NFL Playoffs 2012: Underdogs Sure To Score an Upset in the Divisional Round

Not every favorite is safe this divisional weekend.

The New Orleans Saints are on the road and will have to top the San Francisco 49ers away from their palace of perfection in the Big Easy. 

Meanwhile, the AFC's top-seeded New England Patriots will look to win their first playoff game since 2007 all while avoiding being Tebowed. 

Which underdogs will score an upset on the most exciting NFL weekend of the year? Check it out.

San Francisco 49ers Over New Orleans Saints

It's easy to love the Saints considering they just blasted the Detroit Lions last Saturday night in the Superdome, but consider the two teams' turnover numbers in this weekend's first matchup: San Francisco is +28 (tops in the NFL) while New Orleans is just -3. The Niners are also tied with the Green Bay Packers for most takeaways, they each have 38 while the Saints forced just 16 turnovers all season. 

San Francisco's top-ranked rush defense is not the only wall the Saints will face at Candlestick Park on Saturday, but the turnover wall as well. The Niners have made teams pay consistently all season by tipping passes and forcing fumbles in the running game. The Saints have done just the opposite, instead ranking dead-last in the NFC in takeaways this season. 

Playoff games often come down to turnovers in the sense that the team with fewer usually moves on. That being the case, San Francisco has the distinct advantage over New Orleans playing at home, where they have won six-straight dating back to Week 5.

Denver Broncos Over New England Patriots

The Patriots are nearly two touchdown favorites over the Broncos on Saturday night in New England, but that will not guarantee a win, not this deep into the postseason. After all, Denver was an eight-point underdog at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend, and they won by six; a 14-point swing.

Bill Belichick and the Pats are just 3-6 against the Broncos since 2001, and lost the two teams' only playoff meeting back in January 2006. Oddly enough Denver won 27-13 at Mile High; a 14-point win. This time around the Broncos will be heavy dogs on the road, where they have won five out of eight this season. Remember that Tim Tebow is surprisingly 5-1 on the road as a starter this season. 

When the two teams last met last December, the Patriots finished with 14 more plays (yeah I went there) than the Broncos, and three less turnovers, in fact zero. Denver's three fumbles before halftime put them in a hole and forced them to change their offensive game plan in order to chase points and Brady's offense on the scoreboard, which in turn limited them to 58 plays on offense. Tebow and the Broncos' offense won't stand in their own way Saturday night in Foxboro.

The league's best rushing attack in Denver will have the NFL's second-to-last-ranked defense winded and on its heels for a good portion of the game. Defense wins championships and we saw what happened to the Pats against a solid defense in the divisional round last year—they were befuddled and ultimately defeated. Denver has the better defense and the Tebow factor, a deadly combination for opponents, just ask the Steelers.