NFL Divisional Playoffs 2012: Picks and Predictions for All Weekend Games

This weekend features another excellent slate of games. It kicks off with the most intriguing game of the weekend, as Drew Brees and the prolific Saints offense go against the 49ers stifling defense.

While that is the most intriguing game of the weekend, the NFL saves the best game of the weekend for last. Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning will face off in a re-match of one of the best games of the regular season.

Click through to see a prediction for each game.

New Orleans Saints vs. San Francisco 49ers

This will be an interesting game to watch. It is your classic strength-on-strength matchup.  The 49ers defense has been one of the best in the league all season. This week, they face a quarterback in Drew Brees who is playing better than any quarterback in football right now.

New Orleans will not be able to run the ball in this one against the league's No. 1 rush defense, but that is not really a problem for the Saints. They are not much on running the football.

The San Francisco pass defense is just middle of the pack. They were 16th on the season and allowed 230.9 yards per game. You can expect Brees to top 300 yards again this week and throw three touchdowns.

Frank Gore will be the key to this game for the 49ers. Their goal is going to be to shorten the game by running the football and keeping Brees on the sideline. Gore should be able to find some room to run against the Saints defense.

Saints 28, 49ers 17

Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots

Can Tim Tebow do it again? That is the question everyone is going to be asking this week.

These two teams met less than a month ago, with the Patriots cruising to a 41-23 win in Denver. Tebow had a big day rushing that day with 93 yards and two touchdowns. He was pretty good passing as well, with 181 yards and no interceptions.

The Broncos lost that game because they turned the ball over three times. You cannot do that if you want to beat Tom Brady and the Patriots. For Denver to win this game, they are going to have to keep it close and win in the fourth quarter. That means they cannot turn the ball over.

Brady and New England have too much offense for the Broncos to win this game. It will be close at halftime, but Brady will put it away in the third quarter. He threw for 320 yards in that meeting in December. Look for him to put up similar numbers on the way to a win.

Patriots 35, Broncos 24

Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens

The Texans are really an amazing story. It does not matter who goes down fro them. They just keep on winning.

That winning ends this week. The Ravens are going to stack the box and make T.J. Yates beat them. That has been the strategy of every team that has played Houston since Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart went down, but Baltimore is one team that can actually shut down the run. They were second in league against the run in the regular season.

These two teams faced each other earlier in the season with the Ravens winning, 29-14.  They held Arian Foster to just 49 yards on 15 carries in that game. Foster will have better numbers than that in this game, but he will not come anywhere close to matching the numbers he put up last week. He will end the day with 75 yards on 20 carries.

Ray Rice will be the key for the Ravens because there is no way Joe Flacco has a good day against this Houston defense. Rice will score a touchdown late in this one to secure the win for the Ravens.

Ravens 20, Texans 13

New York Giants vs. Green Bay Packers

This will be the best game of the weekend. These two teams played one of the best games of the 2011 season at the beginning of December with the Packers winning, 38-35. Both quarterback threw for more than 340 yards in that meeting.

This game will be very similar. This is a passing-dominated league, and this game features two really good quarterbacks who are playing really well. The Giants would look to have the advantage on paper because they are better against the pass than the Packers are, but the Giants do not have Aaron Rodgers. Look for Rodgers to end the day with at least three touchdowns and close to 400 yards passing.

Eli Manning is playing as well right now as he ever has in his career. He will top 350 yards in this one, but it will not be enough to take down the Packers at Lambeau field. Manning's favorite target will be Hakeem Nicks. He threw to Nicks 12 times in the last meeting. Nicks will see a similar number of targets in this one and top 100 yards receiving.

Packers 35, Giants 31