Come Saturday, eight teams will kick off the road to the Super Bowl with four action-packed contests.
The party gets started at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, as the defending champion Saints travel to the Great Northwest to take on the NFC West-champion Seahawks, who earned a spot in the postseason despite a 7-9 record. After dropping three of their first seven games, the Saints have lost just two in their last nine. Drew Brees and the Saints' offense boast the league's third-most passing yards at 277.6 per game and have a lethal and finally completely healthy backfield trio of Reggie Bush, Chris Ivory and Pierre Thomas. The Saints took down the Seahawks 39-19 back in late November.
The Jets and Colts play Saturday at 8 p.m. in Indianapolis — a rematch of last year's AFC Championship game (which the Colts won, 30-17). This game needs no introduction, as Peyton Manning and his high-octane offense take on the traveling freak show known as Rex Ryan's Jets — arguably the most-talented and most-balanced team in the league.
The Ravens and Chiefs open open up in Kansas City at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Led by the league's second-leading rusher Jamaal Charles, the Chiefs owned the NFL's top overall ground game as they averaged 164.2 rushing yards per game. They'll be going up against the toughest defense in the land, as Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and the Ravens' defense allowed just 16.9 points per game.
The other late-afternoon tilt on Sunday has Green Bay at Philadelphia. The Packers were preseason favorites to win it all by many experts, but a season-ending injuries to Ryan Grant and Jermichael Finley, and a poor showing on the road (3-5) derailed the Pack, who snuck into the playoffs as one of two NFC wild-card holders. The Eagles have been the talk of the league, thanks to the incredible regular season Michael Vick had. Vick, who was slated to be Kevin Kolb's backup heading into the season, notched 30 touchdowns (21 passing) and averaged over 300 all-purpose yards per game in 12 contests.
Which NFL wild-card weekend postseason matchup is most intriguing?online survey
