With the season coming to a close, the crew at “Playbook” has taken to the film to find players who made marked improvements on the field. Today, we look at wide receivers.

We’ve looked at quarterbacks and defensive backs. In our third installment, we take to the trenches to review the performance of three rising defensive tackles.

With the season coming to a close, the crew at “Playbook” has taken to the film to find players who made marked improvements on the field. After taking a glance at quarterbacks last week, here’s a look at three defensive backs who caught our eye.

With the season coming to a close, the crew at Playbook has taken to the film to find players who made marked improvements on the field. In our first look back to 2011, we analyze a trio of quarterbacks.

When you look at the tape, the Patriots and Giants walked away conference champions for reasons that spanned the length of the game. And the Ravens and 49ers exited stage right for just as many reasons.

When the Giants and 49ers earned their way into the NFC Championship Game, they had won their games on the scoreboard – and one particular area of the field.

The No. 3 seeds (Houston and San Francisco) are feeling pretty good about themselves after big wins in the Wild Card round. What kind of obstacles will they face this week?

His individual numbers won’t stand out (with just 4 carries for 4 yards and 11 catches for 50), but Jed Collins has been a critical part of a Saints’ run game that resembles more of the 2009 Super Bowl champion squad than a 2010 team that veered heavily toward the pass game.

It was excellent awareness of tendencies and a simple play design that propelled the Broncos to an improbable overtime victory over the Steelers.

When you compare the Texans–Bengals and Giants-Falcons games, they are very much the opposite of one another. Any way you look at it, both add up to great matchups for Wild Card weekend.

The Texans know they can beat the Bengals. They’ve already done it once this season. But can they do it twice with rookie T.J. Yates at quarterback?

They are division winners, a playoff host and one of 12 contenders for the Lombardi Trophy. But to move forward in these playoffs, the Giants have to step up their game. Against Matt Ryan, Michael Turner and the Atlanta Falcons (10-6), the Giants defense will most certainly have to do better – and it all starts on first down versus the run.

The final week of the NFL regular season is upon us, and the playoff picture is anything but settled. The Texans are pegged into the No. 3 seed – and in the AFC, that’s the only peg lodged.

Through 16 weeks of the season, you have certainly heard commentators throw around some strange-sounding terms.

Heading into their second matchup with the Saints this season, the Falcons will look to duplicate their last performance – minus one fourth-down failure.