Each of the four teams remaining in the NFL playoffs has something going for them.

The Packers have a resurgent Brett Favre. The Chargers have the league's best running back in LaDainian Tomlinson, who vows to play on Sunday. The New York Giants have a very good defense and a quarterback who doesn't look completely confused for the first time in his career. And the Patriots have, well, pretty much everything.

But the single most important fundamental that will determine the outcome of this weekend's upcoming games is the helmet each team wears. Okay, that's a lie, it means absolutely nothing, but there are only so many Tom Brady statistics one can bear. So a little triviality won't hurt anything.

Let's start with the Patriots. Theirs is basic, just silver with a decal of a guy wearing an ugly red, white and blue hat. Nothing great, but there is something to be said for simplicity. And it's certainly better than their old helmets, featuring what looks like could have been a hobbit.

Then we have their opponents, the Chargers. San Diego wears two helmets, one white and one blue. The white one is the better looking of the two. It is also simple, with a streak of lightning running across either side, which emotes power and speed.

We can basically lump the Packers and Giants' together because they are pretty much the same design - middle stripe with letters on the side. The only difference is that the Packers sport the triple stripe while the Giants have just the single red stripe. That's minus points on both counts. Stripes across the middle of a helmet are a bit old school, although that may be exactly how these franchises want people to know them. The letters on the side are a bit boring, although in the Packers defense, it wouldn't be very sightly to have a picture of a building on their helmets

So, who wins the battle of the helmets? Who cares, it's just a helmet. But if you're scoring at home, it's the Chargers.

(Photo: Flickr)