New Orleans Saints head west to face San Francisco 49ers

The New Orleans Saints head west to face the San Francisco 49ers in a divisional playoff game on Saturday. Other than the Packers, this is the class of the NFC, with these teams a combined 27-6. For bettors, these two teams have been awfully profitable, only failing to cover 7 times in 33 combined chances. With each team playing with a honed edge and heightened sense of purpose, this game could be the crown jewel of this postseason.

N.O. beat Detroit badly last Saturday in the first round of the playoffs, with the 49ers getting the week off as the NFC #2 seed. The score of 45-28 suggests a routine victory, but the Saints had a worrisome start, falling behind 14-10 at halftime. Any hopes of a Detroit upset were soon squashed, as the Saints got rolling with 35 second-half points. And there lies the problem for any team facing the Saints--stopping a powerful and diverse offense that seems to actually be getting better. By the end of the day, the Saints had run for 167 yards, with another huge performance from Drew Brees, who threw for 466 yards and 3 touchdowns.

On paper, if any team on the road to the Super Bowl can stop the New Orleans juggernaut, it’s the 49ers. San Francisco has the top-rated defense in the conference and are #2 in the entire league with a scant 14.3 points allowed per game. Then again, they didn’t really face the great offenses this season. It would have been nice going into this game to have seen them contain a team like the Patriots, Packers, or Saints. They never played those teams, so one has to wonder how a secondary ranked #16 will hold up against the Saints’ high-flying attack.

But let’s not allow the sparkling New Orleans offense to blind us from the merit of the 49ers. They were tied for the league-lead with 38 takeaways and led all teams with a mere 10 turnovers on offense. The time off had to help, especially for veteran RB Frank Gore, who despite a good season, sagged a bit to the regular season finish line. The defense will be bolstered by the presence of LB Patrick Willis, who will play after being banged up late in the season. Return threat Ted Ginn, Jr. is also back and can spring one at any time.

NFL PLayoffs Schedules

January 14, 2012

New Orleans vs San Francisco | San Francisco WON, 36-32
Denver vs New England | New England WON, 45-10

January 15, 2012

Houston vs Baltimore at 1:00PM | LIVE HERE!


New York Giants vs Green Bay at 4:30PM | LIVE HERE!

Broncos vs Patriots at NFL Playoffs

If Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos can knock off Tom Brady and the 10-3 New England Patriots, then there will officially be something very special about their season.

Somehow "Tebow Time" has swept across the nation, as the Broncos find themselves riding a six-game winning streak and are 7-1 with the polarizing quarterback under center.

This team is much more than Tebow though, as they've been sparked defensively by rookie Von Miller, and have benefited from the clutch kicking of Matt Prater.

This will undoubtedly be the Broncos' greatest test, and it just may prove to be the benchmark for whether or not they really can make the playoffs.

Tom Brady and the Patriots will come into town boasting the second best passing offense in the league, averaging 319.3 ypg, and arguably the best non-quarterback in the NFL in tight end Rob Gronkowski.

This game is going to bring out the true colors of both teams involved, and it should be one of the best on the NFL Week 15 docket.

Key Injuries:

Patriots: Did Not Participate In Practice - Safety Patrick Chung (foot), tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back).

Broncos: Did Not Participate In Practice - Safety David Bruton (Achilles), safety Brian Dawkins (neck), cornerback Andre' Goodman (concussion).

Fantasy Big Plays:

Start: You gotta start Tim Tebow here just from a fantasy perspective. He should be able to get points on the ground, and the Patriots are allowing 308.7 yards per game through the air. Even Tebow should be able to throw against them.

Sit: Nobody I would recommend sitting in this game. Ton of great options. Gronkowski, Brady, Welker are all great plays, as are Denver's receivers against the Patriots' defense.

Keys To Patriots Win:
The Patriots need to score touchdowns, which in the end will come down to Tom Brady.

Like it or not the Broncos system isn't made to score a ton of points, so if Brady can get Gronkowski and Welker going, there is no way the Broncos are going to be able to keep up.

Keys To Broncos Win:
If the Patriots' key is scoring, the Broncos must focus all their efforts on keeping it a close game. The offense can't do it, so it's going to come down to the defense.

Who's your bet? Please vote at Sports Avenue

NBA: December 29th

Today's Game Schedules for NBA, courtesy of forum.wiziwig.eu:

7:00 PM/00:00 GMT/01:00 CET

New Jersey Nets at Orlando Magic



8:00 PM/01:00 GMT/02:00 CET

Dallas Mavericks at Oklahoma City Thunder



San Antonio Spurs at Houston Rockets






10:00 PM/03:00 GMT/04:00 CET

Denver Nuggets at Portland Trail Blazers


Chicago Bulls at Sacramento Kings



10:30 PM/03:30 GMT/04:30 CET

New York Knicks at Los Angeles Lakers

National Football League Schedules for December 4th

Sunday, Dec. 4

01:00 PM / 18:00 GMT / 19:00 CET

Tennessee at Buffalo
N.Y. Jets at Washington
Carolina at Tampa Bay
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
Oakland at Miami
Kansas City at Chicago
Atlanta at Houston
Denver at Minnesota
Indianapolis at New England

04:05 PM / 21:05 GMT / 22:05 CET

B

altimore at Cleveland

04:15 PM / 21:15 GMT / 22:15 CET

Dallas at Arizona
St. Louis at San Francisco
Green Bay at N.Y. Giants

08:20 PM / 01:20 GMT / 02:20 CET

Detroit at New Orleans