NFL Playoff Picture: San Francisco 49ers and Playoff Teams That Will Choke

The NFL’s playoff picture for this season is starting to become clearer, and that means plenty of speculation about who will make a splash this season or who will fail.

All of the teams in playoff contention want the Super Bowl, but few that even make the playoffs have a legitimate shot.

Teams like the San Francisco 49ers are complete frauds that will be exposed when they face a team that is playing at 100 percent.

The following teams are all bound to embarrass themselves on one of the biggest stages in professional sports and embarrass their fanbases. Enjoy!

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San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco fans will be up in arms about this after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football, but that wasn’t an impressive victory.

If Ben Roethlisberger hadn't hurt his team more than he helped them, the Steelers would have squeaked out a victory with a broken quarterback. The 49ers almost lost to a QB who wasn’t even 50 percent.

When San Francisco plays any one of the potent offenses in the NFC that will make the playoffs, they will be beaten in the first round. Look for New Orleans to get the first-round bye and the 49ers to be blown out by Detroit or Atlanta.

New York Jets

The New York Jets have been exposed as one of the worst teams in playoff contention this season, and a first-round departure is very much on tap.

After losing to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15, the 8-6 Jets' schedule shows that New York doesn’t beat teams that are in playoff contention. That’s not good.

Until the New York Jets prove they can beat a good team, I don’t believe they will be able to advance out of the first round, if they even make the playoffs at all.

Houston Texans

The worst choice that the Houston Texans ever made was not going after a backup quarterback as soon as Matt Schaub was injured.

Schaub was the star quarterback that could manage the game enough to give their elite run offense a chance to be effective while letting the powerful defense have a nice cushion to work with.

With T.J. Yates or whoever the Texans stick under center, they will not be smart enough in the passing game to keep drives alive, so Arian Foster’s rushing totals will suffer. With more three-and-outs, the defense will wear out as well. It’s over for Houston.

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens have remained one of the toughest defenses in the NFL over the last 10 years, but their aura is no longer there. Teams aren’t afraid.

While the 10-4 Ravens look great on paper, their inconsistencies on both sides of the ball are big enough issues to stop any postseason push before it ever gets started.

The inability of Baltimore to give 100 percent effort every game makes a possible letdown in the playoffs too likely to lay any faith on the squad. If they win a playoff game, I would be surprised.