NFL wild-card weekend

A quick peek at questions surrounding this weekend's NFL wild-card games.

Much is made of how hot a team is entering the playoffs, and none is hotter than in the NFC than the Washington Redskins. But can they go into Seattle, one of the more difficult places to play, and knock off the Seahawks? Washington's formula should appear familiar to Redskins fans - run the football and stop the run. Seattle, meanwhile, has adopted a pass-first mentality on offense and features a smallish, though fast, defense.

The New York Giants pay a visit to Tampa Bay, which largely has rested its starters the past two weeks. The Giants played the Patriots tough in Week 17 and have not followed their recent trend of falling apart down the stretch of seasons. The thinking here is the Bucs' fortunes will depend largely on the health of QB Jeff Garcia, and there is not much recent evidence to indicate the wellness of his back. On the flip side, how will Giants QB Eli Manning respond to the Bucs' defense?

The AFC features a pair of rematches, and both should be brutally physical games.

Jacksonville won at Pittsburgh three weeks ago, and many observers expect a repeat. How will injuries affect the Steelers, who have lost two starting LTs and RB Willie Parker since the Jaguars defeated them? The Jags make no secret about how they plan to win again - running the football.

San Diego escaped Tennessee with an overtime victory last month, but a lot of bad blood was stirred up in the process. Four players received fines for their actions in the game. Both teams insisted this week that is behind them. The Chargers seem to be hitting their stride at the right time, having won six in a row. The Titans won four of their final five regular-season games. Tennessee, however, has two big injury concerns (literally): run-stuffing DT Albert Haynesworth and QB Vince Young. How will their status affect this game?