Texans and Packers Winners Saturday

The NFL playoffs started today with two games in the Wild Card round.

The first one featured a rematch from last year's Wild Card round with the Bengals once again making a trip to Houston to take on the Texans. Houston managed to win last year's game and pulled off the same result today. It was a low scoring game throughout and the Bengals offense didn't do much failing to convert all 9 of their 3rd down attempts, only getting 12 first downs compared to Houston's 24, and only having 198 total yards compared to Houston's 420. The Bengals' only TD came off a Leon Hall interception in the 2nd quarter. Cincy's defense might've kept them in the game until the end but their offense didn't have the spark. Houston wins 19-13.

The 2nd game was less exciting despite the match up. After beating the Packers in Minnesota just to get into the postseason, the Vikings now traveled to Green Bay to face the cheeseheads for a 2nd week in a row. This time, however, they had to do it without Christian Ponder at QB. Joe Webb came in off the bench to play having not thrown the ball once this season. On top of that, the Green Bay defense played Adrian Peterson much better allowing him to get just 99 rushing yards on 22 carries. That combined with Joe Webb equaled a Packers win 24-10.

Both home teams win and know who they will face in the next round. The Texans will travel to New England to face the Patriots while the Packers go to the Bay Area to play the 49ers. Both the Texans and the Packers played their upcoming opponents during the regular season. The Pats beat the Texans in week 14 while the 49ers beat the Packers in week 1.

2012 NFC North Preview: Lions, Packers, and Bears... Oh Why?

The NFC North this year seems like the NFC East where many teams have legitimate shots at the division title... except for the Vikings. They will likely be happy with Christian Ponder developing for another season.

As for the other three, they all certainly have what it takes to win the NFC North. The Packers have one of the best QB's in the league with Aaron Rodgers leading the aerial assault. I'm more concerned with their defense overall. You might need a QB to win a title but a good defense is still required. The Bears might have both a good QB and defense but the D is getting old. Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher are still two of the finest Linebackers in the game but their in the 30's now and could start to wear down. Urlacher is already fighting through an injury.

My pick for the NFC North is the Detroit Lions. That offense led by Matthew Stafford is phenomenal with Calvin Johnson to throw to and the defensive line led by Ndamukong Suh strikes fears in QB's everywhere. I think this is the Lions year to claim a division title and maybe more.