:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/5847963/20121226_kkt_ab9_850.0.jpg)
The NFL Playoffs will begin on Saturday, but the San Francisco 49ers will have the luxury of watching from home as they are one of four teams with first-round byes including the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos in the AFC and the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC. The Wild Card round matchups feature some intriguing games to be played this weekend.
The Cincinnati Bengals travel to face the Houston Texans at 1:30 p.m. PT on Saturday in an AFC Wild Card matchup with both teams headed in different directions. The Bengals will come in off a win over the Ravens and will be playing with a lot of confidence, while the Texans dropped from the No. 1 seed and a bye to the Wild Card round and the three-seed after losing to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. The Texans will be under a lot of pressure to perform after being the top team in the conference for much of the regular season.
The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers will play for the third time this season on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT at Lambeau Field. The Vikings won on Saturday behind a monster performance by Adrian Peterson just to get in the playoffs and will get to play their divisional rival yet again for the right to move on in the playoffs. But Aaron Rodgers will have something to prove after the Packers' flameout last season so it should be a good one.
The Seattle Seahawks will play the Washington Redskins in Washington, D.C. on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. PT. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III are both candidates for rookie of the year as they've led their resurgent franchises to unexpected seasons and one of them will be playing the divisional round of the NFC playoffs in just their first year at the helm of their respective offenses.
The Colts will head to Baltimore to face the Ravens at 10 a.m. PT on Sunday. The Colts and their coach Chuck Pagano will have fans of other teams rooting for them as Pagano fought against cancer and landed right back on the sidelines to coach his young and talented group of players. The Ravens are good enough to win the whole AFC, but streaky enough to get knocked out by a younger team at home.