NFL Playoffs Predictions: 6 Players Who Will Shock You in Divisional Round

Before every playoff game, people make predictions about who they think will struggle in the game because of a certain mismatch or because of precedence of failure in a certain situation.

And seemingly every week, those same people are proven wrong and left in shock because of how those players performed. 

Coming into this week's playoff games, we have our preconceived notions about quarterbacks, defensive units and even washed-up running backs who we don't feel will be relevant in a game. 

Here are six guys who will shock us this weekend. 

Ricky Williams

Believe it or not, Sunday's game against the Houston Texans will only be Ricky Williams' second career playoff game.

His only other playoff appearance came in the 2008 season when he played for the Miami Dolphins. He was a non-factor in a blowout loss to his current team—the Baltimore Ravens.

This season, in a backup role, Williams scored just two touchdowns. One of them, though, came against the Texans.

The Texans may have a great rush defense, but they're extremely banged up. Their list of players who are probable for Sunday's game is so long that one cannot look at it on one screen on Yahoo! Sports' Texans page. One has to scroll down to see all of it.

And those are just the probables. Although they will most likely play, there are a lot of Texans on the defensive side of the ball who will be playing hurt like Shaun Cody and Jonathan Joseph. 

Also, not to take away any credit for the stout Texans rush defense, but a reason why they're fourth in the league is because teams don't run much on them. Teams have only ran the ball 378 times against the Texans this year, which is the fourth lowest total in the NFL.

To shed some perspective, the Ravens allow less rushing yards per game, but teams have ran 41 more times against them.

We all know Ray Rice will be getting a majority of the carries on Sunday. He's going to have a great day rushing the ball. That's a given. But don't be shocked if Ricky breaks off a few carries and even scores.

Joe Flacco

Another Raven who will shock us all this Sunday is Joe Flacco. 

It's easy to say that the Ravens will have difficulties winning the Super Bowl because their quarterback doesn't match up to the likes of Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. 

One also looks at the defensive matchup for the Ravens this week against the Texans and can easily say that Flacco will have a lot of trouble moving the ball. 

However, Flacco is at home, with a week of rest, and he's playing an injury-riddled Texans team. 

Also, the last time the Ravens played the Texans, Flacco had 305 yards—his third-highest yardage total in the season. 

Tim Tebow

We just keep writing this guy off every week, and every single time, he shocks us. 

He doesn't necessarily have to win the game, if he makes a great comeback effort and barely falls short, he will most likely make some unbelievable plays who will make our jaws drop along the way. 

The Patriots defense has 13 players who are questionable for Saturday night's tilt. This means Tebow's going to get his chance to make some big plays like he did last week against Pittsburgh. 

At the end of the day, he'll make a few big plays, but the Broncos will still lose. That being said, those big plays will still shock us because nobody really expects Tebow to make those kind of plays. 

Vince Wilfork and the Patriots Defense

The New England Patriots may have the second-worst defense in the NFL, but they have the best coach.

Bill Belichick isn't going to make the same mistakes Mike Tomlin did last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

He's going to defeat Tim Tebow's Denver Broncos by implementing defensive adjustments to stifle Tebow from running the ball and forcing him to throw. 

The Patriots have allowed more than 20 points in each of their last six games, so no one really expects them to win the game because of their defense. 

And despite the fact that we mentioned Tebow getting a few big plays offensively, Vince Wilfork and the Patriots will also force him to make some mistakes in a hostile road crowd.

Never discount Belichick's coaching. He's made the adjustments, and he's going to come out firing Saturday night. 

Justin Tuck and Dave Tollefson

Justin Tuck and Dave Tollefson each had a sack against the Green Bay Packers when they played in the regular season. 

We all know the New York Giants are going to come out blitzing and putting the pressure on Aaron Rodgers.

The fact that both of them had a sack in that game may exemplify a weakness in the Packers' offensive line on the right side with Bryan Bulaga and Josh Sitton. 

The Giants will need to exploit that. Tuck and Tollefson fly under the radar compared to Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul.

But don't be too shocked if they get their fair share of sacks on Sunday night. 

Drew Brees

We all know Drew Brees is one of the greatest quarterbacks in the league today. That doesn't mean what he does on the field still doesn't shock us. 

Throwing 5,400 yards in the regular season was pretty shocking. Then following that up with a beatdown of the Detroit Lions with 466 yards and three touchdowns had people saying, "Wow, how does he do this!"

Brees is going up against the San Francisco, who may be first in the league in rushing defense but are in the middle of the pack in terms of passing defense.

Brees' numbers may dip a bit outdoors, but he's still a solid quarterback when he's not under a roof. In five outdoor games this season, Brees had a 95.7 passer rating and a remarkable 69.6 completion rating.

He may have had six interceptions, but Brees is playing at such a high level right now that it might not matter. He also has the experience advantage over the 49ers. 

Expect the Brees naysayers who say he can't play outside of a dome to reconsider their statements after this game.