ATL/WAS
• WAS 2 RUSH ATTACKS
o COLLEGE STYLE – ZONE READ
o STRAIGHT ZONE
• ATL IS LIGHTER YET FASTER FRONT
o DOUBLE TEAMS AT POINT OF ATTACK CRUCIAL
• ATL WILL BE CHALLENGED BY MAN TO MAN COVERAGE
• WAS DC JIM HASLETT ONE OF THE BEST ON CAPITIALIZING ON DEFICIENCIES
• ATL OFFENSE LAST WEEK v. CAR
o 7 SACKS ALLOWED
o 12 QB HITS
• ATL WANTS TO PUSH BALL DOWNFIELD WITH SPEED

Four divisional playoff games this weekend to break down. Let’s get right to it.

On Sunday, two big zeros were erased from the NFL landscape – the Colts’ potential freefall toward 0-16 and the Packers’ bid for a 16-0 season.

With the monotony of Indianapolis’ annual contention for the AFC South stifled by Peyton Manning’s injury, Houston and Tennessee will battle for the division lead Sunday as we approach the season’s midpoint.

Another exciting week of games on Sunday – which means another interesting day of Monday tape study.

This week, the Playbook research staff started its day by putting aside watching every game from Minute 1 to Minute 60. But that doesn’t mean we took a real break.

You have probably heard the phrase “a team is only as strong as its weakest link.” In the NFL, the difference between a team’s weakest link and their strongest can determine the outcome of a game.

Leading up to Sunday, we did a little tape study and tried to find a few links that could be broken.

After A.J. Green and Julio Jones were picked in the top six of the 2011 NFL Draft, everyone expected to hear their names early in the season. At the same time, several other rookie wide receivers, from second-round picks to an undrafted free agent, have made an impact through two weeks of football.

It’s time for the “Playbook” mailbag. Are the Texans primed to take the AFC South? How can the Eagles better protect Michael Vick? Is it the best strategy to blitz Tom Brady? Get the answers from the “Playbook” crew.

A look at five matchups from five games in Week 2 that we believe be the first waves in a rippling pond.

In our first installment of the “Rookie Richter,” we grade the guys who really pound the earth when they move — offensive linemen. After hunkering over hours of coaching tape, closely evaluating their debut performances, here are the blockers who made the greatest — and weakest — impacts for their teams.

When the Playbook research staff digs into a new batch of coaching tape, we dig deep.

While cooking up “All-22″ content for the Week 2 Playbook shows at the end of the week, we spend much of our Mondays and Tuesdays watching every game. And we mean every game.

In one corner, you have the Super Bowl champion, a title-holder, that there’s no doubt that its reign atop the sport has only just begun.

In the other corner, you have a champion from a year past — knocked off their perch by a stunner in Seattle — who wants nothing more than a chance to prove it is still the king of the ring.

Every Wednesday this season, the research staff at “Playbook” will be taking your questions through email (playbook@nfl.com) and on Twitter (@NFLN_Playbook, with #askplaybook hashtag), and answering them in this blog. Here is the first batch of questions we’ve selected.

The new CBA, including its rookie wage scale, has definitely decreased the price tag for top-five picks, but the repercussions for missing are still huge. Before you have even played a down, before you have even had your first jersey stitched, draft analysts and fans are asking whether you are a star or a bust.