coach who knows how to push his players' buttons.  

Well, all except for two—playoff experience and a clear path to the title game.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints, whom the Niners will play in San Francisco this weekend, won the Super Bowl two years ago and, with Drew Brees playing out of his gourd and a nine-game winning streak running, are arguably the hottest team in football.

And if the Niners can somehow slow down the Saints' explosive offense and continue their own storybook season, they'll likely have to take down Aaron Rodgers and the defending champion Green Bay Packers in the frozen tundra at Lambeau Field to advance.

In other words, Jim Harbaugh's chances of hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy in his first season on the job check in somewhere between slim and none.

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