Wild Card Preview: Ray Lewis to Play Final Game at M&T Bank Stadium

Yesterday's games went as planned, with Houston knocking off Cincy for the second consecutive season and the Packers destroying the Christian Ponder-less Vikings. We have the final two Wild Card games today, starting with a (No. 4) Baltimore Ravens squad hosting (No. 5) Indianapolis.

Indy's rookie Andrew Luck led his Colts to an 11-5 season under head coach Chuck Pagano, who has been battling Leukemia but returned to the sideline last week to lead the team over Houston. The Ravens will have soon-to-retire linebacker Ray Lewis back on the field today, in what will be his final game at M&T Bank Stadium. Perhaps that adds a little bit of added motivation for Baltimore?

Indianapolis Colts @ Baltimore Ravens

1 PM, M&T Bank Stadium

Favorite: Baltimore by 7

Baltimore's Joe Flacco is the first quarterback since Otto Graham to take his team to the postseason in the first five seasons in the league. With a 5-4 career postseason record and an expiring contract this season, Flacco and the Ravens offense will be looking to take the team to the next level. New offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell will need to get the ball to Ray Rice early and often, however, in order to pull away with a victory over Indy today.

The Ravens are 0-4 all-time in postseason games in which Flacco attempts 30+ passes. Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice has just three career postseason touchdowns and 444 yards in 7 games, with one 100+ yard performance. Against Indy's 29th-ranked run defense, Rice will need 25-30 touches in order to control the game clock and wear down the front seven of the Colts.

The most important thing for Indianapolis to accomplish on offense will be to protect Andrew Luck. A healthy Lewis and Suggs could be trouble for this offensive line, and if he isn't protected against a team such as Baltimore, turnovers are bound to happen.

Offensive 2012 Stats

Indianapolis: 18th-ranked scoring, 7th-ranked passing, 22nd-ranked rushing

Baltimore: 10th-ranked scoring, 15th-ranked passing, 11th-ranked rushing

Defensive 2012 Stats

Indianapolis: 21st-ranked scoring, 21st-ranked passing, 29th-ranked rushing

Baltimore: 12th-ranked scoring, 17th-ranked passing, 20th-ranked rushing

With offensive coordinator Bruce Arians of the Colts hospitalized, the young rookie will be thrown out there with quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen calling the plays today. Without much of a running game––rookie Vick Ballard was team's leading rusher with 814 yards, 3.9 Y/C––all the pressure will be on Luck to perform. If he isn't protected against this Ravens' defense, they will eat him alive. And I expect that to happen to the poor guy today.

An even more motivated Ravens' defense, which will be looking to get Ray at least one more game, and a motivated, healthy Lewis, will be enough to limit the damage Luck and Reggie Wayne do in the passing game. It'll be tough to win against this team with a one-dimensional offense (not expecting much from the running game).

The key will be on offense for Baltimore, as they will need to put 20+ points up on the scoreboard today. If Caldwell is smart, he will get Rice the ball from the start. Rice has yet to get 30 carries in a game this season, but they went 5-1 in games that Rice received 20 or more carries. Also, 6-2 in games that Rice gets into the end zone. I'm sure I sound like a broken record, but come on, how long do you think it'll take Baltimore to realize that they win games under Rice, not Flacco?

Things to Remember While Watching

*Indy's Reggie Wayne needs just 6 receptions to jump to No. 2 on the all-time postseason receptions list (Jerry Rice is No. 1, of course).

*No Bruce Arians today, so quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen will be calling the plays for Luck.

*This will be Ray Lewis' first game since October 14, 2012.

*Baltimore's offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell was Indy's head coach from 2009-11.

Key Players for Each Team

Indianapolis

*Andrew Luck: Without play-caller Bruce Arians on the sidelines calling the plays for today's game, even more pressure falls on Luck's right arm. He could have a good day if he receives the necessary protection, but a four or five sack game could be coming his way against Baltimore's rested up defense.

*Dwight Freeney/Robert Mathis: Indy's two top pass rushers will need a huge day in putting pressure on Flacco. If you get enough pressure on him and rattle him, he starts to make mistakes and turn the ball over. Forcing turnovers on defense will be huge for the Colts and may be the only way they have a chance at getting the Ravens off the field if Rice has a good day.

Baltimore

*Joe Flacco: Hopefully, for Baltimore's sake, Flacco wont be throwing the ball 30+ times today. But he's still a key player because what he does will obviously play a huge role in what the Ravens do offensively. In his nine career playoff games, Flacco has 8 TDs and 8 INTs. Seven of those eight interceptions came in losses, including two multi-interception games. Clearly, he'll need to protect the ball and pass under 30 times in order for this offense to click today.

*Ray Rice: The only two key players I'm mentioning are offensive players, and there's a reason for that. I don't think it's any secret that the Baltimore defense has the advantage over Indy's offense. But the result of today's game revolves around what the Ravens can do on offense. I'm thinking Indy sees a heavy dose of Rice, and he breaks 130 yards with a pair of touchdowns.

This is a tough match-up, but I think we'll at least see a close game today unlike last night's Packers victory. A mistake-free day for the two quarterbacks is crucial, but with an advantage in the run game and on defense, not to mention Baltimore is playing at home (6-2 at M&T this season), I believe the Ravens will prevail in this match-up and live to see another Ray Lewis postseason game.

Final Prediction: Ravens 21, Colts 17

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Wild Card Preview: Vikings, Packers Meet Again

The second of two Saturday wild card match-ups features yet another "rematch" of two teams. The 6-seeded Minnesota Vikings (10-6) and 3-seeded Green Bay Packers (11-5) have only met in the postseason once (Vikings won 31-17 in the 2004 Wild Card round), but they meet twice in the regular season every season.

Green Bay traveled to Minnesota to face its NFC North division rivals just last week. In dire need of a victory to fight for its playoff chances, Minnesota knocked off the Pack with a late field goal from rookie kicker Blair Walsh to snag the second wild card slot in the NFC, 37-34.

A 1-1 regular season split further adds fuel to the postseason fire. Who will get the last laugh in the NFC North tonight?

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers

8 PM, Lambeau Field

Favorite: Green Bay by 8

Adrian Peterson fell just eight yards shy of tying Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 after his 199 yard, 2 (total) TD performance in last week's victory. The near-200 yard performance gives AD 409 rushing yards and 3 TDs against the Packers this season. For his career, Peterson has 268 yards and 5 rushing TDs in three postseason games (1-2 record).

Green Bay will have a tough day against Minnesota's run game, that is for sure. Ranking 17th in the league against the run, 457 of its 1,896 allowed rushing yards this season have come against these Vikings. That's basically a 1/4th of the yardage allowed in just two games. But at the same time, when Minnesota played in Green Bay and lost on December 2, the temperature was around 45 degrees. Tonight's forecast for Green Bay, WI: 25 degrees (wind chill of 16), 30% chance of snow flurries and winds at about 10 MPH. That's no walk in the park for a group of guys who play 8+ times a year inside a dome.

Offensive 2012 Stats

Minnesota: 14th-ranked scoring, 31st-ranked passing, 2nd-ranked rushing

Green Bay: 5th-ranked scoring, 9th-ranked passing, 20th-ranked rushing

Defensive 2012 Stats

Minnesota: 15th-ranked scoring, 24th-ranked passing, 11th-ranked rushing

Green Bay: 11th-ranked scoring, 11th-ranked passing, 17th-ranked rushing

Clearly Green Bay has struggled stopping AD, but Clay Matthews III came out and said earlier this week that there was no way they were giving up another 200 to him. The GB defense's focus is on stopping the run, which means they're challenging second-year quarterback Christian Ponder to step up and make plays. Considering Ponder isn't really a cold-weather QB (plays in a dome and played college ball at Florida State), it's going to take some adapting to this sub-freezing weather at the Frozen Tundra. I don't trust Ponder to step up and make the plays necessary to keep up with Aaron Rodgers' high-powered offense.

It has already been proven that it's possible for the Pack to defeat this Vikings team even if Peterson comes in to Lambeau and runs for 200 yards and a touchdown. December 2 they proved it after Peterson's 210 wasn't enough to put up any more than 14 points on the board. In that game Ponder completed just half of his passes for 119 yards and two INTs. What do you think will happen if he steps into Lambeau, stakes even higher and weather even colder? I don't like this match-up at all, even though Peterson is likely to accumulate around 150 yards once again.

The Packers' key on offense always surrounds around protecting Rodgers in the pocket and getting the ball down the field to Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson and Jermichael Finley. Unfortunately in last week's loss the Packers were unable to protect Rodgers for very long and he was sacked 5 times. Despite the pressure, however, Rodgers still managed nearly 400 yards and 4 TDs. The key for Minnesota on defense will be to force turnovers. That's the only way to get Rodgers & Co. off the field is forcing turnovers, which is a rare event (Rodgers has combined for just 14 interceptions the last two seasons).

Minnesota will be running the ball heavily, while the Packers? Not so much. Ranked in the bottom half in the rushing yards category this season, the run game has been lacking since the injury to Cedric Benson. So putting pressure on Rodgers will once again be the key focus for Minnesota tonight.

Things to Remember While Watching

*Green Bay went 7-1 at Lambeau this season (Minnesota 3-5 on the road), and is 11-4 at Lambeau in the postseason during the Super Bowl era.

*In four of his last five road games, Ponder has completed less than 54% of his passes and never recorded a quarterback rating higher than 83.9. The Vikes went 2-3 in those games.

*During Minny's current four game win streak, Adrian Peterson has accounted for 49.2% of the team's total yards. Peterson ran for more yardage than Ponder threw for twice during the four game span.

*The Vikings are 3-5 this season in games that Ponder throws at least 1 interception, but are 4-2 in games that he throws for multiple touchdowns.

Key Players for Each Team

Minnesota

*Christian Ponder: Like I said, the Packers are keying in on stopping Peterson and the ground game. This gives Ponder the perfect opportunity to set the tone early in the passing game. A couple of deep play-action passes could be the difference between 14 points and 28 points by the end of the game. The Vikings have seemed to live and die by Peterson all year, but as I showed with the numbers above, the Vikings have a much better shot in games when Ponder is effective. If he doesn't show up today, Minnesota will not get out of Lambeau alive.

*Jared Allen/Everson Griffen: Aside from 199 yards on the ground, it was the defensive front that helped win the game for Minnesota last week. The third-year defensive end Griffen sacked Aaron Rodgers three times last week and the Vikes combined for 5 sacks total of Rodgers in the victory. The two ends Griffen and Allen combined for 6.0 sacks in two games against Rodgers this season, and they can set the tone on defense with early pressure on Rodgers tonight.

Green Bay

*DuJuan Harris/Ryan Grant: Green Bay hasn't had a true No. 1 back this season. At least not since the injuries to Cedric Benson and James Starks. The Packers O has had to rely on the vet Ryan Grant and two young guys in Alex Green and DuJuan Harris. Harris broke out for a career-high 70 yards on 14 carries in last week's loss, and I expect him to once again take a bulk of the carries this week (I guess you could consider 14 carries the "bulk").

*Clay Matthews III: Matthews has missed a significant amount of time this season (four games for Matthews is considered a significant amount of time), but now that he's back and healthy I'd expect him to get back to doing what he does best: bruising quarterbacks. Stopping the run is a total team effort, but when it comes to sacking and putting pressure on quarterbacks, Matthews can do that all on his own. If Matthews is in tip-top shape today, and can punish Ponder with a couple of hits, the passing game has potential to basically be non-existent for Minnesota.

It's really tough to pick against the Packers at Lambeau Field, especially in the postseason. And I have yet to trust Christian Ponder with the ball in his hands. After watching the Packers knock off Minnesota 23-14 despite Peterson's 210-yard performance a month ago, it's obvious that the Vikings need Ponder to make some plays too. Peterson ran the Vikings all the way to the postseason with his 2,097 yards on the ground, but they're gonna need a little more than that to get past the first round. Sounds a lot like Eric Dickerson's 1984 L.A. Rams, doesn't it?

No upset here, I'm taking the Packers in a near-blowout at Lambeau.

Final Prediction: Packers 35, Vikings 14

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Wild Card Preview: Cincinnati vs. Houston Round 2

It's game day! The postseason starts today and the All-Out Blitz is just now getting around to deciding who will win each game. This year we'll be doing it a little bit different and previewing each game with separate posts.

First things first, and that's today's 4:30 pm (eastern time) matchup between the No. 6 seeded Bengals (10-6) and the No. 3 seeded Texans (12-4). Facing each other in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season, will the Bengals get revenge? Or will the Texans win the rematch as well?

Cincinnati Bengals @ Houston Texans

4:30 PM, Reliant Stadium

Favorite: Houston by 5

Cincinnati is riding a three-game win streak against Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, while going 7-1 in the second half of the season to make the playoffs following a 3-5 start to the season. Houston has struggled recently, dropping three of its final four games, but all three losses came to playoff teams (Patriots, Vikings, Colts).

Despite being just a win away from the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs and blowing its chance at clinching home-field advantage, Houston has a great shot at winning this if they can produce on offense. Getting the ball to running back Arian Foster early and often, while keeping the ball out of Matt Schaub's hands, can do wonders for this Houston offense today.

Offensive 2012 Stats

Cincinnati: 12th-ranked scoring, 17th-ranked passing, 18th-ranked rushing

Houston: 8th-ranked scoring, 11th-ranked passing, 8th-ranked rushing

Defensive 2012 Stats

Cincinnati: 8th-ranked scoring, 7th-ranked passing, 12th-ranked rushing

Houston: 10th-ranked scoring, 16th-ranked passing, 7th-ranked rushing

The numbers on both offense and defense are very close between these two, but I think the difference will be the running game. Cincy has run for just 61 yards on the ground in the past two weeks and they will be up against a top 10 rushing defense. There have just been four games this season in which Houston was held to under 100 yards on the ground and just two games in which Houston's defense didn't force a turnover.

With second-year quarterback Andy Dalton (16 interceptions, 46 sacks in 2012) under center against this Houston defense, I believe J.J. Watt & Co. will attack the Cincinnati offense enough to limit Dalton's effectiveness. Defense and a solid running game win championships, and that's how Houston will knock off the Bengals in the Wild Card round for the second consecutive season.

Things to Remember While Watching

*Houston beat Cincinnati 31-10 in the first round of the AFC playoffs last year at Reliant Stadium.

*This is Matt Schaub's first postseason start of his 9-year career (didn't play in last January's game due to injury, then-rookie T.J. Yates made the start for Houston).

*This is just the third postseason game in franchise history for the Houston Texans. Being in the league since 2002, last season was Houston's first appearance and they went 1-1.

*Cincinnati has not won a playoff game since the 1990-91 season. Postseason appearances came in 2011, 2009 and 2005, but were all one-and-done seasons when it came time for the playoffs. Cincy's last playoff victory? A 41-14 victory over the Houston Oilers on January 6, 1991. Exactly 21 years from tomorrow.

*The overall regular season series is currently tied 3-3.

Key Players for Each Team

Cincinnati

*BenJarvus Green-Ellis: Sure, the Bengals have won consecutive games to end the season despite the nonexistent running game. Green-Ellis is listed as probably for the game after missing last week, and he will need to be 100% healthy, and effective, in order to take the pressure off the young Dalton. You know the Texans will be bringing the heat on Dalton, and finishing with anything less than 80 yards on the ground could prove catastrophic for Cincy's offense.

*Geno Atkins: The monstrous defensive tackle has made his second consecutive Pro Bowl team in his three-year career. And it was well-deserved. But he will need another great game against Houston's O-line to give the Bengals a shot. The pass-rushing d-tackle will be making Schaub's game hell, but a role in stopping the run is just as important today against Houston.

*Vontaze Burfict: As you can tell, defense is more important for the Bengals in this game. If the offense underachieves again this week, as they have been, the defense will need to bring its A-game to limit Houston's smash-mouth offensive attack. Undrafted rookie Burfict has led the team in tackles this season and has a shot at making headlines by keeping Foster and the rest of Houston's backs to under 100 yards. Doing so may be the only way Cincinnati has a chance at winning.

Houston

*Matt Schaub: I'm certain that Schaub will be throwing less than 30 passes in this game, but he's listed as a key player because of what he can't do in this game in order to win. Turnovers. Schaub simply needs to protect the ball and limit mistakes. Conservative passing attack is what I'd expect from Rick Dennison's offense.

*Arian Foster: It's all about the running game vs. front seven in today's match-up. Last season Foster came up big in his two postseason games, rushing for a combined 285 yards and 3 TDs against Cincinnati and Baltimore. Coming just two TDs shy of breaking his career-high this season, Foster has been running as strong as ever this season and I would expect 120 yards and a TD from him in today's game.

*J.J. Watt: What Watt does early in this game could set the tone for the Texans defensively, and play a huge role on how Dalton fares in the rest of the game. If he can get to Dalton early and rattle him, it's game over for the Cincinnati offense.

As you can probably tell, I've been favoring the Texans in this match-up. Though Houston has backed into the postseason and fallen to the No. 3 seed, these Texans are an overall superior team to the Bengals. A lack of a rushing attack recently will come back to bite the Bengals in this game.

Final Prediction: Texans 31, Bengals 17

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Ranking the Season's 10 Postseason Games

Now that we have figured out the two representatives for Super Bowl 46 and I have given my recap of the Conference Championship games, we must wait two weeks to see the action unfold and crown a winner.

So, to pass the time why not give a brief recap of each of the 10 postseason games by ranking them, No. 10 being the least exciting to watch, and No. 1 being the most exciting. Here's how I have ranked them, feel free to add your opinion in the comments section:

10. AFC Divisional Round: Patriots 45, Broncos 10

Anyone and everyone outside of the New England area had become a Broncos/Tebow fan for the day as the Broncos went in to Foxboro, MA looking to stun Patriot nation. After Tebow had torn up the No. 1 pass defense in Pittsburgh the week before, it looked as if Timmy would have another solid day against one of the league's worst pass defenses. Instead, Tom Brady and his Patriot offense blew Denver out of the water before they even had a chance.

What did it make for? A record-setting day for Brady (5 first-half TD passes) and a boring second half. Although Tebow did play his heart out and it was later found out that he had been playing a majority of the second half with a bruised lung. Either way, a 35-point blowout doesn't exactly make for an exciting playoff game.

9. NFC Divisional Round: Giants 24, Falcons 2

Coming in to the game, Atlanta's signal caller Matt "Matty Ice" Ryan had been one of the league's hottest quarterbacks. But he was forced to travel to New York and take on one of the league's hottest front 7 units led by the returning Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul. The end result is a lone safety being Atlanta's only points as the offense was held scoreless.

The Falcons made history by becoming the first team in NFL history to score just two points in a playoff game. Not exactly the history they were looking to make, and Ryan has fallen to 0-3 in the playoffs with just three TDs and four interceptions.

8. AFC Wild Card Round: Texans 31, Bengals 10

This was one of the matchups I was most looking forward to in the Wild Card round, I believe. It was the first time in playoff history that two rookie quarterbacks were squaring off against each other. One of the said rookie quarterbacks (Houston's T.J. Yates) had a great day, throwing for 159 yards and a TD, while the other (Cincinnati's Andy Dalton) threw three interceptions and was sacked four times.

Houston's top five defense took the game over, basically ending the game at the end of the first half with a 29-yard INT returned for a TD by rookie J.J. Watt. They held Cincinnati scoreless in the second half on their way to a 21-point, blowout win in the franchise's first-ever playoff appearance. Cincinnati is now 1-4 in the playoffs since 1990.

7. AFC Divisional Round: Ravens 20, Texans 13

Unfortunately Yates' good fortune only lasted a week, as his inexperience in big games caught up to him against the Baltimore Ravens' top-tier defense in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Yates managed to lead the Texans' on three first half scoring drives, putting up 13 points, but they were held scoreless in the second half.

Houston's Arian Foster became the first running back to gain 100 yards on Baltimore's defense in a playoff game, but his 132 yards and one TD didn't make up for Yates' three interceptions and Jacoby Jones' fumble on a punt return. Houston's turnovers gave easy scoring chances to Joe Flacco and the Baltimore offense, making it an easy win for the Ravens despite just a seven-point victory.

6. NFC Conference Championship: Giants 20, 49ers 17 (OT)

Miscues littered this game as well, but mainly on San Francisco's part. Like I said in the previous post, WR and return man Kyle Williams, in just his second season, would love to forget this game. However, his two miscues on punt returns isn't the only thing San Fran messed up on. Eli Manning did fumble once, and they Niners were unable to take advantage and recover the ball, and they also dropped two easy INTs because of collisions between defensive backs.

Eli Manning played a tough game, but the Niners' failure to capitalize when they needed to most is probably the big storyline in this one. But the fact that Manning was able to overcome six sacks and drive the team down the field to take the lead halfway through the fourth quarter shows me his guts. Coughlin put the ball in his hands and gave him a career-high 58 attempts, and he did what he had to do to win: capitalize on turnovers and SF misfortunes.

5. NFC Wild Card Round: Saints 45, Lions 28

This is what fans love to see (not sure why, I love seeing smashmouth running games and hard-hitting defenses): shootouts between gun-slinging quarterbacks such as Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford. Passing yards were galore in this Wild Card game, and the final score of this one doesn't tell the whole story. There was plenty of controversy between the fumble that Detroit's defense had picked up and run back for a touchdown. But because the officials blew the play dead they were unable to return it. They retained possession, but had to start from where they recovered. They didn't score.

It had the potential to be a 7- or 14-point swing, but either way Detroit wasn't able to capitalize on that turnover and Brees took the game over. New Orleans' running game had actually taken over the final quarter, scoring two of NO's three fourth quarter TDs and putting the Saints ahead for good. Lots of scoring in this one, despite Detroit's tough defense. Fans love seeing 30, 40-plus games and the Lions put up a good fight with the young Matt Stafford at the helm.

4. AFC Conference Championship: Patriots 23, Ravens 20

Again, Baltimore had two shots at the end but were unable to pull ahead (Evans' dropped pass in the end zone) or tie it and send the game to overtime (Cundiff's missed 32-yard FG with 11 seconds left). Baltimore's defense made Tom Brady uncomfortable for quite a bit of the game, forcing two errant passes that turned in to turnovers. Flacco out-passed Brady, strangely enough, for 306 yards and a couple of TD passes, and put his team in position to win at the end of the game.

We can't be disappointed with the way the passing game for Baltimore went, he did look better than the previous week against Houston. But what does disappoint me was that Ray Rice was a non-factor. He was given his fair share of carries, with 21, but he ran for just 67 yards (3.2 YPC avg.) and made no impact in the passing game with one catch for 11 yards. Had he been more of a factor there's no doubt Baltimore would have had an easier time winning this one.

3. AFC Wild Card Round: Broncos 29, Steelers 23 (OT)

Denver owned the second quarter of this game, putting Pittsburgh's aging and banged up defense to shame with 20 points on their way to a 20-6 halftime lead. Pittsburgh, dealing with in-game injuries to D-lineman Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel, safety Ryan Clark missed the game as well, failed to get any pressure on Tim Tebow. The result? A career-high 316 passing yards and the game-winning touchdown toss to WR Demaryius Thomas from 80 yards out on the first play in overtime.

But this game is ranked so high up because of the gutsy play from Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He fell to 10-4 in the playoffs, but injured ankle-and all Roethlisberger went up against the odds of a miraculous comeback and led the Steelers' offense to three second-half scoring drives (17 points) as they came back and tied the game up at 23 to send it to overtime. The stunning first-play score in overtime just adds to the greatness and the ups and downs of this remarkably played game by both quarterbacks.

2. NFC Divisional Round: Giants 37, Packers 20

A 17-point victory makes top two? I know, I know, seems kinda strange. But the fact that Manning once again was able to knock off the heavily-favored 15-1 Green Bay Packers on the road in the blissful Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field against Aaron Rodgers is quite fascinating. I, of course, called this upset happening, unlike most fans and Green Bay "bandwagoners" (trust me, I know plenty of them).

I feel as though I've mentioned how much Eli has impressed me far too often on this blog, but it's true that I feel he has proved himself to be a better postseason quarterback than his older brother. The Giants put up a great effort against the Packers in this one with 17 fourth quarter points and limiting Green Bay's offense to 20 points.

1. NFC Divisional Round: 49ers 36, Saints 32

There's no question which game has been the best of the postseason. I don't think another game comes close to San Francisco's shocker over Drew Brees, who finds himself sitting at 1-2 in the playoffs since his Super Bowl victory in February of 2010. In head coach Jim Harbaugh's first year as a professional football head coach, he turned the lowly Niners in to Super Bowl contenders with a nasty defense and a draft bust-turned gun-slinger.

It was Alex Smith's first career playoff game in six seasons and he managed to out-play the four-time All Pro and Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees. In the final four minutes of play there were four lead changes. Smith rallied his troops to re-take the lead with two minutes left with a 28-yard TD run, but less than a minute left Brees threw a 66-yard TD bomb to TE Jimmy Graham and successfully converted a two-point conversion. What does Smith do? He simply orchestrates a seven-play, 85 yard TD drive in a minute and a half which is capped with a 14-yard strike to his TE Vernon Davis.

This one had it all. Lots of points, lots of yards, big plays and excitement. I was literally jumping up and down at the end when Smith hit Davis in the end zone with :09 to play, and I'm not even a fan of either team. An emotional Davis/coach Harbaugh interaction on the sideline after the play was the icing on the cake.

Photo credit

Matt Ryan: Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Darren Sproles: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Von Miller: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

Vernon Davis: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Bengals/Texans: Battle of the Rookie QBs

In just under an hour the 2011-12 NFL playoffs will kick-off with a very noteworthy match-up in Houston between the Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans.

In 10 seasons, this is the Houston Texans' first-ever playoff appearance and the Bengals are seeking its first postseason win since 1990. Something's gotta give, right? The last time a playoff game was played in Houston Joe Montana was in a Kansas City Chief uniform as he defeated the Houston Oilers 28-20 on January 16, 1994.

This match-up also features a showdown between two rookie signal callers for the first time in playoff history, pretty impressive huh?

Both Houston's T.J. Yates and Cincy's Andy Dalton have turned heads with their leadership as rookies, and according to teammates neither have shown weaknesses in allowing the atmosphere of the playoff get to them. This week during practice, anyways. Come game time could be a whole different story.

The play of the quarterbacks, in my opinion, will not be the deciding factor in this game however. Rather, it will be the running game (and defense) that makes the difference. Houston has the league's second-best rushing attack, in terms of yardage at least, and Arian Foster is certain to get a huge workload today against Cincy's 10th-ranked run defense.

Houston is top five in overall (4th), pass (3rd) and run (4th) defense and will make for a rough day for Cedric Benson (1,067 yards, 6 TDs, 3.9 Y/A in regular season) and the Bengals' 19th-ranked running game. Without an efficient running attack there will be a lot of pressure on Dalton, and I think Houston's linebacking corps, led by Brian Cushing, will be too much for the young guy.

Houston, in its first playoff game in franchise history, will get the W today and live to play another week.

Photo credit

Cushing: Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images