After a stunning 72 yard touchdown run, Nicks brought a stadium to its feet. But it also brought Jamal Anderson to his keyboard thereafter. “NO HE DIDNT!” exclaimed Anderson with more than a dozen exclamation points following. Anderson (whose twitter account is jamthedirtybrird) later added “Btw, I’m not made at Nicks. I broke out the Dirty Bird in 1998s. It’s trending on Twitter in 2012.” He later added “this game, though, very disappointing.”

The Giants next face the Packers in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. That game is next Sunday, start time 4:30 pm EST on FOX. For the original Dirty Bird, see below. For the updated Giants version, click HERE.

The Saints haven’t lost a game since October 30 against the Rams. Since then, the Saints have won eight consecutive games. The Saints ended the regular season with only three defeats, including to Tampa Bay and the Packers. But as news analysts remind fans today, the last time the Lions and Saints faced off in December, the Saints delivered a stunning final score of thirty-one to seventeen. Drew Brees comes into today’s game with nearly 5500 passing yards this year and forty-six touchdowns.

The Lions, however, have not been as consistent. Since November, they’ve been defeated in fifty percent of their games. They fell to the Bears, then beat the Panthers. They came back to be defeated by the Packers and the Saints, only to beat the Vikings, the Raiders, and the Chargers. But they ended the season with a narrow defeat by the Packers.

When looking at these teams’ last showdown, the big difference was the second quarter. Yet, the Lions had more total yards. After the game Brees told news “We were able to spread the ball around and come up with some big plays.” It’s those big plays that made the difference. “I hope our hopes and aspirations are bigger than setting records.”

Lions coach Jim Schwartz told news that the key for the team is avoid offensive penalties. “We lost to the Saints, but we beat ourselves today. Our offense continued to get derailed by penalties”. He added “We cannot afford to be selfish and put the team at risk of taking points off the board and there was way too much of that today.” For the rest of this weekend’s games, click HERE.

The Bengals had a stellar performance in October. For more than a month, no team could beat the Bengals. They defeated Buffalo, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Seattle, and Tennessee in consecutive games. But come November, the news was different. The Bengals first lost to the Steelers, then to the Ravens. When they faced the Steelers again in December, they fell in a miserable thirty-five to seven score.

The last time these two teams met was on December 11, when Houston narrowly beat the Bengals 20-19. But Houston’s season seemed to collapse ever since. After that Bengals win, the Texans were defeated in three consecutive games starting against the Panthers on December 18. The Texans had produced a stellar seven-game winning streak from October to December. But since then, they haven’t won a game.

News analysts are focusing on the last time the two teams faced off on December 11. The big difference was on turnovers, an issue that the Texans must solve before Saturday’s showdown. The Texans surprised news analysts with four turnovers, three by fumbles, in December’s game. On passing yards, the Texans produced two hundred sixty eight compared to the Bengals one hundred eight four. On rushing yards the Texans delivered one hundred forty-four compared to the Bengals one hundred. For the rest of this weekend’s games, click HERE.

Sunday will feature two games, the NFL reminds news. CBS and FOX will split Wild Card news coverage tomorrow. The Steelers vs. The Falcons vs. Giants game kicks off at 1 pm EST on FOX. Then the Broncos game kicks off at 4:30 pm EST on CBS.

The winner of the Bengals-Texas game will face the Ravens on Sunday January 15 on CBS for the first of two AFC Division Playoff games. The NFL confirms to news that the second AFC Division game will feature the Patriots facing the winner of the Steelers vs. Broncos game on Saturday January 14.

Also next Saturday, the Lions-Saints winner will battle the 49ers in the NFC Division Playoff game on FOX. The next day the Packers will head to the NFC Division Playoff to face the winner of the Falcons-Giants game on FOX.

The NFL indicates to news that the AFC and NFC Conference championship games are both on Sunday January 22. Fox and CBS will split coverage. The Pro Bowl is on NBC on the 29th while the Super Bowl is February 5. Click HERE for the printable bracket (in JPG format).

The NFL Wild Weekend is January 7 to 8, Goodell confirms to news. First on Saturday, the Bengals battle the Texans; that game will air on NBC in the afternoon. Later that day, the NFC heats up when the Lions face the Saints on NBC. On Sunday, the Falcons battle the Giants on FOX in the NFC, while the Steelers face the Broncos on CBS that afternoon.

The winner of the Bengals vs. Texans game faces the Ravens in the first AFC Division Playoff game on January 15 on CBS, Goodell tells news. On Saturday, the winner of the Steelers vs. Broncos game battles the Patriots in the second AFC Division game. Over in the NFC, the winner of the Falcons vs. Giants game takes on the Packers on Sunday January 15 on FOX. A day earlier, the winner of the Lions vs. Saints game heads to FOX for the other NFC Division Playoff.

The AFC Conference Championship game is January 22 on CBS, Goodell confirms to news. FOX will air the NFC Conference Championship game later that same day. NBC this year gets the 2012 Pro Bowl on January 29 followed by the Super Bowl (start time 6:30 PM) on February 5. Click HERE for the printable bracket (in JPG format)