NFL Playoff Schedule 2012: Previewing Every Divisional Round Game

After a weekend of exciting wild card games, the divisional round has been setup to be one entertaining weekend of pro football.

Beginning with the Saints-49ers on Saturday afternoon and ending with the Giants-Packers on Sunday afternoon, while the AFC is sandwiched between, these games can't kickoff soon enough.

That being said, here is a preview of each contest.

Saints vs 49ers

Here we have arguably the most intriguing matchup. In an NFC filled with supreme pass offenses but vehemently weak pass defenses, the San Francisco 49ers are the diamond in the rough when it comes to NFC defenses.

Additionally, they know how to run the ball quite effectively.

The New Orleans Saints, on the other hand, are most definitely part of the great pass offense-weak pass defense group, however, they're one of the few teams who also knows how to run the ball well in addition to the passing game.

The key matchup at Candlestick Park will obviously be the Saints offense versus the 49ers defense. San Francisco is No. 1 against the run and although the 49ers are No. 16 against the pass, they've only allowed 57.5 percent of all passes thrown against them to be completed (rank No. 8).

So, Drew Brees and Co. have their hands full both rushing and passing on top of the 49ers pass-rushers in Justin Smith and Aldon Smith.

When San Francisco has the rock, the Saints are in trouble. Although they ranked No. 12 against the run, New Orleans allowed almost five yards per carry. Include their No. 30 ranked pass defense and a balanced approach by the 49ers will consistently move the chains.

Anyway you slice it though, these two former NFC West rivals will be in a nail-biter.

Broncos vs Patriots

The Denver Broncos put up a solid fight against the New England Patriots at home, but fell 41-23. Now playing the Patriots in New England, the Broncos still have to figure out how to stop Tom Brady.

When Denver has the ball they will move it methodically well. After last week's barrage of big plays against Pittsburgh, you know Bill Belichick is drawing up the perfect Tebow-gameplan. That said, the Broncos will still have success through the air because the Patriots did rank No. 31 against the pass.

With Tebow improving as a passer, his threat as a rusher will only increase and the Denver offense will be difficult to stop. The question is whether they can keep pace with New England's offense.

On paper and when we saw in their first meeting, the Broncos defense is supremely overmatched by new England's offense.

Sure they could isolate Rob Gronkowski and maybe Wes Welker at the same time, but then who does that leave to stop the run and/or Deion Branch or Aaron Hernandez in single coverage? Denver's best bet is to simply blitz nonstop.

Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil need to get pressure all day to limit Brady's time in the pocket. In turn that will assist the coverage. The problem is actually getting consistent pressure.

Additionally, expect the Broncos to play a lot of press coverage to slow the Pats' receivers at the line. This game will be determined by the Denver defense because they are physical enough to stop New England.

Texans vs Ravens

Two top-five defenses who are backed up solid rush offenses.

When the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens kickoff on Sunday, it will be a flashback to the old-school football days of smash mouth offense and physical defense.

Each run a 3-4 scheme, have an excellent pass rush, are solid at forcing turnovers and play with as much, if not more, tenacity than anyone else in the league.

The biggest difference however, is Houston having receiver Andre Johnson lined up outside. His ability to stretch the field will be key for the Texans to take pressure off TJ Yates. Also, running back Arian Foster must have a big game both on the ground and receiving to keep Baltimore honest.

Even more interesting will be Ravens rookie receiver Torrey Smith. Much like Johnson in Houston, Smith is Baltimore's deep threat and Joe Flacco has the arm to connect down field. The only concern for the Ravens though, will be Flacco's performance as he's struggled throughout his career in January.

Both defenses will blitz and get pressure. The production of Foster and Ray Rice will play a huge role as both are basically exact replicas of one another.

The Texans, however, have an edge as Ben Tate is a better No. 2 back than Ricky Williams and Andre Johnson is better than Torrey Smith. So, we'll either see Flacco step his game up or TJ Yates grow up before our eyes.

Giants vs Packers

With Houston and Baltimore being so similar, the theme on Sunday's games are just that, replicas.

Both the Giants and Packers have explosive offenses and can run the football with a two-back system when needed. Each quarterback has solid pass protection and it's no surprise that their regular season meeting was only a three-point differential (38-35, Packers).

The only real difference between Green Bay and New York is their defensive strengths. The Giants have arguably the NFL's best pass-rushing unit despite having dealt with injuries this season and the Packers are excellent at causing turnovers.

Each defense allows a boatload of passing yards each game as well as roughly five yards per carry against the run.

So, the question is how much should each offense run the football early on?

How about quite a bit.

New York needs to run the ball early because the Packers defense will intercept Eli Manning if given enough opportunities. It happened in the regular season game and Manning can be prone to turning it over.

Green Bay needs to run early to minimize any kind of pass rush on Aaron Rodgers. The more the Packers drop back early on, the more pressure he'll receive and by the fourth quarter, Rodgers will be worn down from scrambling so much.

Whichever team proves to be more effective on the ground in the first half will have a major advantage in the second half. Because that's when each quarterback will air it out more and the defenses will be tired from defending the run.

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