Of all of the games on the NFL TV schedule in Wild Card weekend, the one between the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons might be the toughest to handicap. We present our New York vs. Atlanta keys to the game so you can make your NFL picks for the first game on Sunday’s NFL schedule.

NFL Playoffs Matchup: Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Giants
Falcons vs. Giants Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Falcons vs. Giants Date/Time: Sunday, January 8th, 1:00 p.m.
Falcons vs. Giants Television Coverage: FOX

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Key #1: The Falcons have to hit the deep ball
Way back in the Spring when the Falcons traded just a slew of draft picks for the ability to draft WR Julio Jones early in the first round, many thought that they were crazy. Atlanta thought that it was just one piece to the puzzle away from winning the Super Bowl. We don’t really think that it has the ability to do that with a defense that is suspect this year, but it does clearly make a big difference. Jones has had at least one catch of at least 40 yards in six of his last eight games, and many of those catches went the distance for a touchdown. Jones has six TDs in his last four games, and many of those were of the very long variety. New York has a secondary that is still suspect and has been all season long, and it has been prone to the deep ball. For Atlanta to win this game, it is going to have to stretch the field with Jones to open up the rest of the offense for RB Michael Turner, TE Tony Gonzalez, and WR Roddy White.

Falcons @ Giants Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Atlanta Falcons +3
New York Giants -3
Over/Under 47.5
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Key #2: The Giants absolutely have to find a ground game
Why? Because we know that RB Michael Turner is going to get his yards. He touched the ball over 300 times this season, and he had 1,500 yards of total offense, so we know that Turner will do his damage. There is a real question as to whether RBs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw are going to be able to get the job done or not. These two used to be a part of a tremendous backfield, and both have the capability to be 1,000 yard rushers. Neither had a great year, and it almost seems as though age parlayed with the weird offseason may have cost them both in conditioning. Neither averaged even four yards per carry this year, and the end result saw New York ranked dead last in rushing the football. The pressure on the shoulders of QB Eli Manning is already immense as it is, but to have to win this game all by himself might be too tall of a task to ask for. But then again…

Key #3: One of these quarterbacks has to be a star
This type of game is pretty easy to see develop. One of these teams is going to have the ball at the end of this game, and one of the quarterbacks is going to have to get the job done. With apologies to QB Matt Ryan, he just might not be ready for this quite yet. He doesn’t have the background to be a “game winning drive” type of quarterback at this point in his career, and he is 0-2 in his two postseason appearances. Eli has won a Super Bowl, and won it with dramatics. He was the one that threw the ball that magically came down in WR Shane Tyree’s hands, and he was the one that threw the TD pass to WR Plaxico Burress that won the Super Bowl against the previously perfect New England Patriots in ’07. Even this year, Manning, for all of the grief that he has been given, led his team on a game winning drive at the Dallas Cowboys, a game tying drive against the Green Bay Packers, a game winning drive against the New England Patriots, a game winning field goal drive against the Buffalo Bills, and a two TD comeback against the Arizona Cardinals, all of which came in the last two minutes of a game. Eli can do it, and we know it, but the question might be asked of either he or Matty Ice once again to see whether they can put the team on their back and win a game.

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The Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans probably make for tremendously strange bedmates in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday afternoon. Both have had the best seasons that they have had in years, and one will get to move through to the second round of the playoffs next weekend. Check out our Texans vs. Bengals odds, predictions, and keys to the game so you can make your NFL picks on all of the action!

NFL Playoffs Matchup: Cincinnati Bengals vs. Houston Texans
Bengals vs. Texans Location: Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX
Bengals vs. Texans Date/Time: Saturday, January 7th, 4:30 p.m.
Bengals vs. Texans Television Coverage: NBC

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Key #1: These two teams have to pretend like they have been here before
To say that there isn’t a heck of a lot of experience on either side of the ball in terms of the playoffs is a bit of an understatement. The Texans have never been to a playoff game in franchise history, and the Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since before the Oilers had ever thought about moving out of Houston. Neither rookie quarterback has played in a game quite like this one, though QB Andy Dalton did get a taste of the action last week against the Baltimore Ravens at home in a game that the Bengals were beaten in. QB TJ Yates has really been thrown into the fire this year, as two months ago, he still had never even suited for his first NFL game before injuries struck. Neither of these coaches, Gary Kubiak nor Marvin Lewis has ever won a playoff game as a head coach before either. The team that can successfully put aside the fears of playing in a nationally televised game like this one is going to be the one that ends up having the better shot to win this game when it is all said and done with.

Bengals @ Texans Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Cincinnati Bengals +3
Houston Texans -3
Over/Under 38.5
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Key #2: The ground game is key for both squads
We’ve already spoken about these rookie quarterbacks, and that obviously means that the running game is going to be crucial for both sides. RBs Ben Tate and Arian Foster combined for well over 2,100 rushing yards, and they near had 3,000 total yards between rushing and receiving between them. RB Cedric Benson doesn’t nearly get the publicity that he should, but he rushed for 1,067 yards this season, his third straight 1,000+ yard season with the Bengals. Both offensive lines have had their questions, especially with the Bengals. Benson did only average 3.9 yards per carry this year, and now, he has to run up against a defensive front seven that was amongst the most ferocious against the run all season long. Houston does have the best offensive line that it has had in team history, but that line still has never been in a moment like this one.

Key #3: Houston needs to overcome all of its injuries that it has suffered all season long
The list of injuries this season for the Texans has been borderline insane. Schaub and Leinart were knocked out for the season in successive weeks, and that came after Foster missed basically three full games, LB Mario Williams hasn’t played since the beginning of October, and WR Andre Johnson has only been in the lineup for a total of about five full games all year after dealing with hamstring injuries. P Brett Hartmann is out for the year with a knee injury, and DB Danieal Manning missed a month with a leg injury as well. It is amazing that this team has been able to hold it together in spite of all of this, and now, the pieces of the puzzle that have to limp onto the field have to find a way to get the job done even with all of the setbacks.

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In what could be one of the most entertaining games in the first round of the playoffs, the Detroit Lions will take on the New Orleans Saints. We’re set to make our NFL predictions for the big time duel on Saturday night in the playoffs.

NFL Playoffs Matchup: Detroit Lions vs. New Orleans Saints
Lions vs. Saints Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Lions vs. Saints Date/Time: Saturday, January 7th, 8:00 p.m.
Lions vs. Saints Television Coverage: NBC

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Key #1: Detroit absolutely cannot beat itself
The first time that these two teams played this year, the penalties mounted in almost ridiculous fashion against the Lions. WR Nate Burleson was flagged three times for offensive pass interference, and there were three personal fouls that went against Detroit, some of which proved to kill drives on offense or extend drives on defense. In total the team committed 11 penalties for 107 yards. It is hard enough to try to beat the Saints on the road, a place where they seemingly never lose. You absolutely cannot give up a football field’s worth of penalty yardage against them and expect to win. If Detroit lets its emotions get the best of it in this game, it will be absolutely blown away and made to wonder what could have been had it been a more disciplined team this entire season.

Lions @ Saints Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Detroit Lions +11
New Orleans Saints -11
Over/Under 59
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Key #2: Someone on the Detroit defense has to be spying Darren Sproles at all times
Sproles actually didn’t have that much of an impact on the game that these two played a month ago, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have the ability to kill the Lions. At just 5’6”, Sproles has a way of going unnoticed out of the backfield, and his blazing speed and uncanny ability to make tacklers miss in the open field is why he is so dangerous. Head Coach Sean Payton will use him between the tackles at times, as he did have 81 carries for 563 yards on the ground this year. However, Sproles also had 81 receptions for 681 yards and six scores, and he had a grand total of 1,287 yards as a return man between kicks and puns to go with a TD. In the end, he broke the record for most all-purpose yards in a season. We’ve seen Sproles do some amazing things in the past, and someone has to be keeping an eye on him at all times, or he will absolutely be the killer in this game.

Key #3: Matt Stafford has to outduel Drew Brees
Brees and the Saints were nuts this year. Not only did Brees reach the 40,000 yard mark for his career, but he became the first man to throw for 5,000 yards twice in seasons in a career, and he obliterated Dan Marino’s record for the most passing yards in a season. He has six receiving options that can all go off for over 100 yards in a game, and he throws for multiple touchdown seemingly every week. In total, he had 46 TDs this year. However, the Lions are still craving some respect, and this would be the way to get it. Stafford stayed healthy for the full 16 games for really the first time in his career, and he became the fourth different man to throw for 5,000+ yards in a season this year as well. WR Calvin Johnson had some amazing games this season, including picking up over 200 receiving yards in two of his last three games, but Burleson, WR Titus Young, and TE Brandon Pettigrew can’t be forgotten either. Detroit is good enough to shoot it out with the Saints, and without any sort of a running game to rely on, it doesn’t really have a chance of winning this one if it doesn’t.

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