We’re down to the final 30 hours or so before football begins, but let’s fast forward and talk about how the season ends.

Guest blogger Neil and I have been pumping out predictions all week and the only thing left to do is identify the playoff teams and figure out the Super Bowl matchup.

For me, the starting point in this exercise is making sure four or five teams who did not make the playoffs last year are included in the postseason this year. It’s as certain as a 12-seed over a 5-seed in March. Let’s see if Neil followed that rule.

Neil’s Playoff Teams

NFC

1. Philadelphia
2. Green Bay
3. Seattle
4. Atlanta
5. Dallas
6. St. Louis

AFC

1. Indianapolis
2. New England
3. Baltimore
4. Kansas City
5. Denver
6. Miami

Neil’s Playoff Results

Wildcard Round

• (3)Seattle over (6)St. Louis
• (5)Dallas over (4)Atlanta
• (3)Baltimore over (6)Miami*
• (4)Kansas City over (5)Denver

Divisional Round

• (3)Seattle over (2)Green Bay
• (1)Philadelphia over (5)Dallas
• (2)New England over (3)Baltimore
• (4)Kansas City over (1)Indianapolis

Conference Championships

• (3)Seattle over (1)Philadelphia
• (2)New England over (4)Kansas City

• Last year’s game was close enough that I think this year’s goes the other way. Hopefully this is a reverse jinx though.

* = I could not for the life of me figure out who the 6th playoff team in the AFC is going to be. I was sick of trying to guess records and coming up with 9-7 or 8-8 for everyone. So I went with Miami because they seem to have the least issues out of anyone else I guess? Maybe? I almost wanted to just leave it empty and say “some team that will lose to Baltimore and is not as deserving as the 7th best NFC team.”

Ross’ Playoff Teams

NFC

1. Dallas
2. Green Bay
3. Seattle
4. Atlanta
5. NY Giants
6. St. Louis

AFC

1. New England
2. Indianapolis
3. Kansas City
4. Baltimore
5. Denver
6. San Diego

Ross’ Playoff Results

Wildcard Round

• (3)Seattle over (6)St. Louis
• (5)NY Giants over (4)Atlanta
• (3)Kansas City over (6)San Diego
• (4)Baltimore over (5)Denver

Divisional Round

• (2)Green Bay over (3)Seattle
• (1)Dallas over (5)NY Giants
• (3)Kansas City over (2)Indianapolis
• (1)New England over (4)Baltimore

Conference Championships

• (1)Dallas over (2)Green Bay
• (3)Kansas City over (1)New England

Super Bowl Pick: Kansas City 30, Dallas 20

What? You expected me to pick the Patriots? Since I pick them to win the Super Bowl every year in this blog, I figured I’d go a little outside the box this year and look forward to being wrong. I like the NFC setup where Green Bay will get its revenge on Seattle right before Dallas gets its revenge on Green Bay.

By accident or not, Neil & I both chose five teams that didn’t make the playoffs last year. For both of us, it was three in the NFC and two in the AFC. The thing that stood out to me most is that Neil’s #1 seed in the NFC, Philly, didn’t even make the playoffs in my alternate universe. That seems like the team we’re farthest apart on this year. But hey, if a Mark Sanchez-led team (you know Bradford’s not lasting a full season) claims the #1 seed in the NFC, I’ll gladly laugh at myself for being so stupid not picking them to make the playoffs. I’ll be the first in line to congratulate Neil.

But before that happens, we’ve got 17 weeks of football to watch! Let’s Do This! Let’s help Roger Goodell stay in power by setting records in 2015 for TV ratings, merchandise purchased and tweets about the season. Can’t wait.