Day 1 NFL Playoffs

Didn't have much on my mind today, so how bout a couple quick picks for the opening day of the NFL playoffs?

Bengals at Texans
The Bengals blew a winnable game at home against Houston in the TJ Yates era during the regular season, 20-19. Obviously playing in Houston would figure to give the Texans a bigger advantage in the second matchup of the year between these two teams. But really, I'm thinking this one will come down to quarterback play. Luckily for the Texans, Cincy is starting rookie Andy Dalton, who, despite having an excellent first season in the league, is still a rookie. And while that holds true for Yates as well, Houston is going to be relying a whole lot less on his play than Cincy will be relying on Dalton's. That's because Houston's offensive line and Arian Foster are a little bit better than Cincinnati's and Cedric Benson. Houston sweeps the Bengals on the year, and moves on to an inevitable disappointing loss in the divisional round next week. The Bungals head home earlier than they would have liked, but have a plenty to look forward to with a Steelers team looking like it may have aged just a bit too much this season.
Texans 24-Bengals 16

Lions at Saints
This is being billed as a shootout game in the making, and one that the Lions might be able to steal if they stick around. It'll be a shootout alright, but not one the Lions will have a chance of winning. New Orleans is really good. The way I see it, they are even favorites with Green Bay to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Sorry San Francisco, Detroit, Atlanta and New York; you guys just aren't on the same level right now. Of course, in the playoffs, teams get hot (Packers last year, Giants in 2007) or play one great game and pull off an upset (Seattle last year). But of the four teams in the NFC that will be trying to pull an upset, Detroit seems the least likely to get hot to me. I think we've seen their best this year already, when they were 5-0. But really, even then, they were barely winning games that they had fallen behind by big margins. There won't be any of that happening against New Orleans.
Saints 42-Lions 24