With the NFL playoffs coming in to full bloom this weekend, it will be exciting to see what happens from here on out.

We already had the triumphant performance of one über-Christian savior who led his team to a narrow victory against a perennial playoff contender.

Okay, so I’m not talking about Eli Manning, I am referring to Tim Tebow and all of his awesome-ness. But seriously, Tebow put on a clinic against the Steel Curtain and he should be praised for his performance.

But that’s quite enough Tebow coverage, if you want more tune to ESPN, ESPN2 ESPN News and you can catch more Tebow-mania.

This weekend marks the divisional round of the playoffs, where we will truly see if the 49ers are pretenders or contenders. This weekend, they host the red-hot Saints, which feature a prolific pass offense and a true superstar in Drew Brees.

The Niners will have their hands full trying to contain the Saints dangerous aerial attack. First of all, they have to deal with the weapons that Brees has at his disposal. Around the line of scrimmage, Brees has numerous backs to dump the ball off to, as well as emerging tight end Jimmy Graham.

On short passing situations (10 yards or less), Brees has completed 76.7 percent of his passes under ten yards. They’ve gone for touchdowns 27 times.

But Brees is more than short nickel and dime throws, he’s also got the long ball working for him. On passes 21 yards or more, he is completing 51.7 percent of his passes and has scored 12 touchdowns, compared to only two interceptions.

These statistics alone should strike fear into any Niner fan this weekend, and if anyone saw Brees’ performance last weekend against Detroit, that should be reason enough not to bet against the Big Easy.

But, the Saints have played poor on the road for years now, and an outdoor game at Candlestick Park should be reason enough for San Francisco to hold on to hope. The Niners boast an impressive defense this season, but they have been more effective against the run rather than the pass and have looked quite susceptible through the air in weeks previous.

Also, the Niners still have Alex Smith under center and whenever you are counting on an unproven quarterback who is expected to live up to lofty expectations, the results are usually going to be pretty underwhelming.

The 49ers will hopefully have a healthy Patrick Willis to bolster their defensive front, but there is only so much that the linebackers can do when 6-foot-6-inch Graham is running open through the middle of the field.

I have a feeling this game will be fairly lopsided in favor of the Saints because San Francisco simply won’t be able to hang with New Orleans’ passing attack.

Another interesting game this weekend will be the Giants pass rush against the Packers offensive line.

The Packers only loss of this season came on a day where the Chiefs’ Tamba Hali had three sacks. He was constantly in the backfield causing problems for Aaron Rodgers and limiting his time to push the ball down the field.

The Giants are playing great football. Their first half of football against Dallas in week 17 and their throttling of the Falcons a week later were inspiring. The question will be can they slow down Jermichael Finley, and restrict the big man from hurting their beat-up secondary.

The Packers’ defense plays a very opportunistic style of defense where they look for more turnovers rather than stops in order to get the ball back to their offense in good field position. If the Giants want to win this game, Eli Manning will need to limit his turnovers or the Packers offense will be living in Giants’ territory all game long.

Manning has been known to choke when the pressure is on, and if he wants to be known as a top-tier quarterback he must do it against top-tier competition. So what’s it going to be Eli?