NFL wild-card weekend preview: QBs take center stage Saturday

— -- With the wild-card teams prepared to do battle this weekend, NFL Nation reporters look ahead to what's in store for each playoff team.

AFC

Houston Texans: Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney is the only player in doubt for Saturday's wild-card game against the Chiefs. Clowney is dealing with a foot injury that kept him out of last week's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was scheduled to meet with the media on Wednesday but couldn't due to some off-site medical attention. -- Tania Ganguli

Pittsburgh Steelers: On paper, a tailback depth chart of Fitzgerald Toussaint and Jordan Todman doesn't sound attractive for a playoff game. But the Steelers are confident that these two can help the offense Saturday night in Cincinnati. Asked why so, H-back Will Johnson nodded his head toward Toussaint's locker, saying the second-year back has earned everyone's trust. Toussaint and Todman, a five-year NFL veteran, split carries this week. Toussaint will get the start. And DeAngelo Williams hopes the Steelers return with a win so he can play in the divisional round. -- Jeremy Fowler

Cincinnati Bengals: AJ McCarron will have another "Welcome to the NFL" moment Saturday night when the second-year quarterback starts his first career playoff game. At least the Bengals can take solace in knowing he will be their only starter appearing in the postseason for the first time. On this veteran team, every other starter on offense and defense has played in the playoffs before. Only Jake Fisher, the rookie offensive tackle-turned-H-back, and backup rookie tight end Tyler Kroft join McCarron as regular contributors on offense who will be getting their first dose of postseason action. Tight end  Tyler Eifert may be playing in his second playoff game, but he'll be looking for his first career playoff catch. -- Coley Harvey

NFC

Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings will be underdogs at home after losing to Seattle 38-7 on Dec. 6, but coach Mike Zimmer almost seems more comfortable with that than if the Vikings were favored. "I know no one is giving us any chance to win this game and that's fine," Zimmer said. "But there's only [five] teams in the league that have better records than us, so we've done a couple things right." -- Ben Goessling

Green Bay Packers: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers might not know until the last minute who will be protecting his blind side. The Packers listed left tackle David Bakhtiari as questionable because of his ankle injury. That's the same designation they gave him the previous week and he was unable to go. Bakhtiari said "we'll see Sunday" if this week is any different. Rodgers has been sacked 13 times in the past two weeks without Bakhtiari in the lineup. Protecting him might be the key to Sunday's game against Washington. -- Rob Demovsky

Washington Redskins: It'll be interesting to see how the Packers defend the Redskins on Sunday and if they continue using man-to-man coverage and leaving the middle of the field as an exposed area. The Redskins have feasted this season against man coverage, especially finding weak spots in the middle. Tight end Jordan Reed has caught 48 passes, including seven for touchdowns, on throws between the numbers -- and he averages 14.46 yards on 13 catches between the hashes. -- John Keim

Teams that have byes

New England Patriots: Patriots coach Bill Belichick lightened the load on players Friday, surprising them by calling off practice and focusing on more team-building exercises. One of them was taking players bowling at nearby Patriot Place, to which players can walk from the locker room. This came after Belichick held light walk-through practices on Wednesday and Thursday. -- Mike Reiss

Carolina Panthers: Carolina players have Saturday and Sunday off after a full week of practice, including a Friday session in pads. They'll return on Monday to begin preparing for their Jan. 17 game against either Seattle, Green Bay or Washington. Since they have played all three teams this season they already have film broken down on each, but they'll still have scouts at the games to get a feel for these teams in their playoff mode. Most of the players plan to hang around Charlotte and rest instead of taking off for a mini-vacation. -- David Newton

Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals are anxiously awaiting who they'll face Jan. 16 -- either Minnesota, Green Bay or Washington. Some players will spend Sunday watching the game together while others will hunker down on their couches enjoying a weekend without football. Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said Friday that Arizona had a "really good week" of practice and at times he had to slow his players down. -- Josh Weinfuss