The New York Giants take on the Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card week of the 2012 NFL Playoffs. At 10-6, the Falcons secured a Wild Card berth finishing second in the NFC South behind the New Orleans Saints. They’re coming off a 45-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 17 action.

The Giants clinched the NFC East championship last week with a 31-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

This NFL playoff game will be played on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 1:00 PM ET in Metlife Stadium (formerly the Meadowlands).

The Giants are on a roll. They are healthy, have Eli Manning at the helm and all the confidence in the world. Here are 8 reasons why the Giants will beat the Falcons in the 2012 NFL Playoffs.

1. Eli Manning
   Not only is Eli Manning having his best year, he’s been in this position before and succeeded in leading the New York Giants to a Super Bowl in 2007.And don’t forget that Eli is at his best when the chips are down, leading the Giants to 6 4th quarter comebacks during the 2011 NFL regular season. In head-to-head match-up with Falcons QB Matt Ryan, Manning has more completions (359 vs 347) and passing yards (4933 vs 4177).
2. Peaking at the Right time
   The Giants are coming off two impressive victories in must-win games (Week 16 vs NY Jets and Week 17 vs. Dallas Cowboys). The defense is healthy again, wide receiver Victor Cruz has been electrifying. He has 82 catches, 1536 yds, 9 TDs, a crucial 99 TD reception in week 16 against the Jets, and another for 74 yards against the Cowboys in week 17.The Defense is playing the best it has all season and the running game has significantly improved.
3. They’re Healthy
   RB Ahmad Bradshaw, DE Justin Tuck, DE Osi Umenyiora and TE Jake Ballad will suit up.
4. Giants Defense Is Back
   The Giants defense, ravished by injuries to key pass rushers, has been exploited by their opponents all year. If it weren’t for the All Pro play of of defense end Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants wouldn’t be playing in the 2011 NFL playoffs.Last week, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora showed they were healthy enough to be major factors in the win over Dallas.
5. Deja Vu
   The Giants have been here before. Back in 2007, the Giants reeled off 4 consecutive victories and won the Super Bowl. 14 Giant players from that championship team remain.
6. 12th Man
   The Giants play at home. You can bet the crowd will be a factor.
7. Team Chemistry
   Those last two wins have the Giants believing they can go all the way.
8. Tom Coughlin
   You can be Coach Coughlin will have his players ready to execute a solid game plan.

The Indianapolis Colts are out of the 2008 NFL Postseason after an overtime loss to Phillip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers 23-17 in a Sunday night AFC Wildcard showdown. Is this the end of Tony Dungy’s coaching career?

Al Michaels and John Madden discussed after the game, that Tony would make a decision about his football future one week after his 2008 season ends. Well, expect to hear from Tony before next Sunday that he is leaving NFL football.

Yes, that is the consensus among those who know him best. Tony has experienced the pinnacle of NFL coaches – a SuperBowl championship. He also had tradgedy in his personal life with the death of his son James, who committed suicide on December 22, 2005.

Many believe that Coach Dungy will spend his time at home, with his wife Lauren Harris of Pittsburgh and has two daughters, Tiara and Jade, and three sons, Eric, Jordan and Justin.

In addition to spending time with his family, he is expected to spend time in civic activities. In fact, in August 2007, President George W. Bush appointed Dungy a member of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. The 25-member council represents leaders from government, business, entertainment, athletics and non-profit organizations committed to growing the spirit of service and civic participation. The two-year appointment requires attendance at two in-person meetings per year and quarterly phone conversations with assigned committees

Tony is a former professional American football player and the current head coach of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. Prior to that, between 1996 and 2001, he was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He became the first African American head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Colts defeated the Chicago Bears on February 4, 2007. On December 18, 2008 after securing his tenth straight playoff appearance with a win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dungy set a new NFL Record for consecutive playoff appearances by a Head Coach.

If Tony does retire he will be certainly be missed and go down in NFL history with some impressive coaching records. If he had his way, I think he would rather be known as a humble man with a passion to help others.

The Detroit Lions have the distinction of being the first team in NFL history to go 0-15.  Will they lose their last game and end up a perfect 0-16?  They play the Packers in Green Bay, where they haven’t won a game in 17 years.

before the 2008 NFL season started there were such high hopes for the Lions in Motown. They had a perfect pre-season record, going 4-0. Now that the season has one week left, they are selling T-Shirts that read “2008 Pre-Season Champions”.

Believe it or not, if the Lions lose to the Packers, they won’t be the first team to go without a victory in an NFL season.  Back in 1976, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 0-14.  In one of the classic lines of that dreadful season, coach John McKay was asked what he thought of his team’s execution, he replied, I’m in favor of it.”

Are the Lions cursed? Is all of Michigan cursed? Nothing positive seems to happen up there.

The Lions last won a title in 1957.  Since then things have gone from bad to worse.  They have gotten the top draft pick consistently over the years but none of them have lived up to expectations. And injuries and bad luck have compounded their misfortune.

The Lions fans seem to be taking things in stride – or not. A great gift for Detroit Lions fans is a Lions Jersey that reads “Owen” with the number “16″ under it.

I hear there is a petition going around Michigan to rename the team the Detroit Lemons – because they just really suck!