An annual exercise in futility

At the beginning of last postseason, I picked the Carolina Panthers to beat the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl. Neither made it that far, and I only correctly predicted one of the four teams (Ravens) that faced off in the conference championship games.

So who should you gamble against this year?

It's been a tougher exercise than I imagined. It's fairly common knowledge that it's unlikely for the Super Bowl to be composed of Nos. 1 and 2 seeds. In the last four seasons, at least two teams with bye weeks lost their first game. But, this year's top seeds have been all but dismissed by the national media by fading down the stretch in the regular season.

Like last year, I'll update this post with the actual results from the games as they happen.

AFC Wild-Card

Cincinnati over New York New York 24, Cincinnati 14

New England over Baltimore Baltimore 33, New England 14

AFC Divisional

San Diego over New England New York 17, San Diego 14

Indianapolis over Cincinnati Indianapolis 20, Baltimore 3

AFC Championship

Indianapolis over San Diego Indianapolis 30, New York 17

NFC Wild-Card

Philadelphia over Dallas Dallas 34, Philadelphia 14

Green Bay over Arizona Arizona 51, Green Bay 45 (OT)

NFC Divisional

Green Bay over Minnesota Minnesota 34, Dallas 3

New Orleans over Philadelphia New Orleans 45, Arizona 14

NFC Championship

Green Bay over New Orleans New Orleans 31, Minnesota 28

Super Bowl

Indianapolis over Green Bay New Orleans 31, Indianapolis 17