NFL Playoff Predictions: Predicting Every Wild Card Matchup

With seven of the 12 possible playoff spots locked up, we're once again going to see some familiar playoff teams such as Green Bay, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and New England.

To that end, however, there are some new playoff contenders looking to establish themselves amongst the NFL's elite. So, here are predictions and picks for Wild Card Weekend.

New Orleans Saints vs. Detroit Lions

Right now the Detroit Lions control their own destiny to clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 1998. In doing so they will have a rematch with the New Orleans Saints of the NFC South in The Big Easy.

Back in Week 13 the Saints soundly defeated the Lions 31-17 at home and with this being Detroit's first rodeo since 1998, New Orleans has a definite advantage.

That said, expect the Lions to score almost as consistently as the Saints. New Orleans has one of the NFL's worst pass defenses and they also allow almost five rush yards per carry. Detroit needs to take advantage of that weakness in order to limit the Saints' offensive possessions.

As for New Orleans, they moved the ball well once before against Detroit and that will happen again. What will also kill the Lions' chances is the Saints having a top-10 rushing offense in addition to the best passing game.

On top of that, return specialist Darren Sproles give New Orleans a distinct field-position advantage on special teams, which ultimately turns out to be the difference in a high-scoring affair.

Saints 41, Lions 31

New York Giants vs. Atlanta Falcons

The next NFC Wild Card game we see will have the Atlanta Falcons and the New York Giants duking it out in The Big Apple.

The Giants basically win the NFC East by default as the entire division plays such inconsistent football. Their sweep of the Cowboys earned them the trip. As for Atlanta, much like Detroit, they currently control their own destiny and need just one win to get in.

The Falcons owning the tiebreaker over Detroit get them the No. 5 seed.

As for the game, The Dirty Birds balanced offense takes flight against arguably the worst pass defense in pro football. The Giants have won games because of their passing offense, not because the defense has stopped anyone or forced turnovers.

When Big Blue has the rock though, they need to establish a ground game in order to halt the pass-rush aggression of John Abraham and Ray Edwards. If New York gets into a shootout with Atlanta, they will lose as Matt Ryan has better protection and the Falcons have a better pass rush.

Neither team has a major edge on special teams; however, the difference lies within the trenches. Although the Giants must try and run the ball, they will fail against Atlanta's No. 4 ranked rush defense.

New York is weak against the run much like the pass, so expect RB Michael Turner to takeover late.

Falcons 34, Giants 27

Houston Texans vs. New York Jets

Once again the New York Jets earn the AFC's No. 6 seed and for the first time in franchise history, the Houston Texans qualify for the postseason.

It's the first playoff game in Houston since 1993 and despite an abundance of injuries, the Texans have managed to hold up the fort and finish with a 12-4 record.

The Jets, on the other hand, finish 9-7 but as they've shown the past two seasons, all that matters is getting into the playoffs. Here, unlike the NFC, we have two solid defenses slugging it out as the offenses are methodic at best.

With so many injuries Houston has lost their explosiveness; however, their rushing attack does provide a distinct advantage. As for Gang Green, Mark Sanchez may have improved throughout the regular season each year, but he's saved his best play for the postseason.

Here, it's a battle of wits as the Jets hit the playoffs with momentum while Houston limps in. The Jets defense stacks the box to shutdown Arian Foster and their secondary blankets Houston's passing game.

The Texans defense bends but doesn't break; however, with no defender to match the size of WR Plaxico Burress, New York has the red-zone advantage since Andre Johnson has struggled being 100 percent all season.

Jets 14, Texans 13

Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Thanks to a surge that began midseason, the Denver Broncos win the race to win the AFC West. On the other side, the Pittsburgh Steelers finished a solid 12-4 but had losses to Baltimore (twice), Houston and San Francisco.

The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was the 2005 AFC title game where the second-seeded Broncos fell 34-17 to the sixth-seeded Steelers.

This time around though, Tim Tebow leads the charge against one of the NFL's best defenses and an improving Orange Crush defense looks to pressurize the banged up Ben Roethlisberger. Denver has the much better rushing attack; however, they lack the skillset to cover WR Mike Wallace one-on-one.

Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins are studs, but they're not nearly as fast as Wallace. Fortunately for Denver, their stud pass-rushers in Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil have the ability to take over a game.

The downside is that the Broncos offense fails to score on a consistent basis. Pittsburgh has the better overall defense and more explosive offense, which ultimately costs Denver in the second half.

Steelers 27, Broncos 16

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